DATA SHEET Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE: (Rev. 6-72) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Rhode Island COUN T Y: NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Bristol INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) IMR 1 ^ "^ $1 W^l: Sllll? : ' V? •;::-. £!:!?*; ! : i :•;•' f*!? : i:::f£ ;:> ::: • £. f• < ••$! Us ^l^1!^^1!5! W^l^ ^l^:': - :':.-:. ^mSmii COMMON: Bristol Waterfront Historic District AND/OR HISTORIC: (ill ^Ill/il^l^l^p^fl'^^t'i^^^l STREET AND NUMBER: fL -t; •-> -- • - ' ' ' '' -' J '_'• tt A...C ^ ' .- r '- : -* ' (- <*-• , O-. ^ See Continuation Sheet 1 1^ , ;;- -,, /.j\£;W<s .. •.-.rv-^.. CITY OR TOWN: CONGREZSSIONAL DISTRICT: Bristol Ferna nd J. St. Germain, # 1 STATE CODE COUNTY CODE Rhode Island 44 J/^ fW 001 tllllii^l&ill Kr:M : •••••••••••• ;'• ";.;; ' : / ;•-?;; ;• : • .;,•.' \: .'..",:' : •; 'v •-.•••• t v;: • :':.-I si; i: : ^: :- i/:? yglilOJ ACCESSIBLE CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS (Check One) TO THE PUBLIC Q District Q Building 1 1 Public Public Acquisition: S Occupied Yes: O Restricted n Site Q Structure D Private D In Process [ | Unoccupied £7] Unrestricted rj Object H Both D Bein 9 Considere [ | Preservation work in progress n NO PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) \ I Agricultural [")<[ Government | | Park 1 I Transportation I | Comments [^| Commercial S Industrial [jj Private Residence D Other (Specify) El Educational S Military [^ Religious | | Entertainment Q Museum [ | Scientific • :':: ::|:!&:;,:?v>^^ W^S^SMiM^^lli^fK^s^v OWNER'S NAME: •--.' AN "'"->-' \ STATE- multiple \ STREET AND NUMBER: '"<; igfA x^^ •;•;' ^QM ^ v-4 CITY OR TOWN: STA T E * 56 I ' •" r»,' CODE -V u lilgillll^ lplp;ligil^!«lis:i:;:;:^;;^;^;|:^ COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: x^ra^v/ COUNTY: Bristol Town Hall STREET AND NUMBER: Court Street Cl TY OR TOWN: STA TE CODE Bristol Rhode Island W IP^PPiSi^lMK TITUE OF SURVEY: ENTR Statewide Survey - Phase I -n O NUMBER•f DATE OF SURVEY: 1972~197^ ^ Federal Q State Q County Q Loca | 70 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: * Z•a Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission CO CO C CO STREET AND NUMBER: I7 "; m 0 John Brown House, 52 Power Street r~2 CITY OR TOWN: STA TE: CODE Providence R node Island 02906 44 DATE (Check One) Excellent D Good Fair | | Deteriorated Ruin f~1 Unexposed CONDITION (Check One) (Check One) Altered Q Unaltered Moved [23 Original Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The Bristol Waterfront Historic District corresponds to the original Town Plan laid out in 1680 by the first proprietors: John Walley, Stephen Burton, Nathaniel Byfield and Nathaniel Oliver. These four Boston merchants paid Plimoth Colony $1,100.00 for the entire 7,000 acre tract lying between Taunton and Mt. Hope Bay on the east, Narragansett Bay on the south and west and the Indian Village of Sowams (now Warren) on the north. At the close of King Philip's War in 1678 these ancestral Wampanoag Indian lands (exempt from the Pokanoket Purchase of 1653) had been claimed by four colonies, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Plimoth; Plimoth won the dispute. Bristol remained part of the Massachusetts Colony until 17^6 when it was annexed to Rhode Island. The four proprietors laid out the new settlement on the west shore of Mt. Hope Neck where an excellent harbor was known to exist: four 00 north-to-south streets (Thames, Hope, High and Wood) and ntne east to west streets (Oliver, Franklin, Bradford, State, Church, Constitution, rn Union, Burton and Walley) established the town grid containing squares m of 8 acres and 128 original house lots; waterfront lots contained approx­ imately one acre each. Land was provided for a Meeting House, Burying Place, Common, Town House, Market House and School House. This street pattern exists today with the addition of only a few secondary streets. The Town Common,- bound by State, Wood, Church and High Streets in the center of town, contains four of Bristol's most important buildings: the 70 Bristol County Courthouse (1817), the First Baptist Church (1814/1882), C the Byfield School (1872) and the Walley School (1895), and continues to n fill its original function. H The first town meeting (a form which exists today) was held September 1, 1681 ; the name "Bristol" was chosen in honor of the great English sea­ port in anticipation of the birth of new colonial maritime center. By 1684 the first Meeting House was erected on the site of the present Court House and by 1700, 62 dwellings were built. Parker Borden's wharf at the foot of Oliver Street (on land now owned by the Penn Central RR) was the first wharf in town. By 1770 Bristol was among the leading commercial ports in New England with about 50 vessels, sloops and schooners. Bristol captains traded along the coast to the middle and Southern States, then extended voyages to reach the West Indies where many of the early merchants had sugar and coffee plantations, and later to all ports of the world. Exports were chiefly produce, pickled fish, horses and sheep; and imports mainly sugar, molasses, coffee and rum. Many fine houses and mansions reflect today the wealth of this prosperous eighteenth century and early nineteenth century maritime community. Wood was the predominant material used to build 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 story gambrel, gable or hip roof, center and paired chimney, houses set close to the street on deep narrow lots. Doorways throughout Bristol reflect tod,ay the skill of her early ship-wright/carpenters. Noteworthy Georgian period examples are the Nye-Perry House (c.1770), 675 Hope (See Continuation Sheet 1) PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) | | Pre-Columbian | I 1 16th Century 18th Century 20th Century n 15th Century S 17th Century 19th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal 13 Education Political j Urban Planning [~~1 Prehistoric | | Engineering Religion/Phi- Other (Specify) [^ Historic [~X| Industry losophy Recreation [ | Agriculture [><i Invention Science fXI Architecture |"xl Landscape [ | Sculpture S Art Architecture Social/Human­ [XI Commerce | | Literature itarian [ | Communications [3 Military Theater | | Conservation n Music Transportation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE From 1680 to 1974, the history of Bristol spans nearly 300 years. The architectural, economic, and social development of this "planned" community is dynamically illustrated by the concentration of over 400 historic buildings and sites contained within the Bristol Waterfront Historic District. Superb examples from all periods of its growth, including the work of several important architects, dominated in the h- 19th century by Russell Warren and in the 20th century by Wall is E. Howe (both residents of Bristol), are visible; it is the scale, quality, U craftsmanship, texture, and richness of detail that give Bristol arch­ ID itecture national significance. Bristol's Town Plan is unique in Rhode OL Island. Unlike other Rhode Island communities which grew up along a h- waterfront axis, along the Old Post Road, or around a mill site, Bristol alone originated as a commercial venture with planned community, resi­ dential, and commercial spaces. Bristol is significant not only for architecture and its original 111 Town Plan but for its rise from a colonial seaport into a leading New England Maritime center; its role during the American Revolution and LU the War of 1812, the influence of the DeWolf family who dominated oo shipping, slaving, banking, trading and politics of the early nineteenth century, the development of m?dM9th century manufacturing interests which shifted the economic base of Bristol from maritime commerce to industry; and the era of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. from 1863 to 1948, designeers and builders of "America's Cup" defenders and U. S. Navy vessels. Of major social significance is the growth of immi­ gration of Irish, Italian and Portuguese families from the 1st quarter of the 19th century, who today dominate Bristol; and the wide-spread popularity of the "Bristol Parade". Russell Warren (1784-1860), a self-taught designer, was born in Tiverton, R. I. and moved to Bristol in 1800. Warren's work is noted for inventiveness and spans nearly 60 years illustrating the changing spectrum of architectural styles including Federal, Greek Revival, Early Victorian and Gothic Revival examples that were popular during his lifetime. Ten houses designed by Russell Warren still stand in Bristol. Federal examples include the magnificant Linden Place (1810), 5QO Hope Street, designed for General George DeWolf, the Russell Warren House (See Continuation Sheet 6) i! fli|||J;i:|€f*f|^ 1. "Architectural S Historical Bristol, Rhode Island", compiled by Alice DeWolf Pardee, assisted by Norman Herreshoff and updated, with assist­ ance of Alice B. Almy and Charles A. Young, Town of Bristol, 1973. 2. Carter, III, Samuel, The Boatbuilders of Bristol, Doubleday & Company. Inc., Garden City, New York, 1970. 3. Greene, Welcome Arnold, The Providence Plantations for 250 years, J. A. & R. A. Reid, Publisher & Printers, Providence, R. 1., 1886. (See Continuation Sheet 9) |t$l|ii$$:^A;i*N|£ Ai^b'At A ". , :v?:; :i: -;;.-":; ^ .i^^f-?^ LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND LONGIT'JDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY V 1 DEFINING Thti t-tNTER POIN 1 OF A PROPERTY j OF LESS THAN TFN ACRES ————————— ————————————————————————— ————————————————————————— f CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW See Continuation 'ShSet 10 : '"' " 0 , « ' o ' » » NE ° ° SE ° ° SW ° o APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: __,, en |LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR (*OfJN T^f? 0^4 D A Rl ES rn STATE: CODE COUNTY '.-.•/;••"'"* fi^ ~^^';';-t \ CODE m STATE: •; CODE COUNTY:; . •' s , \ .)'M CODE ; :;_;, ^ w ' \...\ STATE: CODE COUNTY)' 'i _ ._ .