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A GUIDE TO SHERBORN ANNE CARR SHAUGHNESSY The 300th Anniversary Committee
Copyright (c) 300th Anniversary Committee, Sherborn, Mass., 1974
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. PREFACE The story and illustrations which comprise this book are not, in the strict sense, a guide such as would be sought by a traveler visiting Sherborn for the first time. Rather this is a piece intended to supplement the concurrent History book of our town. Together they reveal how beguiling Sherborn is and what part this more than 300 year old town has played in the history of our Nation about 10 celebrate her 200th birthday. Though her people are great travelers, Sherbornites are not dismayed that the name of their town brings the question "Where is it?". We sing her praises quietly and care not to be world renowned. While in many ways a typical New England town, Sherborn has an indefinable individuality and a fine sense of continuity portrayed in a happy blending of the present with the past. Her homes are an example of this, both architecturally and historically, and included here are those houses which have weathered at least 100 years, along with the 1875 Atlas Map which was one of those used n the research. The historic places and memorials will hopefully whet the reader's appetite for becoming thoroughly familiar with the history which they commemorate. The old industries are the story of individual initiative contributing to the country's progress, and the societies tell the tale of Sherborn's group activities. Delving into Sherborn's history has been an engaging and rewarding study for me and I hope that the ultimate result will be to imbue my fellow Sherborn people with an increased enthusiasm for a knowledge of our Town's story. In questioning many people on times past, I received gratifying response and am grateful to all those who have shared their knowledge with me. I am especially indebted to G. Farrington Fiske, Chairman of the Tercentenary Committee, for his cooperation and encouragement. Embroiled as he was in all the planning for the yearlong Tercentenary program, he still found time to be the greatest participator in the preparation of the Publications. Special thanks are also expressed to Phyllis C. McCarthy and Roberta H. Delaney for their line drawings and map work, and to Frances B. Forbes, Mary A. Scott and Elizabeth D. Rymer for their sketches of the churches.
Anne Carr Shaughnessy V Others to whom sincere thanks are due for having contributed in a variety of ways to the creation of this work are:
Amy T. Gheringhelli, Bertha L. Morrow, Fletcher C. Chamberlin, Theresa I. Newman, Patricia H. Pantazi, Jessie M. Dowse, Margaret B. Brabham, Genevieve L. Heffron, Janet M. Petty, Barbara A. Klein, Joan P. Mott, M. Del Groner, Jane B. Ridinger, Miriam L. Bliss, Jean V. Davis, Marion A. Gray, Elizabeth C. Price, Russell C. Sherrill, Lee T. Sprague, Judith A. SanClements, Patricia A. Bates, Kenneth S. Crowell, Ethel P. Gulliver, Betty Foldvari, John A. Luczkow, Jr., Phyllis F. Lincoln, Harriet H. Tyson, Barbara D. Whitman, Nancy B. Sortwell, Julia L. Rooney, Seth Anderson, Frank A. Strange, Jr., Julia B. Keally, Irene M. Garland, Marge A. Bernard, Doris V. Merrill, Mark Garbutt, Marion P. Gray, Phyllis B. Braun, Edyth F. Johnson, Mary T. Leland, Patricia A. Hyde, Sewell H. Fessenden, Jr., Alice Heffron, Marjorie W. Penshorn, George E. Wakeman, Grace J. Waite, Fritz Bilfinger, George Clark, Raymond L. Clark, Natalie Dowse, Josephine Bryer, Sybil Daniels, Grace D. Hardigan, Lois Harris, Laura A. Bolton, William Allen, Katherine Sturgis, Betty L. Griffin, Catherine Ambos, Elizabeth M. Itse, Beverly G. Muto, Benjamin C. Carroll, John A. Luczkow, Sr., Polly M. Gardner, Janice Jenkins, Raymond S. Jerominek, Marion I. Burns, Stanley McDonald, Mary Cousineau, William VanBlarcom, Jr., Betty Walsh, Dr. Theodore Wilder, William S. Towne, Jean P. Rosseau, Ellen M. Green, Patricia A. Andringa, Willard R. Tougas, Phyllis S. Vickers.
VI CONTENTS
VII
POPULATION by the local 1973 census is 3,862.
AREA 11,000 Acres.
HEIGHT ABOVE SEA LEVEL
SITUATION
OUT OF STATE TRAVEL
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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2 Sherborn
CHURCH SERVICES At the Pilgrim Church, Sunday Morning Worship is at 10:00 with Church School held at the same time. At 7:00 in the evening, Junior and Senior Fellowships are held. Summer hour for Sunday service is 9:00 A.M. At St. Theresa's Chapel, Sunday Masses are at 5:30 on Saturday evening and at 8, 9, 10 and 11 on Sunday morning. Holyday Masses are on the Eve at 5:30 and 7:00, and at 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning and at 6:30 in the afternoon. Daily Masses as announced on Sunday.
SHERBORN LIBRARY
NEWSPAPERS
SHOPS
SPORTS AND RECREATION
Local Information 3
passes a regular baseball field, a little league field, tennis courts, skating pond and a toboggan run! With parking facilities and lifeguards, Farm Pond furnishes a beautiful place to swim or sail. The reservations and forests provide fine trails for nature lovers in summer or winter and an ideal place for snowshoeing or cross-country skiing.
TOWN CELEBRATIONS
The continuing Saga of Sherborn is told each year in open Town Meeting where she still affords each person the opportunity of open and vocal dissent. This colonial village (1652) was practicing the right of free speech and argument for worthy cause long before the Revolutionary War, and the Sherborn Minutemen of 1774 understood well that they were fighting for what had always been their right. Though the Town was incorporated in 1674, it was several years before the church was erected, even though this was the main reason given in "praying for incorporation" to the Great and General Court. And why? They had plenty of lumber, for Thomas Sawin had a fine sawmill operating on Chestnut Brook (Course Brook) and there was plenty of interest, for everyone felt a great need for a place of worship. However, the choice of a site for the building was a worthy cause for argument. All but one of the earliest settlers resided in the southern quarter of the town. They thought they had the right to decide so important a matter as the location of the church and naturally desired to build it near their dwellings. In fact, they had staked out a meetinghouse lot on a hill commanding a view of the Charles River, now believed to have been next to their cemetery (Old South). The later colonists living on Edward's Plain (North Main Street) wished the church to be equidistant from the extremities of the township and, incidentally, close by their own homes. The committee which had been chosen to "settle a minister" for the colony couldn't do so without a church at least under way, and so, discouraged, appealed to the Court to resolve their difficulties. Three men, appointed by the Great and General Court, came to town and acted as present-day arbiters. They placed the meetinghouse in the more central spot. Several years later when a more commodious building was contemplated, the same difficulties arose and this time the objecting "dwellers on ye West side of Dopping Brook" were set apart from Sherborn and incorporated as the town of Holliston in 1724. Sherborn gracefully accepted the Court's decision in this matter and even returned the money which those set apart had subscribed for the new church. Then they placed their new meetinghouse exactly beside the site of the first one.
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6 Sherborn
Our town gets its name from the ancient town of Sherborne, situated on the bank of the River Yeo, in the County of Dorset, England. The name is of Saxon origin and means "pure water." When the first settlers sent their request to the General Court to be made a town they did not suggest under what name they wished to be incorporated. The influential John Hull, Mint-master of the Colony, had among his extensive holdings a grant of 500 acres in Boggestow, the Indian name for the Sherborn area, and his land included Sewell's Meadow and much of the center of town. One of his ancestors, prominent in Sherborne, England, had been appointed guardian of the minor children of the unfortunate Sir Walter Raleigh, whose home was in Sherborne. Sherborn was successful as a settlement because the people who came here were Puritans who brooked no nonsense and, perhaps, because the settlers here had learned from the errors made by older settlements (Plymouth was founded in 1630). She adopted her well-known "Social Compact," an instrument which showed great forethought and was ratified by the General Court. The first article of this Compact provided that those receiving land from the Town were subject to its orders and must subscribe their name to its Town Book. The second pertained to the settlement of differences by arbitration. Article III dealt with endeavoring to receive only honest people as settlers, and the last stipulated that for seven years no inhabitant should sell the land that had been granted to him by the Town, without express permission of the Selectmen and always provided that this should in no way hinder any heirs at common law. This Compact was aimed at keeping the new settlers long enough for them to form homes and become permanent residents, for it was believed that a man who became a part of the body politic would then have the best interests of the settlement close to his heart. Carpetbaggers they could do without in founding a successful, permanent community.
When they had recovered from King Philip's War and no longer needed to
repair to their Forts constantly in anticipation of Indian raids, the Town
exchanged lands with Natick to make a more compactly bounded colony. 'They
also paid the Indians a mutually satisfactory amount for each parcel which
had been granted to them by the Court. Then at Town Meeting in 1679, they
elected their first Selectmen and settled on the administration of the
internal affairs of the Town. A Selectman was appointed to teach the youth
to read, write and cipher, and this was done in different homes for some
years.
The Saga of Sherborn 7
The first century of settlement in Massachusetts ended on a somber note in the town of Salem with the Witch Trials, and, though Sherborn was too busy and independent to be involved, one of her landholders very much was. Samuel Sewell owned considerable lands and a house (102 South Main Street) which his wife had inherited from her father, John Hull, who had become Treasurer of the Massachusetts Colony before his death. Though the Sewells lived in Boston, Samuel writes in his diary of Moses Adams who lived in his Sherborn house and of the holidays he and his wife spent here with him. He became famous, or infamous, by traveling north from Boston as one of the Justices at the Salem Witchcraft Trials. From his ownership has come the name Sewell's Brook which flowed through his meadow which also still bears his name.
The genius of Longfellow in his immortal poem "Evangeline" has familiarized everyone in America with the story of the exile of the Acadians from their homes in Nova Scotia, and, though most of these 7,000 French neutrals were sent to Louisiana, Sherborn was intimately connected with that unfortunate event. In 1756, a family of seven of these people was assigned to Sherborn and tradition has it that they were housed in the Hopestill Leland Farm. When Marblehead petitioned the Provincial Government to remove the Acadians they were housing, saying that they feared these aliens would try to escape by means of the numerous vessels in the harbor, The House voted to move all those Acadians in coastal towns further inland, and sent a second family of five to Sherborn. There is but one link that perpetuated this strain of French blood in the community and that is the marriage in 1838 of Phoebe Despeau to David Leland.
In 1770, Sherborn sent a President to Harvard College in the person of its minister, Rev. Samuel Locke, who occupied this distinguished post but three years, after which he returned to Sherborn and opened a boys' school at his home (8 Washington Street). Many years after his death Harvard University erected a granite monument to his memory at Pine Hill Cemetery.
In 1788, when the acceptance of the Federal Constitution came up for
decision, Sherborn chose Daniel Whitney to act in the matter. They
believed in self-government and had battled to se-
8 Sherborn cure it. They also valued highly the theory of representative government and they elected a representative to act in the matter as well. They singled out this man of wisdom, patriotism and integrity, and sent him to Boston to hear the arguments for and against the question and then to make a decision in the light of what he found. No referendum for them. "We mean not to give you positive instruction . . . When assembling, you will have the collective wisdom of the state before you. You will hear all that can be said on the subject and consequently be able to form a judicious opinion; and having the fullest confidence in your ability, wisdom, integrity and patriotism, we cheerfully on our part submit this important question to your decision." That honorable member was one of the majority to vote in favor of this great charter of our freedom.
Sherborn started her second hundred years with 113 families, many of whom had prospered enough to enlarge their saltbox houses. Those who were newly establishing in the 1800s, were building more impressive homes and starting small industries, the most prosperous of which was the manufacturing of shoes. Other homes were built nearby because of the jobs these factories afforded, and "The Plains" was soon populated enough to have its own store. The Holbrook Cider Mill in the south of town became known as "the largest cider mill in the world" exporting its champagne cider to England. P. McCarthy and Son took over the business in 1912, and its fame grew not only for its sparkling cider but its Shawmut Beverages as well. The willow industry flourished on Maple Street and Yankee ingenuity caused the Fleming brothers to build their houses with the brook running through the cellar so that the willow shoots which they grew themselves could easily be kept the proper dampness for working.
During this century, Sherborn attracted several retired sea captains who
made their homes here after exciting days spent aboard whalers or merchant
vessels. Perhaps they were captivated by beautiful Farm Pond for here
there was a steam launch plying its waters and offering one and all a
sightseeing tour for five cents. Clovernook Grove on the shore was quite a
'watering place' for people from miles around.
The Saga of Sherborn 9
The number of dwellings was just under 200 as Sherborn started her third
century, and during the next 70 years was to increase that number by only
100. She had the wisdom to plan for the residential building boom which
was extending in an ever-widening circle around the Hub, deeper and deeper
into the country. The proximity of the Route 128 Business Complex and the
housing it necessitated compounded the problem for Sherborn, so that
before her three hundredth year there were better than 1,000 homes within
her boundaries. Those coming here to live liked her rural atmosphere and
Sherborn works to preserve it.
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Sherborn's history has been written by her people living in homes scattered over the township and imbuing their cherished ideals in their children. These young people formed a next generation inheriting the homestead or establishing yet another one on a section of the family's holdings.
These homes built in the sixteen, seventeen and eighteen hundreds, are our tangible link with those centuries. Their construction in each period is cause to marvel when you realize what tools they worked with.
Need for larger homes generally meant an addition to the existing one. Affluence, coupled with a desire to modernize, caused other sometimes drastic changes, but the core of our heritage is there just waiting to be appreciated.
In their trips through New England towns where winters were so cold, Washington and Lafayette each expressed surprise at the general use of wood in buildings. If they implied that something might be cozier than wood, they erred. If they were concerned with the hazard of fire, their concern was well placed, for Sherborn lost a great number of early homes through burning, usually in the 'dead of winter.'
Come, take a tour with us and study our history through the homes, still standing, that were built more than. a hundred years ago. The present owner's name follows each description. You will find Historic buildings, memorials and sites also included as well as present businesses.
Street numbers assigned by the Town and used for postal identification precede each description.
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14 Sherborn
The Leland Monument
"Henry Lealand, The Puritan, Emigrated from
Sherborn's main street was laid out almost 100 years before the Revolution. The road was smoothed and widened for general travel in 1683, after the Indians were subdued. It became the main post and stagecoach route between Boston and Hartford, Connecticut. The stage made a daily trip through Town. Commerce on the highway changed the face of Sherborn. By the end of the seventeenth century, cider mills, gun shops and general stores turned Sherborn into a thriving community of artisans and craftsmen. In the process of change, Sherborn stopped, in 1847, to pay homage to its pioneer forebears. Facing the junction of Routes 16 and 27, on the church green, is the Leland Monument, dedicated that year to one of the first settlers, the independent and purposeful Henry Layland. At the time of the dedication, almost half of the town could claim relationship with Henry.
WASHINGTON STREET #5 - Homer Associates. Immediately next to the Leland Monument, one of the willow weavers, George Fleming, built a home on this imposing knoll. The house was finished in 1880, and was a duplicate of 137 South Main Street, even to the mansard roof. After a fire in 1948, which destroyed the large barn on the south side and much of the house, it was rebuilt as it now stands. Homer Associates, comprising two separate businesses - Homer Associates Realtors, and Homer Associates Consulting
16 Sherborn
Engineers - occupy the premises, but have retained the interior structural beauty of the house. This is a local husband and wife team; Bob Homer with his partner Bob Entwisle specializes in highway, traffic, structural and environmental work. Jean Homer, with help from Mary Chamberlin, Jean Rosseau, Sue Peirson, Shirley Burke and Jane Brundage, makes up one of Sherborn's realty firms. On the Common, and at the foot of Sanger Street on South Main Street, are Sherborn's three Church edifices and the time of their services may be found under 'Local Information' at the front of the book. The Town House, where the Police Station is now situated, is open during the day, as are the businesses in the area.
The First Parish Church
The First Parish Church is the third meetinghouse to be built on this site. It was erected in 1830, after the plan of the church in Sutton, Massachusetts. Observe the unspoiled serenity of this
Area 1 17 building, situated on the Common where the first settlers built their church in 1680. This was replaced by a larger edifice in 1724. With its graceful steeple and Doric pillars, this building provides a typical example of New England church architecture at its best.
The Good-As-New Shop is a consignment shop started by three members of the Women's Alliance of the First Parish Church, in 1962. It is open, in the wing of the building, on Wednesdays from ten to four o'clock.
The Town House
The Town House, adjacent to the Meetinghouse on the Common, is another of Sherborn's history-rich buildings, and was built in 1856. It housed at that time, "a spacious and elegant school-room" as well as the Town's first public library. The Town House served as the center of civic affairs, and provided a place for the many great social events, presenting an air of elegance in the evening with its great oil-lighted chandelier. When the Board of Selectmen and other Town officials moved their offices to the
18 Sherborn
Dowse Memorial Building, only the Police Station remained on the first floor. The second-floor Hall is still used for many town functions.
The Site of Unity Hall - The building which stood here was built as a shop for a basket weaver and was bought by the First Church as a parsonage and then as a Sunday School and social hall. It stood behind the church on the lower level, until it was moved away in 1959. There used to be a steep stairway down the hillside to reach it, as it fronted on South Main Street.
Unity Hall
SOUTH MAIN STREET #5 - This charming house was built circa 1840, and here in the kitchen was Sherborn's first telephone exchange, 'manned' by Celia Holbrook and her sister. Where the parking lot is now, their father had a blacksmith shop, which had been Elbridge Bickford's before him. Behind the blacksmith shop, energetic
Area 1 19
James Salisbury had a cider mill, paintshop, and a canning factory, all of which burned on July 4, 1902, at ten in the evening. The valiant firemen were able to save only this house. (John W. Merrill)
Mr. Salisbury set the pattern for this small section of Sherborn and it has remained a lively fountain of commercial activity. A bit south of the 'Salisbury Block' is Sherborn Motor Sales, one of Sherborn's busiest enterprises, and next to this a new Chevron Station has taken the place of the smithy. The station is built.
20 Sherborn
on the site of 'Jackson's Store,' long a town landmark where Sherborn's one-time Fire Chief, John Jackson, ran a sundries store where everyone in town collected to get the news.
Jackson's Store
Jim's Convenience Center provides myriad services to the town as a drop-off spot for shoe or TV repair, photo work, and dry cleaning. It also houses a gift corner of handwork from local resident designers with antiques and modern originals completing a treasure-trove for the sightseer.
The Pilgrim Church, which was dedicated in 1830, had a most delicate tall spire. In 1853, the building was moved more centrally on the property and at that time was extended twenty feet to the rear and raised ten feet, thus affording a second floor and leaving room in front for a green. Lightning struck the steeple in 1922, toppling it to the ground and doing much damage to the edifice. All was soon repaired and in 1944, the rear section was added for church-school use. Beneath the painting of Rev. Edmund Dowse in the church proper is the chair which he used in the Massachusetts Senate where he served as Chaplain for 25 years.
Area 1 21
The Pilgrim Church
The Rocking Horse School has occupied quarters in Pilgrim Church since 1966, and is operated by Elaine A. Young and Alice S. French as a nursery school for children from three to five years old.
22 Sherborn
St. Theresa's Church
Area 1 23
#27 - "The Driscoll House" was planned by master builder Bowen Adams, who built this home for himself in 1815, situating it on a knoll, high above the dust of the daily stagecoach, but still in view of the activities of the town. The interior of the house has suffered little with the passage of time. The 'parlor' fireplace still throws a good heat and, in the dining room, set behind a three-foot door, are the brick bake ovens. Driscoll descendants still own this landmark. (Mrs. William J. Rooney)
#31- "The Hawes Place" - This magnificent gabled house was built by Fred Leland in the 1830s. The high pitched, center gable is relieved by a lacy, fretwork trim. This home retains the original kitchen fireplace, with its soap-making niche on one side, and the large iron warming oven on the other. The room is paneled with 28-inch boards, which were originally part of the attic floor. One room features a copper ceiling, in squares, and another has an ornate tin ceiling. The house, which boasts six working fireplaces, gained its name from the family who resided there for many generations and who provided Sherborn with five Postmasters. (Irving MacArthur)
St. Theresa's Church - This devotional Chapel was dedicated in September of 1924, and became a Parish in 1945, with the Pastor residing at the Rectory at 24 North Main Street. The many Masses for Sunday are on the marker on the lawn, witness to the large Parish this small chapel now serves so well. William Collett of Boston drew the plans for this 1898 building, which reflects the architecture of the period. It was commissioned by the Town to house the elderly poor, a method for their care which was even then being phased out over New England. The Town soon was renting it as a Parsonage. After a few years of vacancy, it was purchased by the Archdiocese of Boston, and renovated for St. Theresa's Church, which is now in its fiftieth year.
#37 - This charming red house was built in the 1820s, by Horatio and Cally Coolidge on a corner of her brother's land, where St. Theresa's Church now stands. The Flemings, who lived here later, had twin daughters whose 'made in Sherborn' double wicker cradle is on display at the Sherborn Historical Society. A main feature of the house is the central chimney, from which three fireplaces offer warmth and charm. The wide floorboards have been preserved and the exterior retains its early New England simplicity. (Francis M. Mahard, Jr.)
AREA 2
These are all private residences. Over the years, Farm Road has been called 'The Road to the Farm,' 'The Village Road to Dover,' and 'Trinity Street,' the latter because of its proximity to the Pilgrim Church, until, in the early 1900s, it officially became Farm Road. This was called the Farm District when the town was divided into school districts, and the Farm School was located at the northwest corner of Farm Road and Lake Street. As you travel along Farm Road, observe the many stone walls which the early settlers used as boundaries.
FARM ROAD #8 - Palemon Bickford built this sturdy home into the side of a hill in 1859, for his brother, Elbridge Bickford, who was a blacksmith. The doorway detail is evidence of Palemon's craftsmanship with its long cornice board supported by reeded pilasters which flank the recessed sidelights. The door itself, highlighted in bright pink, is believed to be the original. The gable ended section with two chimneys is the original part of the house and the four-paneled doors with their white porcelain knobs have been restored. The hillside is terraced with stone walls. At one time the former 'town lock-up' stood on the knoll in the southwest corner. (George F. Hill)
Area 2 25
#11 - "The Goulding House" was built before 1852, for in this year Benjamin Bullard resided here and sold part of his holding (now 15 Farm Road) to Michael Guryn, reserving "the right and privilege of taking water from the well near my westerly dwelling." Later Henry Goulding, who was the flagman at the crossing near his home and noted for caning chairs, bought the property for his homestead. The original four rooms have the wide floorboards characteristic of this period and the paneled doors have iron latches and white porcelain knobs on the closet doors. The ceilings are higher than is usual for the farmhouse of this period and the windows are taller. (Merton Goulding)
#15 - "The Ramsley House." "...a certain tract of land situated in Sherburne with all the buildings standing thereon near the meeting house on the northerly side of the Road leading from Sherburne to Dover bounded..." Such was the introduction to the description in the deed Michael Guryn received from Benjamin Bullard in 1852, "in consideration of nineteen hundred and seventy-five dollars." By this deed, #15 and #11 Farm Road were separated and it is clear that dwellings existed on each property at this time. Bullard had acquired the combined properties in 1836, from Nathan Grout. Many of the authentic features of this early nineteenth century Cape Cod farmhouse have been preserved. The modified Christian cross front door is framed with recessed five-panel lights; many of the original wavy panes remain in the six-over-six sashes; old latches and hinges are used throughout. The granite block steps and foundation, narrow siding, wide pine floorboards, low ceilings, hand-hewn corner posts with pegs, shallow fireplace with a crane and a dug well in the cellar are all typical of construction of this period. The east wing was added by Michael Guryn, who used these two rooms with separate entrance as his cobbler shop. A number of shoe lasts dated in the 1840s have been found in the old barn. Guryn had married Persis Anne Bullard, Benjamin's daughter, in 1840. (Alvin 0. Ramsley)
#21 - This charming Cape with central chimney was built before 1856, facing south on a knoll which slopes gradually to the stone wall bordering the front edge of the property. The center entrance is enhanced on either side by full-length paned sidelights. The door itself is four-paneled. Each of the first floor rooms in the main part of the house has a fireplace, with a dutch oven used for family cooking as part of the kitchen fireplace. The small room, off the early kitchen, was known as the borning
26 Sherborn
room. There are exposed hand-hewn pegged beams and wide pine floorboards throughout the house. (Russell Sherrill)
#25 - "Reverend Edmund Dowse House" was built for his home about 1838, when he was beginning his 67-year ministry of the Pilgrim Church. This house faces east rather than towards the
Area 2 27
road and the main entrance has a porch. Much of the glass in the windows seems original, as it is markedly wavy and bubbled, but the bay windows facing the street were added at a later time. Two chimneys in the front of the house served six fireplaces, all shallow and intended for heating rather than cooking, although there is a small crane in the present dining-room fireplace. This room formerly served as Rev. Dowse's study. In the front parlor, is a unique exception to the simplicity of the other fireplaces, for this one is pilastered and has elaborate moldings, panels and hand carving in natural hardwood inlaid with a portrait of St. Jerome. The hearth itself is tiled and the opening is bordered with decorative tiles. (Stanley M. McDonald, Jr.)
#32 - "The Potter Place" was built before 1875, by Andrew Potter. This unique little house, facing north, is nestled behind a knoll and built into a hillside. A giant old maple shades the front. Along the west end of the dwelling runs a stream reminiscent of a millstream with its sides walled with rocks to form a channel, that might have tunneled water to a mill wheel as it flowed in a southerly direction. (Mrs. Patricia Caldwell.)
#35 - "Bacon House". This stately, Colonial farmhouse was built 1765-68, by Joseph Bacon, who had acquired part of the Morse family holdings. Bacon, a builder who had helped to enlarge the second church in Sherborn, sold the property in 1769, to Joseph Holbrook, the brother of the famous gunmaker, Thomas. The center entrance doorway is adorned with pilasters on either side. Five small bull's-eye panes embellish the rectangular fanlight, and the door itself has two large bull's-eye panes. Four of the original fireplaces have been preserved, one with a beehive oven. The windows are set six inches deep and the inside doors are still secured with catches. A few yards east of the farm, lies a path which leads into one of the first roads in town, 'the Way from the Woods-Ware-Goulding Farms to the Meeting House.' (Walter Robb)
#64 - "Moses C. Babcock House" was built at the time of his marriage to Persis W. Hill of Sherborn, in the late 1830s. The house, with a center entrance, faces north. Its span roof has two chimneys. The ell may have been a part of the original structure or added later. This house has a certain grandeur with its four long front windows, high ceilings, ornamental design of the pediment above the doorway. The doorway has recessed sidelights, each light having four panes of glass with a wooden panel below and
28 Sherborn
each edged with narrow reeded pilasters. Old carriage lights illuminate the doorway. In one front room is a shallow fireplace with a crane for a copper teakettle. The present kitchen in the ell, next the double-doored barn with its iron hinges, faces south with a bay window looking out over the country hillside. (Dr. G. H. Mudge)
None of the homes in this area is open to the public, so please do not disturb the residents. Farm Pond Reservation is open after June thirtieth for the season, with lifeguards on duty at the swimming area. From the beach or the boat landing, a view of this great 'sheet of clear water' is yours. The Sherborn Yacht club docks are on private property but membership is open to
30 Sherborn
any resident of the town. Parking for Little Pond Sanctuary is afforded for a small number of cars on Farm Road near the entrance to the Sanctuary. Further along on Farm Road is one of the town's old cemeteries. Please respect this property and the cemetery stones. Should you be fortunate enough to be in this area as the Hunt meets, pull well off the road and enjoy the colorful and exciting sight as they ride to hounds.
LAKE STREET AT FARM POND Clark's Ice House, though not standing, was an important old business in town. It stood on Lake Street where the road comes closest to the water. The clear ice farmed at Farm Lake
Clark's Ice House
was in great demand from the middle of the 1800s until the 1930s. The ice house was double-walled with the space between insulated with sawdust. The art of cutting and storing the ice was practiced from the first of the year until the ice house was full. Besides selling ice out of town, the Clark boys delivered daily in Sherborn through the warm weather.
Area 3 31
Clovernook Grove could be seen across the Lake, a beehive activity in 1875, and was one of three groves which catered to people from distances who came by horse and carriage to spend the day at the grove for picnics, rides in the Steamboat 'Atlanta' or on sailboats which they rented. The Pavilion sold soft drinks, candy and popcorn and had tables and benches set out under the pines. Dances with great orchestras were here all season and greatly patronized.
Farm Lake at Clovernook Grove 1885
Farm Pond Reservation is operated by the Town for the safety and enjoyment of the fishermen, swimmers and sailors, and there are benches for just plain watchers. A swimming program is provided for all ages and lifeguards are always in attendance when the Reservation is open. The lifeguards are often Sherborn young men and ladies who have started their swimming career here at Pond.
Farm Pond Island is privately owned but this does not dissuade the Canadian geese who regularly make it their home.
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Watergate on Farm Pond, 1909
FARM ROAD Little Pond Wildlife Sanctuary consists of beautiful woods, marshes and two ponds. Duck Pond is much smaller than Little Pond which has more than 25 acres of water surface and affords great sport for the fisherman in summer and through ice in winter. Ducks, geese and other waterfowl are its greatest wildlife specialty but the usual animals including deer and fox are there in abundance. Its sixteen miles of trails are excellent for observation of woodland birds and plants, and in winter are great for crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing. Before his death in 1963, Mr. Henry Channing of Sherborn had donated the 273 acres which form this Sanctuary, to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. By an Act of the Legislature provision is made for a parking area and a right of way for pedestrians to Little Pond. This is
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situated on Farm Road east of the Lake Street crossing. Please cooperate to keep this area as a 'Sanctuary.'
#112 - This house, built in 1754, was moved in pieces to its present site in 1938, even retaining its original floorboards and hardware; One of the eleven fireplaces has spoolwork and flowers carved in its panels. Part of the house was rebuilt after the hurricane of that year with wood from Clark's Ice House on Lake Street. (John M. Wood, Jr.)
#137 Lake Street - is on the Farm Road corner. It was built before 1870, and one of the two barns appears to be much older. The roof lines are interesting against the towering trees. (Joseph Clewes)
#138 - This spacious and stately home with its many ells was built circa 1763, for Nathaniel Holbrook Junr., who married Asenath Kendall that year. It has attracted ship Captains through its history, for in the early 1800s, Captain Mears resided there. It then became the home of Capt. Amariah Leland, returning to the town his ancestors had left in 1710. He had a sailboat on Farm Lake when he lived here in 1870 but he continued his long sea voyages for many years as Captain of his barks 'Anna,' 'Ellen Dyer' or 'Lancaster.' Though additions have been made by many owners since that time, with each change taking better advantage of the magnificent view of the water, there still remain the lovely old fireplaces, mantels and gracious stairway to remind us of the past (William G. Anderson)
#156 - This house, built before 1870, has the old wide pineboard floors throughout. Originally an eight-room farmhouse, there were two large additions made in the late twenties - a kitchen and a ballroom - but the windows and old front door of the main part of the house are still in use. (James M. Potts)
#157 - "The Converse Bigelow House" with its large barn was built in 1788 and was inherited by his son Amos. The old house has changed hands quite often and has been remodeled and added onto. (Richard Saltonstall)
#167 - "The Russell House" was built in 1720 for Samuel Morse, grandson of the original settler. At first quite small, it was enlarged by the Russell family who owned it for a hundred years. At the turn of the century, Hayden Channing lived here while he ran the farm across the way for his father, and it was he
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who added the ell onto the back of the house and restored the barn. (Richard Saltonstall)
#177 - "Charlescote Farm." This Federal style home was built in 1759 for Joshua Morse, replacing the Fort which had been built by his ancestor for protection during the Indian wars. Beautifully preserved with four fireplaces angled on the central chimney it has the original stairway gracing the entrance hall. Albert P. Morse was of the last generation of his family to reside here and in 1902 Dr. Channing purchased the property. He added the dormers, the north wing and a portecochere. The latter was removed by the present owners in the twenties. (Richard Saltonstall)
#210 - "The Old Saltbox" was built in 1670, by Daniel Morse junr., whose father had purchased this land in the 800-acre property he acquired from the Bradstreet Grant in 1656. This lovely old house and barn are being restored by the present owners. (Harold M. Brabham)
The Farm Cemetery - Nestled amongst the pines and within eyeshot of the Charles River, is the second oldest graveyard in the town, with gravestones dating back to 1688. It really had been the burial place for the Morse family and, in 1887, the Leona Morse Estate gave it to the Town. It is maintained as an Historic Spot.
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Farm Road Bridge - In 1886, Sherborn voted to build a Truss Bridge with the Town of Dover. This old bridge was built in two sections, since there was a small island in the middle of the Charles River then. There was a big bridge from Dover to the island and then a small ten to fifteen-foot bridge from the island to the Sherborn shore. In 1934, when a bridge was to be built to replace these two sections, there was a dreadful hassle as State, County and local officials were involved. Sherborn Selectmen, after vigorous negotiations, were able to persuade the authorities to rebuild the bridge in its original place, removing the small island in the process and retaining the curve in Farm Road.
AREA 4 South Main Street has always been the only direct road from Sherborn to Medfield and, as a result, has a number of old homes on either side. These are not open to the public, but with a knowledge of their history and a little imagination, these houses can be of great interest.
SOUTH MAIN STREET The Pound is situated just over the top of Pound Hill and in front of #52, as you head south from Sherborn Center. It was constructed in 1770, by Capt. Sanger with the following specifications - "to be six feet high, three feet thick at the bottom and eighteen inches thick at the top, to face the inside, and he to have six pounds if he finish it within one month from this time." The newlywed of the community was appointed the 'Hog Reeve' and was responsible for keeping stray animals in line.
#67 - Built in 1738, by Ezra Holbrook, this house was lived in by three generations of that family before being sold in the early 1800s, to Dalton Goulding, a surveyor. The present owner bought it from Arthur Wright in the 1920s and has added extensively to the original structure. This spacious dormered Cape Cod with its adjoining ells sits behind a white picket fence capping the low fieldstone wall. (Mrs. George M. Barakat)
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#91 - Thomas Holbrook, a Revolutionary War gunsmith, built this house in 1780, or perhaps earlier. It originally stood on the land now occupied by St. Theresa's Church, and was for many years the home of Curtis Coolidge. Patrick McCarthy purchased the house and moved it to this site in 1895, and the move cost only $120! It remained a McCarthy homestead for nearly 50 years. The house has been enlarged, while retaining the lines and features of a Cape Cod, both inside and out. (Robert W. Buntin)
#96 - Originally a small, one story plus attic, saltbox facing south, this house was built between 1760 and 1770, possibly by or for John Ware. It was eventually bought by James Bickford, who added a story and a door facing the road. Mr. Levine acquired it and used it for sorting and barreling his crop of cranberries. By 1945, in a state of deterioration, it was bought and restored by Charles Channing, who moved it a bit south on its foundation. The original south door remains, as does the staircase built against the chimney. The wing, added in 1962, contributes to the colonial charm of this fine Cape Cod home. (Howard J. Barnet)
#102 - This land was originally a grant to Hull, the colonial Mint Master. The house is one of Sherborn's oldest dwellings, built between 1692 and 1703, probably by Judge Samuel Sewell, as a house for his tenant farmer, one Adams. In 1734, the house,
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barn, and 200 acres were sold by Judge Sewell's daughter, Judith Cooper, to Capt. John Ware, for £750 (about $4,000). The well-known Rev. Henry Ware was born here in 1789. Thomas Colford bought the house in 1856, and altered the roof-line from its original saltbox with rear roof coming to within five feet of the ground, to the present gable-ended roof. The center chimney has a very steep, narrow, enclosed staircase winding up the front. (Robert Selfe)
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#109 - The main part of this house was built before 1800, by Brayton Bullard, Sr., as an ell on the house at #113. Prior to 1875, it was sold to John Goulding and moved across the road. Two rear wings were added, making it into a double house. In 1884, John Jackson came from England and bought this house, #13, and acreage up and down Goulding St. John F. McElhenney, from Medfield, acquired it in 1908, and it remains in that family. There is an unusual divided staircase in the center hall. (Louis J. O'Neill)
#113 - "Ware Tavern" was built shortly after the Revolution by Eleazer Ware, and used as a 'half-way' house, for some years. A large room, stretching the width of the second story, was used as a ballroom, and about 1830, when Sherborn was for a year or two without a Town Hall, it is said that the Town Meetings were held in this room. Bought by Brayton Bullard, Sr., in 1830, his son sold the ell (now #109) to John Goulding, and added a much smaller one. The house was in the Jackson family before Fred McFarland owned it and enlarged the ell, which was again extended in 1958. (Daniel R. Sortwell)
GOULDING STREET In the late 1600s, this was a narrow lane leading to the sawmill, which was owned and operated by Joseph Ware. The foundation stones of the mill can be found across from #43. Later this road was known as the road to Dover. #43 - The barn on this property was built in 1690, and was part of the old sawmill across the road on Sewell's brook. The front part of the house, built about 1710, by Daniel Morse, is one of the few houses facing north. Known as a half-house, it was sold to Joseph Ware, and in 1868, Thomas Burke came from Cambridge and acquired the property. The present owner is Mr. Burke's granddaughter. There are massive beams in the attic and tree-shaped stringers in the cellar. (Mrs. Newman Dearth) #51 - Thomas Burke sold a few acres on the west side of his property to Asher Ware who built this farmhouse in 1880. It was bought by Patrick McCarthy in the early 1900s and remains in that family. (Mrs. Annie M. McCarthy)
AREA 5 In this area is the site of the home of the first settler, Nicholas Wood, and of The World's Largest Cider Mill.' Please respect the grounds and stones as you enjoy the 'New South Cemetery.' All homes in this area are private but Williams Perennial Gardens is a great place to browse.
FOREST STREET #42 - This house was built by Vernal Barber sometime before 1870, perhaps for one of his children, as it is referred to as his 'new house' in Town records of that period. (Mrs. Robert L. Benedict)
#46 - "The Morse-Barber House." In 1671, Captain Joseph Morse, a young farmer from Medfield, married sixteen-year-old Mehitabel Wood, daughter of Nicholas Wood, one of our first settlers. On part of her father's farm "22 rods south of his house" the young couple built their home. The house served as a Meetinghouse until the first church was completed. Morse was recompensed for this service. In 1753, Elisha Barber bought the house and it remained in his family for 150 years. It was remodeled in 1814, but with special care to preserve its original appearance, its low ceilings (all of the rooms are only a bit over six feet in height), its pitched roof in front and gambrel roof in the rear. The barn on this property was featured in the opening scene of Jean Shepherd's program, "America." (Walter Gregg)
#57 - Holbrook Cider Mill, later P. McCarthy & Son Cider Mill site: With only these buildings left of the "World's
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Largest Cider Mill,' which shipped Champagne Cider to England during the last century, it is hard to visualize the great activity that once went on here. It was the first road the Town voted to widen "to take care of the exceeding amount of traffic at the mill." (Bernardi Bros.)
#66 - This house, built circa 1875, is ideally situated for an artist's studio and a large one has been incorporated to take advantage of the northern light. When Shell Oil Company was going through the negotiations necessary to installing a pipeline through Sherborn, they owned this house briefly and used it as an office. (Carl Pickhardt)
#69 - "The Jonathan Holbrook House," thought by many researchers to be the oldest house in Sherborn, was built about 1690, by John Holbrook on land his wife inherited from her father. His wife, granddaughter of Nicholas Wood, was Silence Wood, born in the Bullard Fort during an Indian Raid in 1676. The original site of the house was several yards from the present location. The home is in excellent condition with most of the original paneling, beams and flooring carefully preserved. A pew from an old Sherborn church is used as a bench near the splendid
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fireplace. This house has always been owned by descendants of the Holbrooks. (Burlen Mahn)
"Nicholas Wood House Site." The first recorded house in Sherborn was 22 rods north of what is now #46. A hollow mound is all there is to see of this house that was built on the land purchased from the Parker Grant by Nicholas Wood, Thomas Holbrook, and Andrew Pritcher in 1652. Wood built his house on the banks of Sewell stream. His will mentions "the brook that runneth by my house."
SOUTH MAIN STREET #136 - "The Prentiss House" was built by Nathaniel Prentiss, a Cambridge tailor who came to Sherborn to marry Abigail Ware. In 1745, they chose this piece of her father's property for their home site and their son Stephen inherited the homestead. The Barber family came into possession in 1846, when Vernal
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the elder bought it. His grandson, Milo Frank Campbell, was fire warden for the southern end of Sherborn. Charles E. McCarthy, Sr., bought the property in 1920 and restored it, but subsequent owners remodeled it. This large red house is situated on top of a hill. The pond on the property was a popular skating spot for neighborhood youngsters. (Mrs. Jean Downs)
#137 - "The Charles Holbrook House" was situated well back from the road in 1870, and was a show place. It featured hand-done imported tapestry panels set into the walls. (Malcolm Gillis)
#747 - "The Larkin Place" was built in 1850, for the Larkin family and later bought by Milo Campbell. His store for farm machinery was moved here when he sold the big house across the street to Mr. McCarthy. At one time Mrs. Larkin kept a store here and sold delicious bread. (Elmer Nordfeldt)
New South Cemetery - Joseph Daniels of 2 Snow Street deeded to the Town a plot of land to be used for a cemetery in 1790. Many of his descendants are buried here.
#156 - Further south on a part of old Main Street is a small house which was built as a blacksmith shop in 1788, by James Holbrook. In 1820, it was converted into a house and later occupied by Mr. Nelson who was a beloved school barge driver. It has been tastefully restored by the present owner. (Mrs. P. J. Ham)
#163 - "The Farm," which was built circa 1881, was bought and first run as a farm by the present owners. They cured hams, churned butter and made maple syrup from the trees lining the drive. Flowers, their real interest, filled their fields and a greenhouse was soon built. The family business of growing plants for sale evolved a few years later and was incorporated as Williams Perennial Gardens, Inc. Today everything for a home gardener and flower arranger is available in their shop. (Ralph A. Williams)
This southern part of Sherborn is where the first settlers landed when they crossed the Charles River from Medfield to start a new plantation. Here is the site of the Fort where they successfully held off the attacking Indians, the cemetery where they buried their first dead, and the site near it which they had marked out to erect their first house of worship. Please respect the ancient stones in our oldest cemetery and enjoy this historic area without disturbing the residents of these homes, which are all private.
SNOW STREET #2 - This lovely square colonial with its several additions has been restored to bring back the charm, simplicity and warmth of the era in which it was built. Joseph Coolidge was the builder in 1780, on part of the original Leland holdings which he purchased from Henry's descendant, Col. Joshua Leland. Joseph moved the little old Leland Homestead into the dooryard and during the construction of their home, he and his bride, Martha Daniels, resided in it. The ancient house remained on this spot for more than a hundred years, and was here for the barn-raising party, one of the last which the Town enjoyed. When Timothy Daniels acquired the property from the Coolidges, it was still in the family, of course, and both families had Leland ancestors as well! (Franklin King, Jr.)
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The second Leland House, moved north to dooryard
SOUTH MAIN STREET South School - The foundation of this district school can be seen on the lot opposite and south of Snow Street. After 1910, the children were barged to the Center School.
#220 "The Joshua Leland House"-was built prior to 1800 and faces south. It sits on the west side of the road to Medfield with its large barn and has been tastefully restored. (Harris A. Garland)
Old South Cemetery is Sherborn's most ancient burying ground. There is about it the same quiet simplicity that must have been present when Hopestill Leland was the first person buried here in 1655. Facing the walled entrance and backed by whispering pines is the Memorial Boulder inscribed on its inset bronze plaque, "The Most Ancient Burying Ground, On the West bank of the Charles River, Established by the Settlers of the Boggestowe Farms before 1660. Here rest from their labors The Founders of Sherborn, Holliston, Medway. Erected by the His-
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torical Societies of The Three Towns, 1915." Headstones were often not placed on graves in the early years of the settlement to keep the knowledge of their losses from the Indians. This fact, the ravages of time and other circumstances result in there not being many of the earliest stones extant here, but there are several of the 'Memorable Mortality' of 1754.
#258 - "The Holbrook-Death House" was built in 1776, for Henry Death on the site of the house built by the first settler, Thomas Holbrook. One parcel of the Holbrook holdings was the
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only Grant made directly to a Sherborn settler by the General Court. In the oldest part of this house is a small bricked room behind the fireplaces, entered through a stair-riser, which tradition says was part of the underground railroad route which utilized the Charles River. In 1925, this place was remodeled for the Teachers Federation, whose members used it for a vacation resort for some years, when it became widely known as 'Riverbank Lodge.' It has since been tastefully restored. (David C. Forbes)
Death's Bridge is a 1965 construction by the Commonwealth and replaced the bridge which stood a short distance up the river. The original Death's Bridge was the spot that King Philip chose to pin his famous note after the attack on Bullard's Fort at the beginning of the Indian War, "Will war 21 years if you will, the Indians loose nothing but their lives. You must loose your fair houses and cattle." That bridge had been built by the settlers and their friends in Medfield sometime between 1652 and 1676, and was kept in repair and not completely rebuilt until 1915. At that time a plaque commemorating the historic spot was made a part of the bridge, and the old fieldstone abutments, which are all that remain are visible from the present bridge.
BULLARD STREET #26 - Located in the open, sweeping farm area still existing today much as it did when Samuel Hill built his homestead here in
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1791, this lovely center chimney farmhouse bears witness to its antiquity with gunstock beams on the lower floor. It was a Richards farm in 1890, and Esther Richards and her brother, Augustus attended the school on South Main Street, and walked to Sawin Academy. He became renowned as a partner of Charles Evans Hughes and she was the famed psychiatrist practicing and teaching at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. (Henry M. Bliss)
#63 - "The Mary Lizzie Ware House" was built by her grandfather, Alpheus Ware, in 1800. In this beautifully appointed square
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colonial, the present dining room served as the kitchen when it was the Ware place, and is about all of the antiquity that remains. (Dr. John D. Constable)
Bullard's Fort Site is on the sloping land between Boggestow Pond and the Charles River and here the first settlers took refuge at the slightest alarm of an Indian raid. Benjamin Bullard and eight of his neighbors constructed the Fort in a superior manner, like a regular fortress. Two stories high and with double rows of portholes on all four sides, it was built of field stones brought from a quarry about a mile away. White oak planking was used for lining and provided roofing for this 70-foot-long historically fascinating structure which so successfully withstood the attacking Indians. There has been much interest in this site and it was during the 1940s that Harvard University, while doing a geological survey here, unearthed early colonial utensils.
AREA 7 There are no buildings open to the public in this part of town but the country certainly is. Please do not disturb the residents. At the foot of Cross Street do stop and gaze out across the meadows dipping into the valley and see the most beautiful New England landscape. In spring the old orchard is abloom and so are the flowering crab across the swale. In summer the cows on the hillside, with Swiss bells around their necks ringing out the different tones as they graze, make you think you might be in the lower Alps. The trees in fall display an unbelievable array of color and winter finds the hills alive with sleds and toboggans as each generation rediscovers how great this valley is for coasting.
WOODLAND STREET #104 - "Woodland Farm" was part of the Hopestill Leland settlement and the main house was built by Hopestill Leland, jun., who married Mary Bullard, February 24, 1702. Their son, Daniel "inherited his father's place s.w. of Sewell's meadow." Daniel's twin sons, Moses and Aaron, were inseparable in their youth and had their homes next to each other when they married. Moses inherited the east part of his father's holdings which included this farm. The date of early 1700, for the main house, was verified by Architect Edward Goodell of Wayland when he restored some of the old features. The detached carriage house and small milk house are still standing and the main house has the large center chimney of the true colonial, with one of its fireplaces in the paneled library on the west side of the entrance. (Fritz W. Bilfinger)
#114 - This home of delightful modem architecture is not one of our old houses but it is on this hill that the twin, Aaron, who inherited the west half of the Hopestill Leland holdings, built his home. It burned in the late 1800s but the foundation of this
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Revolutionary house is being transformed into a sunken garden by the present owner. (Robert C. Delaney
#144 - Between where Apple Street exits and Greenwood Street enters Woodland Street, stands the Hodge House, a comfortable farmhouse of the mid-nineteenth century with a curved and pillared porch added in more recent years. Its large red barn is surmounted by a windowed cupola from which Mr. Hodge could see where his cattle had roamed when he wanted to fetch them home in the afternoon. (Domenic Furino)
APPLE STREET #8 - A grandson of the twin Moses who lived at "Woodland Farm" at 104 Woodland Street chose this knoll to place his home in the 1840s. Of the house, all that remains of the 1911 fire is the granite doorstep just north of the barn, but the picturesque barn stands and is 'motif number One' of Sherborn. Augustus H. Leland built it well with tenon and mortise, hand-hewn beams and pegs, a neat hayloft and even a leanto, large enough for two carriages.
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It appears that the boards he used may have been green, for daylight shows clearly between most of them and they were originally strapped, but it was just this spacing that let the old barn weather the big blows which turned others into kindling. (Mrs. Amalia Gheringhelli)
GREENWOOD STREET This narrow woods road was once part of the Post Road, for coming up Washington Street from town, the coach turned onto Greenwood Street, thence across Ash Lane to Hollis Street, and joined Washington Street beyond what is now the Holliston line. They wouldn't consider trying to build a roadway across the marshy lands of Dirty Meadow then, but sensibly detoured around it.
#78 - Patrick Heffron came from Hopkinton in 1896, and built his homestead on this southerly slope. Here the Rev. Edward J. Riley made his residence when he came as the first Pastor of St. Theresa's Chapel, until he purchased the Rectory on North Main Street. Here, too, one of the first nursery schools in town was run by Miss Alice Heffron preparing young ones for the rigors of the classroom. (E. Alice Heffron)
WASHINGTON STREET #110 - "The Greenwood House" was built in 1821, by the master builder of the era, Ebenezer Mann, and into it he put his finest woodwork in the two mantelpieces which took two men four weeks to complete. Aaron, who inherited the house from his father, had no children and left his estate to his church, the Town Library and the Widows' and Orphans' Society. In 1913, extensive remodeling was done, and here is a fine example of a spacious country dwelling, secluded behind a six-foot high stone wall. (Robert J. Cronin)
#102 - "The Eames Place" was built by Jonas Greenwood when he moved his family up the hill in 1765, and here the engine from the Farm Pond Steamship 'Atlanta' was set up to grind apples for Jonathan Eames, Jr., who had also inherited a large orchard. The extensive red barn with cupola has a small barn or ell attached where apples were sorted and stored when this was Russet Hill Farm. The house is a well-proportioned, center entrance colonial with other outbuildings clustered near it. The fireplace walls in both living and dining rooms, paneled to the ceiling, speak of the craftsmanship of the builder. (Kevit R. Cook)
AREA 8 This area is all private farmland but it affords a delightful triangular walk. Please do not disturb the residents. As you approach on Mill Street, before you in the fork of Mill Street and Nason Hill Road is one of the last water storage towers in Sherborn. The base of the tower is of stone and it sits on an outcropping of ledge on Nason Hill. This provided the Stannox Farm buildings with gravity-fed water pressure and is a picturesque part of the past. The Stannocks region in southwest Sherborn contained twelve original homesteads and 1200 acres. The word, stannocks, came from the Nipmuck Indian word denoting their houses and it was in this fertile area that the tribe chose to live. The name was first applied in a derisive way during a school argument concerning the division of districts, but it came to be proudly espoused.
NASON HILL ROAD #11 - "Stannox Farm" was one of three homesteads which evolved from the Grant to Captain Kayne. In 1703, the original house burned, and sometime before 1750, the present house was built as a saltbox with a center chimney, which has a smokehouse built into it. You can easily stand up in this room, and runaway slaves hid here, according to legend. At a later date the roof was raised and ells added. In the middle 1700s, John and Sarah Fisk lived here and their daughter Abigail, who married Captain Samuel Learned, inherited. Frank Daniels, the historian, resided here with his family until 1908, when it became a summer home for different owners who employed resident managers. The present barn is a nineteenth-century building. Since 1961 Stannox Farm has been farmed as it was in the 1700s and 1800s by resident owners.
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#36 - "Red Gate Farm" was the home of Nason Hill., from whom the road takes its name. His father bought this place about 1792, as that was when he married Abial Nason, and no one married then unless he had a house at hand or being built, for houses were scarce. The previous owner, Jonas Fisk, had married Mary Hill, a distant relative of James Hill, and built the house around 1765. His brother John married Mary's sister, Sarah, and built the house at Stannox Farm. The two properties abutted, and before additions and alterations the houses resembled each other closely and the families had a close association. The teachers at the Stannocks School often boarded here, paying Mr. Hill a dollar a week. This old house is typical, with a large central chimney, two large front parlors (facing south) and a long room behind them on the north, with little rooms at either side. The house remains basically the same, although some of the deepset windows have been replaced, but the inside frames are the originals. The front
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room fireplaces are closed with iron fireboards and brass ornaments. There are entrances along the street to bridle paths through the woods, and extensive trails exist behind the houses on both sides of Nason Hill, Hollis and Mill Streets. In the fall the Hunt makes a colorful sight following the hounds through the brilliant foliage. (John W. Peirce)
HOLLIS STREET #23 - "The Baruck Leland House" was built in 1750, and against this one-and-a-half story saltbox was built a substantial gable ended house in 1817, with the oval gilt-figured tableau of the period over the entrance. Dexter Cozzens added a barn after he purchased the place in 1836, and only this barn and outbuildings were saved in January 1915, when a chimney fire spread to the woodwork and consumed the house. This fine old barn was enlarged in 1910, and ties the home built shortly thereafter, to the past. When Walter Leland, born in 1787, lived here and his brother Lemuel lived in the Old Red House, they quarreled bitterly and Lemuel would not allow Walter to cross a small portion of his land which stretched across the entrance. At Town Meeting the argument was settled by making the driveway a public way, and so it remained until this century, when it was released to W. H. Burlen who then owned the place. (Edward H. Tuton)
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#24 - When this was the Nash place, it stood several yards north and in front of #28. William MacAlpine bought this acreage and moved the house to its present site for his home in 1948. (Harold Kramer)
#27- "The Old Red House" was built by Deacon William Leland in 1717, and was one of the houses referred to by an observer of more than a hundred years ago when he described the houses in the Stannocks district as "...built of wood of the country, not following the English fashion but creating a style of architec-
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ture of their own - rude, primitive, with an individuality and dignity..." Such is this house, which was occupied by Leland families for many generations. Later, Moses Burlen, who married China Ware, made it his home. Even today, description of its interior can be expressed almost exactly in the words of the aforementioned observer "...while there is no fine work in the old house, there is much quaintness, notably the absence of mantel pieces. The place is replete with chimney cupboards above the fireplace and beside it. The north room has three hooks imbedded at intervals in the ceiling before the fireplace. The staircase very crude and narrow." (G. Farrington Fiske)
#28 - "The Benjamin and William House" had this building for its barn. It was converted to a home in 1926. The Nash Cottage was moved from its front lawn and the present owner has renovated and added a touch of colonial formality to the entrance by adding pilasters and dentils. (Mrs. Barbara D. Whitman)
MILL STREET #118 - "Hopestill Farm" stands on the western corner of the junction of Hollis and Mill Streets. The present house is a replica of the original which burned in 1939. However, it employs colonial dimensions so authentically that it is usually mistaken for the original. Some of the timbers were saved and used in the big barn which was also consumed by fire in 1968. The first house was built in 1810 by James and Samuel Leland who were born and grew up in the "Old Red House" on Hollis Street. This property is significant because it has been in the same family since 1654. Henry Leland died in 1680 leaving vast amounts of land
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to his descendants in various parts of town. The late James F. Leland, who died in 1973, was the ninth generation to hold this property. (Mrs. James F. Leland)
The Saw Mill Site - From Hopestill Farm diagonally across the corner is Brown Meadow and as you proceed down Mill Street, you will pass over Brown Meadow Brook which comes from the quiet Mill Pond on the left side of the street. It was here that the first James Leland built a saw mill which was operated by three generations of James Lelands who gained their power from the water rushing through the sluiceway of the dam. When the mill burned in 1920, it was replaced by an electrically powered one in another location, but the road is still Mill Street and Mill Pond is still great for skating.
With the exception of Stongate Farm Stand, none of the buildings in this area is open to the public, but there is much to enjoy. This part of the town is the early West Sherborn and has continued its family farming character longer than the rest of the town.
HOLLIS STREET #128 - This lovely and very typical large New England farm house was built by Addington Gardner when he settled in Sherborn in the early 1730s. It has a large, central chimney and fireplace and, like many other early houses, sensibly faces the warming winter sun rather than the road. The ell at the rear was added at a later date, and has one of the town's few remaining attached carriage sheds, the eighteenth century version of the two-car garage. Four more generations of Gardners farmed the land until 1911, when it was sold out of the family. It was bought by Ward J. Parks, who held numerous town offices while he maintained a dairy farm. Until recently his big barn with its haymows and horse stalls stood across the street. (Frank Mott)
#133 - Addington Gardner's great, great granddaughter, Delia Gardner, married Alfred Leland and built this house facing the end of Western Avenue, in 1845, on part of the old farm. Delia's father offered her 24 acres at either end of his property. This is the spot she chose, and she and Alfred built their farmhouse in three stages with the most recent nearest the road. They
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chose the 'Greek Revival' style of architecture most popular at that time with its rectangular plan and temple facade of triangular pediment and side pilasters. The side panes beside the front door must have made it easy to keep track of traffic on the Post Road. (Richard L. Marchand)
WESTERN AVENUE Until recently Western Avenue was a shady tunnel under towering elm trees, but other trees are gradually taking their place. On either side of the Avenue, farmers mixed crops and dairy because of the claylike soil in the area.
#320 - Captain Caleb Leland's son, John, inherited this home that his grandfather had built at the time of his marriage in 1708. After John's marriage to Caroline Jones in 1783, the place became known as the "Jones Leland Home." The old barn stood to the north of the ell, which has gunstock corner posts and adze-fashioned exposed beams. In this home are six fireplaces whose double chimneys are supported by a ship's keel! It is a fine example of a hip-roof colonial with a fanlight and sidelights at the center entrance. On the lawn the old well sweep still reigns. (Mrs. Jacques Leek)
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#282 - Another modest farmhouse, this was built around 1820 by Royal Stone. That the farm was originally part of the Morse-Tay holding with its homestead next door is evidenced by the roughly pie-shaped stonewalled fields with the points at the location of the Morse barn, a Yankee practice which made it easy to switch-gate the cows into any of several fields right at the barnyard paddock. The two properties may well have been divided at the time of Stone's marriage to Sally Tay. The modest interior is typical, with wainscoting to chair height but of barely smoothed horizontal boards, and birdseye maple floors that change to rough pine planking at rug edge. The ell may be older with its wider pumpkin pine boards and beveled outer wall sheathing. There is framing for a seven-foot kitchen hearth and a ten-foot square chimney. A unique feature of the ell is its nine doors opening out of the keeping room. Two of the doors to the outside line up in such a way that a horse could be driven all the way through to deliver the fireplace backlog. All of the old houses had moderate to large barns. As in the houses, the beams were adze-shaped and sturdily pegged together with treenails. As family farming declined, so did the barns. Each barn had a typical plan of haywagon door into the central bay, floor-to-ceiling haymow on one side, two stories on the other side for hay above and cows and horses below. The crawlway under the main floor was for the pigs. (Robert P. Johnson)
#266 - Captain Joseph Morse held large tracts in West Sherborn which he divided between his two oldest sons. James Morse built here about 1700. In the 1770s, Dr. Jonathan Tay settled here as the town physician dispensing cures to local residents. Brook Street was long known as Dr. Tay's Lane, and the home has been owned continuously by his descendants. The chimney supports four fireplaces and a dutch oven. There is an attached shed but the barn, which stood quite a way northwest of the house, is gone. It was a large barn with an attached cowshed and full cellar with a cider press and large vat for making apple butter. The graceful fanlight and dentilled pediment over the east door of the house and additional square lights and pediment over the south door, tiny dentils above the twelve over eight upper windows and the heart-shaped motif on inside shutters all suggest that this was built for someone with means, grace and social prominence. This is one of the very few three-quarter houses in the town. Diagonal beams from the corners to the summer beams are features unique to this early period and are evident here. (Miss Sylvia Hawes)
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#255 - "Micah Leland House" was built by Captain Eben Mann in 1824, one of a number of houses which he built in Sherborn. It has twin chimneys and was built with a hip roof. The roof line was radically changed several times and most recently when the house was remodeled in 1944. (Carleton C. Comins)
WASHINGTON STREET #215 - At the junction of Woodland and Washington Streets lived Charles Champney, a currier, with his leather-working shop nearby. He built his home, quite a small place, before 1820, but
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it has been extensively added to over the years. It still has a brick Dutch oven in the L-shaped cellar, 36-inch-wide attic floorboards and pumpkin pine sheathing. (Robert W. Brooks)
#237 - The corners of Western Avenue and Washington Street have had small business ventures since about 1915. Where Stongate Farm is now, was a miniature golf course, then the rage, and a small gas station and farm stand to attract tourists out for a drive in their Model T's. On the opposite corner stood a competing two-pump gas station and small store which sold cigars and candy as well as its farm produce, but all were gone in the early forties. In 1951, Stongate Farm expanded and built their stand and the corner was again a busy place. The Stongate Farm Stand is a most attractive flower and vegetable stand run by the second generation Mr. and Mrs. George Wakeman. The farm gets its name from the stone gateway at the original location of the farm, 215 Washington Street, where the senior Wakemans sold eggs. Then they added dressed poultry and home-grown produce. These proved so popular that they built an addition to the stand, as well as plants-greenhouses which make up the present complex. Today, people come from great distances during the growing season for the delicious Sherborn-grown vegetables and fruits with which George, Gertrude and their sons daily stock the stand. (George Wakeman)
#254 - This house was built before 1870, for Asa Lenox. It was originally quite small and has been added to considerably. In 1915, Mr. Mitchell, editor of the Fox Breeder's Gazette, and Dr. Samuel Wadsworth, a noted Boston veterinarian, established a Silver Fox Ranch here and scientifically raised prize-winning show and breeding stock in small buildings and fenced-in areas scattered throughout the 50 acres. At that time prime silver fox pelts brought from $200 to $400 apiece. Dr. Wadsworth built the west wing of the house and designed and planted a formal garden that brought visitors from considerable distances. A unique feature of the house is a curved inner 'corner' wall in the original dwelling. (George C. Penshorn)
Dopping Brook is the western boundary of Sherborn, for in 1724, Holliston was incorporated as a town and set apart from the mother town. Ye people 'West of Dopping Brook' petitioned the Legislature because the committee building the new meetinghouse at this time were not open to choosing a more central location, and the old meetinghouse hill was just too far removed from them. Therefore, Holliston is celebrating her two hundred fiftieth year as we celebrate our three hundredth.
AREA 10 These are all private homes, excepting only Farmer Braun's Vegetable Stand at #190 Western Avenue, "The Braun Farm." The site of District School #3, called The West School, with the old hand pump remaining, is now part of the Town's Conservation land. Western Avenue is the only street in town whose numbers start at the town bound, so you will notice that we have the higher numbers first as we travel towards the boundary.
#32 - This house in outward appearance does not look very different from what it did when it was built in 1690, by the Twitchells. C. O. Littlefield lived here for many years and when he put on new clapboards, he found loopholes in the boarding. These loopholes permitted the inhabitants to peer out as they fired from inside during the Indian Wars. This home has been carefully restored, and with its great, old barn and cupola topped by a fine, old weathervane, it stands, neat and trim with its distinguished appearance, after a useful life of nearly three hundred years. (Sewall H. Fessenden)
#46 - Built in 1844, by the great gunmaker, William Leland, this home replaced the Old Badcock Place which had stood across the road and which Leland acquired by buying the 'widow's thirds' from his relative. He attached a Gun Shop to the new house, and raised the barn using mortise and tenon construction. The small horse barn nearby was built with hand-made blue nails. In the house, the kitchen chimney boasts two iron Dutch ovens. (Harold G. Hildreth)
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WHITNEY STREET Originally lined with only Whitney farms, Whitney Street runs through the town boundary line and thence toward the town of Ashland. The Railroad Station for West Sherborn was just off the road and Daniel Whitney had a horse which was never late for a train, but couldn't be made to hurry for one until the engineer started blowing the whistle.
#42 - At the turn of the century, this was an Episcopalian Chapel located on a right of way that continued to the Railroad Station. It was remodeled as a home, but the granite stone which stood at the church entrance is still there. (Donald J. MacDougal)
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#68 - This attractive farm cottage with its doorway capped with dentils and flanked by pilasters still has the old roofed well in the yard. It was built by a Whitney before 1870. (Randall A. Harvey)
CURVE STREET This road, which 'curves' from Western Avenue to Whitney Street, was long ago a way to the two houses described here.
#6 - Born in 1715, Grace Bullen, the daughter of Ephraim, continued to live in this house after her marriage to James Morse because she had inherited this portion of the land her family had owned as early as the 1680s. Galim Bullard purchased the property and, in 1822, gained fame when he erected the 'W' Stone. In the early 1900s, the Tuckermans in remodeling, paneled the dining room to duplicate the one at the Wayside Inn. (John E. Carlson, Jr.)
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#10 - "The Timothy Twitchell Place" was part of Galim Bullard's holdings when he resided next door and was inherited by Timothy through his marriage to Galim's daughter. This was one of the houses owned by the religious group active in the area in the early 1900s and they incorporated the original cottage in this much enlarged home. (James A. P. Homans)
Happy Hill Nursery School was founded in 1948 by Phyllis Chickering. It was originally situated on a hill at 127 Western Avenue, thus deriving the school's name. In 1956, this place was built at 30 Curve Street with special features to accommodate the nursery school. The Henry Lanes purchased in 1971, and Mrs. Lane, a graduate of Boston College School of Education with seven years' teaching experience in public schools, has continued the school. Judy Mailman of Hollis Street also teaches at Happy Hill. (Henry Lane)
WESTERN AVENUE The West School. A little red schoolhouse of one room standing close by the road was replaced about 1859, by one a bit bigger and set a bit further back. At that time the trees in the schoolyard were set out, one by each family so that a child would say all his life, "This is my tree." In the early 1900s, the children all went to Center School and the school was moved east to serve in Daniel Whitney's water tower building till it burned. Sally Whitney was the most noted teacher here and the longest 'in office.'
#790 - "The Braun Farm." An original map of this property drawn by Sherborn surveyor, Dalton Goulding, in 1828, hangs in this charming house. Known then as the Crackbone Farm and so titled on the old map, this house was built before 1750, when Joseph Crackbone married Lucy Coolidge. The Fitts family, who used the farm as a summer place, remodeled it in the early 1900s. The new barn they built was struck by lightning and burned in the 1922 storm. All the cattle were removed during the fire but one calf, whose would-be rescuer had to be saved himself. It was ten days before the cattle were rounded up. (Robert Braun)
Farmer Braun's Vegetable Stand offers the products raised on "The Braun Farm." The acres are farmed with sheep, chickens and organic farm produce. Organic gardening uses companion planting to control bugs, and animal fertilizers and wood ashes for fertilizer, which eliminates the use of commercial chemicals. (Robert Braun)
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#147 - "The Cleal House" was built before 1820 by Joseph Cleal, whose descendants occupied it for a hundred years. Harold Stinson who lived here in later years drove the school barge for this district and he carefully bundled each child into a blanket and covered them with hay in winter, for it took the barge an hour to get across town to the school. This house is set end to the road and has cathedral fans over the windows, striking in the simplicity the building. (Richard G. Dixon)
#137 - Built about 1825, for Captain Goulding by Sherborn's master-builder of the period, Ebenezer Mann, this place was bought in the early 1900s by Mr. French who named it Hebron Farm and started a religious group "The Believers." His wife's father lived next door and acted as preacher. Neighbors in the immediate area were involved in the experience. (Allen Z. Kluchman)
AREA 11 In this part of Sherborn there still stand four houses which were built between the years 1680 and 1870. It is only recently that the fifth house, built by Benjamin T. Twitchell in 1680, was demolished. This stood on property that is now the Elijah C. Barber Reservation on the west side of Western Avenue, acquired by the Conservation Commission and dedicated in July 1968, in honor of Elijah C. Barber, |
This area can be thoroughly enjoyed without disturbing any of the private
residences.
