CULTURAL f)-13 If LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR FORT HILL [Eape Cod National Seashore United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 15 State Street • Boston, Massachusetts 02109 IN REPLY REFER TO: June 4, 1996 Memorandum To: DSC Technical Information Center Information and Product Services National Park Service PO Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287 From: Director, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation Subject: Transmittal of Cultural Landscape Report for Fort Hill, Cape Cod National Seashore We are pleased to send you a copy of the Cultural La,ndscape Report for Fort Hill. The report is the result of exacting historical research and field analysis. It documents the evolution of the landscape, evaluates • the historic context of the site, and analyzes the landscape's significance and integrity. It also includes recommendations for the treatment and management of the Fort Hill Historic District. The cultural landscape report was completed in part under a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. It is part of the Cultural Landscape Publication Series continuing at the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. If you would like additional copies of the report, of it you have any comments or questions, please contact me at the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (617) 223-5059. Nora Mitchell Enclosure • • CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT FOR FORT HILL Cape Cod National Seashore by Lynn Kneedler-Schad, • Katharine Lacy, and Larry Lowenthal CULTURAL LANDSCAPE PUBLICATION #10 Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation National Park Service Boston, Massachusetts • 1995 • Cover Illustration: Stone Walls at Fort Hill, 1995, by Lynn Kneedler-Schad. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kneedler-Schad, Lynn, 1947- Cultural Landscape Report for Fort Hill: Cape Cod National Seashore I by Lynn Kneedler-Schad, Katharine Lacy, and Larry Lowenthal. p. cm. -- (Cultural landscape publication; no. 10) Includes bibliographic references. 1. Fort Hill (Barnstable County, Mass.). 2. Eastham (Mass.: Town)--History. 3. Knowles family. 4. Historic sites--Massachusetts--Eastham (Town). 5. Cape Cod National Seashore (Mass.). I. Lacy, Katharine, 1961- . II. Lowenthal, Larry, 1940- . III. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (U.S.) IV. Title. V. Series: Cultural landscape publication; no. 10. F74.E2K58 1995 974.4'92--dc20 95-51030 CIP • This report is part of the Cultural Landscape Publication Series produced by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. The series includes a variety of publications designed to provide information and guidance on landscape preservation to managers and other preservation professionals. The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation is a partnership between the National Park Service and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Based at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, this center provides technical assistance, training, and technology with the goal of preserving cultural landscapes. From this location, Olmsted and his successors designed thousands of public and private landscapes across America. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 99 Warren Street Brookline, MA 02146 Information in this publication may be copied and used, with the condition.that full credit is given to the authors and the National Park Service. Appropriate citations and bibliographic credits should be made for each use. ii • • TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES AND CREDITS . v FOREWORD .............................................. ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................... n IN'TRODUCTION .......................................... xiii METHOOOWGY . xv SITE HISTORY . 1 Origin of the Name "Fort Hill" . 1 Pre-Contact and Contact-Period Settlement at Fort Hill . 3 Early Settlement of Nauset by Governor Prence and the Plymouth Colony . 5 The Samuel Treat Period at Fort Hill (Circa 1672-1716) . 10 The Arrival of the Knowles Family at Fort Hill . 14 The 19th Century: Knowles Family Farming at Fort Hill . 20 Development of the Penniman Property . 31 Sale of the Knowles Farms . 39 Farming During the Gunn Ownership . 41 • Development Pressure on Cape Cod . 44 Fort Hill Under National Park Service Ownership . 47 DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING CONDITIONS . 57 The Fort Hill Road Zone . 59 The Open-Field Zone . 64 The Red Maple Swamp Zone . 71 ELIGIBILITY OF FORT HILL AS A HISTORIC DISTRICT IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES . 75 National Register Criteria . 75 Evaluation of Significance . 76 Evaluation of Integrity and Character-defining Features . 82 Evaluation Summary . 94 • iii Table of Contents TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS . 95 • Introduction . 95 Treatment Alternatives . 95 Recommendations for Rehabilitation . 99 Additional Work ....................................... 107 Compliance Issues ...................................... 108 APPENDICES . 111 Appendix A. The Treat Boundary Markers . 113 Appendix B. Interview with Charles A. Gunn, Jr., 1994 ............. 121 Appendix C. Alterations to the Avery House . 127 Appendix D. Alterations to the Burrill House .................... 135 Appendix E. Nauset Archeological District, National Historic Landmark Nomination Form . 141 Appendix F. National Register Nomination for the Penniman House . 199 Appendix G. Compliance Documents for Tree Removal . 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................... 231 • iv • • LIST OF FIGURES AND CREDITS Figure 1. Location Map. NPS map by Lynn Schad, 1994 . xiv Figure 2. Context Location Map. Government Printing Office, 1990 . xiv Figure 3. Principal Indian Tribes of Cape Cod. Map by Howard Channing, 1937. Harvard College Library, map #7762 . 4 Figure 4. Detail of Map by Samuel de Champlain, 1606, showing Nauset Harbor . 4 Figure S. Genealogy of the Knowles Family of Fort Hill. Compiled by Lynn Schad . 17 Figure 6. Chain of Title for Fort Hill. Compiled by Lynn Schad from Barnstable County Registries of Deeds and Probate . 18 Figure 7. Old House on the Northern Farm, seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 19 Figure 8. Present House on the Northern Farm (now the Avery house), • seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 24 Figure 9. Present House on the Southern Farm (now the Burrill house), seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 24 Figure 10. Period Plan 1: Fort Hill Existing Conditions, ca. 1860. NPS map by Lynn Schad . 27 Figure 11. Detail of Iardella's Coastal Map of Cape Cod, 1856. From William P. Quinn, 1he Saltworks of Cape Cod (Orleans, MA: Parnassus Imprints, 1993) . 28 Figure 12. Captain Edward Penniman House, seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 35 Figure 13. Penniman House Grounds, from the east, seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy of Cape Cod NS . 35 • v List of Figures and Credits Figure 14. Penniman House Grounds, seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy • Cape Cod NS . 36 Figure 15. Penniman House, east elevation, seen ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 36 Figure 16. Penniman House, looking south through whalebone gate, ca. 1880. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 38 Figure 17. Haying at Fort Hill, apparently looking north. Photograph courtesy Cape Cod NS . 38 Figure 18. Period Plan 2: Fort Hill Existing Conditions, 1943. NPS map by Lynn Schad . 40 Figure 19. 1938 Map of Fort Hill. From U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Topographic Map T 5737 (Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Orleans and Vicinity), 1938 . 42 Figure 20. 1937 Land Utilization Map of Fort Hill. Massachusetts State • Planning Board, WPA Project #20677 . 43 Figure 21. Proposed Development Plan for the Southern Knowles Farm, 1960. National Archives, Waltham, MA . 46 Figure 22. Period Plan 3: Fort Hill Existing Conditions, 1965. NPS map by Lynn Schad . 50 Figure 23. Period Plan 4: Fort Hill Existing Conditions, 1994. NPS map by Lynn Schad . 58 Figure 24. Penniman House Site Plan. Measured drawing by T. Reynolds Williams for HABS, Library of Congress, 1982 . 60 Figure 25. Penniman House and West Lawn, 1993. NPS photograph from the List of Classified Structures, NAR . 61 Figure 26. Avery House, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad ................... 63 Figure 27. Burrill House, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad .................. 63 vi • List of Figures and Credits • Figure 28. Topographical Map of Fort Hill, 1994. NPS map by Lynn Schad . 65 Figure 29. Panoramic View from Fort Hill, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad . 66 Figure 30. Kettle-Hole Wetlands at Fort Hill, 1993. NPS photograph by Jack Glassman . 68 Figure 31. Stone Walls at Fort Hill, 1993. NPS photograph by Jack Glassman . 69 Figure 32. Capped Barn Foundation East of Avery House, 1993. NPS photograph by Jack Glassman . 70 Figure 33. Skiff Hill Shelter, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad . 72 Figure 34. Indian Rock, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad . 72 Figure 35. View of Nauset Marsh, 1994. NPS photograph by Lynn Schad . 73 Figure 36. Hemenway Road Entrance to Red Maple Swamp, 1994. NPS • photograph by Lynn Schad . 74 Figure 37. Detail from 1he Atlas of Barnstable County, George Walker and Co., 1888. Courtesy Cape Cod NS . 79 Figure 38. Schematic Map of Fort Hill Farm, based on the memories of Mrs. Lowe and Mrs. Lawton, 1968. Cape Cod NS files . 81 Figure 39. Aerial photograph of Fort Hill, taken November 21, 1938. Courtesy Cape Cod NS . 83 Figure 40. Aerial photograph of Fort Hill, taken April 20, 1960. Courtesy Cape Cod NS . 84 Figure 41. Aerial photograph of Fort Hill, taken February 21, 1974. Courtesy Cape Cod NS . 85 Figure 42. Aerial photograph of Fort Hill, taken September 16, 1987. Courtesy Cape Cod NS . 86 Figure 43. Fort Hill Land Use Map, 1994. NPS map by Lynn Schad . ..