Cultural Landscape Report Adams National Historic Site Qiincy, Massachusetts Illustrated Site Chronology United States Department of the Interior NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 99 Warren Street Brookline, Massachusetts 02146 IN REPLY REFER TO: January 12, 1998 Memorandum To: Superintendent, Adams National Historic Site From: Director, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation Subject: Transmittal of Cultural Landscape Report for Adams National Historic Site I am pleased to enclose a copy of Cultural Landscape Report: Illustrated Site Chronology for Adams National Historic Site. The report is the result of historical research of the cultural landscape, reflecting a century-and-a-half of Adams family ownership and management. As agreed in discussions with you and your staff, the document presents illustrations integrated with a narrative site chronology, a format that provides an accessible summary of the site's history. • The report was completed by Katharine Lacy, Historical Landscape Architect with the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation; the editing and design were produced with Beth McKinney of Graphic Design and Shary Page Berg with Goody Clancy & Associates. We have published this report as part of the Olmsted Center's Cultural Landscape Publication Series. At part of the series, the Government Printing Office has printed and distributed copies of this report to 500 libraries across the country. We are sending 100 copies of the report for the Adams National Historic Site under separate cover. As required by NPS-28, the Cultural Resource Management Guidelines, we have also transmitted copies to the attached list of offices. If you have any comments or questions, please contact me at the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (617) 566-1689 x 267. It has been a pleasure working with you and your staff on this report. We look forward to future collaborations on your cultural landscape. ~ Nora Mitchell • Enclosure cc with enclosure: Chief Historian, History Division, W ASO • Chief, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes, WASO Associate Director, Cultural Resources and Stewardship and Partnership Program Natural Resources Library, US DOl National Trust for Historic Preservation Library Library of Congress Smithsonian Institution Library Harpers Ferry Center Library, History Collection DSC Technical Information Center Lead Historian, BOSO Team Leader, BOSO Cultural Resources and Stewardship and Partnership Program Cultural Resources Center Library, Lowell Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Office • • • Cultural Landscape Report Adams National Historic Site Qyincy, Massachusetts Illustrated Site Chronology by • Katharine Lacy Historical Landscape Architect National Park Service CULTURAL LANDSCAPE PUBLICATION NO. I3 Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation National Park Service Boston, Massachusetts • October 1997 .1 This report is part of the Cultural Landscape Publication Series produced by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. This series includes a variety of publications designed to provide information and guidance on landscape preservation to managers and other preservation professionals. The series editor is ::-Jora]. Mitchell. The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation promotes the stewardship of significant landscapes through research, planning and sustainable preservation maintenance. Based at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the center perpetuates the tradition of the Olmsted firms and Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.'s lifelong commitment to people, parks and public spaces. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation 99 Warren Street Brookline, MA 02146 (617) 566-1689 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data • Lacy, Katharine, 1961- Cultural landscape report, illustrated site chronology: Adams National Historic Site, Quincy, Massachusetts/prepared by Katharine Lacy. p. cm. - (Cultural landscape publication; no. 13) Includes bibliographical references. l. Adams ::-Jational Historic Site (Quincy, Mass.) 2. Quincy (Mass.)-Buildings, structures, etc. 3. Landscape-Massachusetts-Quincy-History. 4. Adams family. I. Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (U.S.) II. Tide. III. Series. F74.Q71L33 1997 97-19723 974.4'7-dc21 CIP Publicacion credits: Information in this publication may be copied and used with the condition that full credit be given to the author and Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, National Park Service. Appropriate citations and bibliographic credits should be made for each use. Cover: Photograph of Old House from the Southwest, 1928. Courtesy of the Society for the Preservation of ~ew England Antiquities. • • Contents List of Figures tV Acknowledgments and Project Background Vll Introduction Vtzz Site History Early Development and Vassa1llBorland Period: 1625-1787 1 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology John Adams Period: 1787-1826 9 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology John Qyincy Adams Period: 1826-1848 21 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology Charles Francis Adams Period: 1848-1886 31 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology Brooks Adams Period: 1891-1927 47 Historical Background and Summary of Changes • Site Chronology Adams Memorial Society Period: 1927-1946 55 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology National Park Service Period: 1946 to Present 61 Historical Background and Summary of Changes Site Chronology Description of Existing Conditions: 1996 65 Plans 68 EndNotes 70 Bibliography 76 • Figures • FIGURE PAGE 1. William Tyng's 45-acre farm, Braintree, Massachusetts, 1649. 3 By Ezekial Sargent, Quincy, Massachusetts. Quincy Historical Society, Sargent MSS Collection, "Land Formerly of William Tyng". 2. "Adams Seat in Quincy", 1787. 8 A period plan of the Adams property prepared c.1966. Wilhelmina Harris, Furnishings Report, o/the Old House, Adams National Historic Site (NHS), Quincy, Massachusetts, 1966-68, Vol. 9, #548, p. 820. 3. "Braintree", 1798. 16 By E. Malcolm, New York, New York. Adams NHS. Also in Helen Nelson Skeen, Documentary Narrative o/Buildings Shown on Historic Base Map o/the Adams National Historic Site, 196 5, fig. 1. 4. "Sketch of the Mansion", 1820. 18 By Abigail Smith Adams. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 2, #40, p. 178. 5. "Seat of Hon. John Adams", 1820-1829. 19 By George Washington Beale. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 2, #41, p. 179. • 6. "Residence ofJohn Adams and John Quincy Adams", 1823. 20 By Eliza Susan Quincy. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, p.180. 7. "Plan of the Adams Place", 1826. 20 By Matthew Worthington, Surveyor. Reproduction at Quincy Historical Society. 8. "The Adams Seat in Quincy", 1823. 24 By Mrs. G.W Whitney. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9, p. 55l. 9. "A View of the Residence of Late President Adams at Quincy, 28 Massachusetts", 1837. By Sarah Apthorp. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9, and Charles E. Peterson, Historic Structures Report, Part 1: The Adams Mansion, Adams National Historic Site, 1963, fig. 7. 10. "Residence ofJohn Quincy Adams, Quincy, Massachusetts", 1846. 30 \V'oodcut, artist unknown. Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 3, #45, p. 185. • IV ~ r---------------- -- .~ FIGURE PAGE 11. "Daguerreotype of Old House", 1849. 34 By Mr. Whipple, Boston, Massachusetts. Adams NHS, Bureau, Third Floor, 1869 Addition. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9. Ibid, Vol. 3, #46. 12. Plan of Charles Frances Adams's Homestead, 1849. 35 Surveyed by S. D. Eaton. The Office of Earnest W Branch, Civil Engineer, 11 Adams Building, Quincy, Massachusetts. Also in Peterson, Historic Structures Report, 1963. Ill. 3. 13. A portion of the Eaton survey, 1849. 36 Prepared by Earnest W Branch, Civil Engineer, 11 Adams Building, Quincy, Massachusetts. Also in Helen L. Nelson, Report on the Property on the South Side ofAdams Street, 1962. 14. "View in Oils", 1849. 37 By Frankenstein. Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9. 15. "View of the Adams Mansion at Quincy", 1852. 38 Engraving by Mallory. Gleason's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion, Volume 3, 1852, p.l20. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 3. 16. "Changes Recommended for the Old House Grounds", 1865. 40 By John Quincy Adams II. Adams Manuscripts, Massachusetts Historical Society. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 3, #48, p.188. 17. Photograph of the front of the Old House, 1870. 41 • Adams NHS. Also in Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9, #34, p. 838. 18. Photograph of Adams mansion, c.1880. 44 Quincy Historical Society. 19. Photograph of Old House, 1882. 44 By Baldwin Coolidge, 154 Tremont Street, Boston. Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, #466-A. 20. View of the flood of 1886. 45 Harris, Furnishings Report, Vol. 9, p. 841. 21. View of Old House taken from field across Adams Street, 1887. 45 Quincy Historical Society. 22. Photograph of Old House taken from southwest corner of property, 1889. 46 Adams NHS. Also in Skeen, Documentary History ofthe Old House, fig. 10. 23. Map details of the Adams estate and surrounding properties, 1897. 49 Atlas of Norfolk County, Quincy Historical Society. 24. Adams garden and library, 1903. 50 Adams NHS. Also in Skeen, Documentary Narratiu'e ofBuildings Shown on • Historic Base lv/ap ofthe Adams National Historic Site, 1965, fig. 11. v ~ FIGURE PAGE 0/. 25. Plan ofland in the City of Quincy, 1905. 51 Quincy Historical Sociery.