New Bedford Pathways Tour #5: North Bedford Historic District Tour Preview

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549 County Street, Alfred Kempton House, c, 1850 Italianate style

The Kempton family were farmers, traders and mechanics. As Kempton family grew in prominence and significance, the area known Smith Mills Road became Kempton Street as it crossed into New Bedford. In the subdivision of the Kempton farm in 1850, the site passed to Alfred Kempton, who built this house soon afterward. Alfred Kempton’s wealth was largely derived from whaling investments, though he also conducted a coal merchandizing office on Water StreetThe area of this house site is where three citizens of New Bedford, Abram Russell, Thomas Cook, and Diah Trafford, were killed during the British punitive raid on the city in 1778. They had, according to local lore, initially retreated into the woods above Bedford Village, then returned and attempted to resist the British advance. They were fired upon by soldiers who were moving north toward the head of the river.The house is an excellent example of the Italianate style, with a belvedere rising over a center-gabled roof line supported by paired brackets of the style. A lively carpentered porch with a roof supported by pendent brackets gives a luxurious and comfortable air to the street facade

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563 County Street, St. Lawrence Church, 1866, English Gothic Style

The Catholic population of North Bedford increased dramatically in the mid-nineteenth century. French Canadians came to work in the new cotton mills and Irish families began to arrive in North Bedford as a result of the Great Famine (Irish Potato Famine). St. Lawrence Church was designed for the latter group in 1866 by the Irish-born Brooklyn architect Patrick C. Keeley (1816-1896). Patrick C. Keeley was known through the world as the designer of Cathedrals and several Protestant Houses of Worship. Thirty Catholic churches in the greater Boston area designed by Keeley. The New Bedford builder was Thomas Murphy. This imposing granite structure is English Gothic in style with a tall tower dominating the surrounding neighborhood. Construction was delayed during the Civil War, and the church was not dedicated until 1870. Bells weighing 12,500 pounds were installed in the tower in 1888, and in 1904 a lighted clock was added.

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105 Hillman Street, Caleb Bryant, 1833, Cape Cod Style

The house at 105 Hillman Street was built in 1833. Its first owner was cordwainer (a shoemaker) Caleb Bryant. Its three-quarter width, gable end chimney placement, and splayed window caps are the same as the house adjacent; only the half-round window above the door sets it apart from its neighbor. The entry is framed by tall, plain imposts atop slightly swelling pilasters. The assemblage here is typical of the Federal style which survived in carpenter’s pattern books well into the 19th century.

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101 Hillman Street, Cornelius Burgess, 1931, Cape Cod Style

The two similar one and a half story houses at 101 and 105 Hillman Street present excellent examples of the widespread Cape Cod style dwelling. At 101 Hillman is the home of housewright Cornelius Burgess, built in 1831. It is likely that he constructed this building himself likely with the assistance of family members. It is a small, three-quarter width house with a tall, thin Federal entry. The rectangular transom light is framed by imposts decorated with triglyphs, a detailed seen in other houses associated with the Burgesses. The lintel is supported by thin pilasters, typical of the delicate proportions of the Federal style.

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97 Hillman Street Obadiah Burgess, 1830, Vernacular Greek Revival

The area of 97 Hillman Street once part of the land holding of the Kempton family. Obadiah Burgess a house wright, erected home in 1830 soon after he purchased the property; however, he never lived here. Upon his death in 1840 his widow Rebecca Burgess resided here for a brief time, but the first permanent resident-owner was whaling captain Caleb G. Shepherd. Its wide street facade accommodates a Greek Revival entry of commanding proportions. Doric pilasters frame a wide doorway with sidelights and support a tall architrave with uncomplicated moldings of the style. However, the splayed window lintels reveal a fidelity to Federal style and are elements typical of a building of the early 1830s.

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85 Hillman Street, John Walden, c. 1830, Federal Style

This Federal style house was built around 1830 for John Walden, after whom the adjacent street is named. Walden, who owned a cooperage (manufacture of wooden barrels), purchased this property from William W. Kempton in 1830. He lived here until 1843, when he sold the house for what was then the sizable sum of $2,400. Carefully placed symmetrical chimneys and a balanced five-window facade focus attention on the carefully designed entry with elaborate fanlights. This form of entry composed of Doric half-columns topped by accurately carved triglyphs from a Doric frieze.

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139 Maxfield Street, Thomas Durfee, c.1835, Federal Style

The modest Federal style half-house immediately behind at 139 Maxfield Street was built around 1835 as Thomas Durfee’s, a ship’s smith, first residence. He lived here until 1839. The splayed window lintels and thin pilasters supporting tall imposts reflect good Federal style practice as seen in numerousnearby houses.

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78 Walden Street, second Thomas Durfee House, c. 1840, Greek Revival style

The house at the northeast corner of Walden and Maxfield Streets is the Greek Revival built around 1840 as the second residence for Thomas Durfee. The wide corner boards, the squared window surrounds, and the wide central entry exemplify Greek Revival style. The thin sidelightsand dental course above the door, however, are of a more Federal style. Durfee moved from Fall River in 1831, shortly after the death of his first wife and immediately before marrying Delight Sherman of Dartmouth. A son of his second marriage was Zabeth Sherman Durfee. Zabeth was trained as a blacksmith by his father but later became an iron and steel manufacturer whose improvements in steel led to cheaper methods for its processing.

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90 Walden Street, Leprelate King House c. 1856, Greek Revival style

Leprelate King had this house built in the mid-1850s and resided here with his wife Abby King. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Army in the fall of 1862. King who operated a grocery store King served as a Private in the Fourth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Co. K, which was composed primarily of men from the Taunton area. He died in the service to his country in 1863 at Brashear City, Louisiana of an undisclosed disease. The ownership of the house passed in 1869 to Henry Howard. Howard served as a foreman and later as Superintendent of the Gosnold Mills, an iron manufactory in the city. He continued to reside here with his family until his death in 1898. The property remained in the family, with his son, Henry, Jr., residing here until 1900. The son was employed as a clerk for the National Bank of Commerce.The one and a half story house is primarily in the Greek Revival style but also contain numerous Italianate elements as in the bracketed roof trim and the tall 6 over 9 windows on the main facade. Recessed pilasters support the doorway, and these panel details appear at the wide corner boards of the house.

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1061 Pleasant Street, Charles Russel House, (now New Bedford Child and family Services), 1830, Federal style to Greek Revival

This mansion house was built in 1830 for Charles Russell, a descendant of the founder ofthe original Bedford Village. Charles Russell died in an accident in 1836 and his house was subsequently rented to Edward Mott Robinson, the father of Hetty Green, businesswoman and financier once known as "the richest woman in America". Her father, “Black Hawk” Robinson, was once begrudgingly referred to as the “Napoleon of the business community” and it is suspected that Hetty learned much of her financial acumen from her father. The Russell Mansion was later sold to Henry H. Forbes, a coach and chase maker. His coach works were famous for both ordinary carriages and for racing coaches and sleighs. In mid-winter, his sleighs would be raced down County Street between Union Street and Washington Square and on Rodney French Boulevard at the Cove. He also made and raced “velocipedes” (those tall bicycles propelled by pedals attached directly to the front wheels) in a hall on Elm Street.The structure at 1061 Pleasant Street is an example of architecture in transition from Federal style to Greek Revival. The tall, three-storied granite mass with flanking wings is consistent with conservative (for the 1830’s) Federal style building practices. Also, a Federal feature was the balustradewhich originally marked the roof line. The Doric columns of the porches and Doric frieze above them are good Greek Revival forms. The mixture of elements is common in the 1820’s.

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41 Campbell Street, Lydia and Phoebe Russell, 1845

This house was built in 1845 for Lydia and Phoebe Russell the daughters of William Russel and Hepzibah Masher. The land was purchased from Abraham Russell “in consideration of good will” and remained their home for years. This two story is a two-thirds width Federal style design, with a Greek Revival entry. Simple initials are above six over six pane windows and the classical influence may be seen in the doorway

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12. 46 Campbell Street, Paul Howland, 1842, Greek Revival style

This Greek Revival one-and-a-half story was built by, Paul Howland, a mason, in 1842 Howland built houses in the area of Campbell and State Streets on lots that he owned. He lived at 46 Campbell Street only four years before building a larger house nearby, 94 state Street, then moved again in a few years to 91 State Street.

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94 state Street, Paul Howland, 1846, Greek Revival Style

This Greek Revival home with unusual, flared corner pilaster capitals and pediment trim was the second home Howland constructed for his own use. Howland lived here from 1846 until 1877 when he moved across the street to his new and more stylish house. It is perhaps Howland’s taste for fine building whichgives this house details which are closer to pattern book exactness than most of the nearby vernacular Greek Revival structures of the same decade. The dormers are recent additions

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91 State Street, Paul Howland, 1877, Second Empire Style

This Second Empire style house was the third house Paul Howland built for himself. Howland had lived across the way at 94 State Street since 1846, but in 1872 he acquired the land and moved into this house in 1877. This home is an example of Second Empire Style and shows a mansard roof pieced by ornate, pediment dormer windows. Along the cornice line are elaborate carved brackets. The central tower with its triple arched window and its own high mansard roof contributes to the verticality which is typical of the Second Empire Style.

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82 State Street, Alden Little, 1844, Swiss Chalet Style

This Swiss Chalet style was built 1844 for Alden Little. Little, who owned a livery stable, lived there only a year and rented the property thereafter. The house was eventually purchased by John Avery Parker, who leased it to his son-in-law William H. Allen. Allen was a tailor, draper, and dry-goods merchant by trade but became Collector of Customs to the Port of New Bedford and He later became the ticket agent for the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad. Allen was a popular resident of the city and became Representative to the Massachusetts General Court later in life and lived to the age of 97.This house was constructed in the usual Swiss Chalet style popularized in the pattern books of Andrew Downing Jackson such as The Architecture of County Houses. Andrew Jackson Downing’s popular handbook Cottage Residences (1842) provided the drawing for the house at 82 State Street One of the features of this style is the broad gable faced with deeply overhanging eaves and decorative bargeboards.

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53 Willis Street, John Avery Parker House, c. 1832-34

One of many small homes built on the land of the John Avery Parker estate 53 Willis Street was built between 1832-34. The structure is the last remains of this great John Avery Parker mansion designed by renowned architect Russel Warren. When Parker died in 1853 the estate was purchased by Wamsutta Mills superintendent Thomas Bennett purchased it. His daughter sold it in 1902 and the grant home was demolished, except the south wing on Willis Street. The small four-square building seems out of scale with its huge granite building stones. This impression would not be so apparent if the original mansion had not been pulled down in 1904. This wing has not been fundamentally changed, though some columns have been removed from the sides and reused on the new porch. Even in its altered state it gives a good impression of how large and imposing the Parker estate must have been. In 1905 this small wing was converted into a single-family dwelling and sold by developers to Emil Hesse, an artist with a studio on Purchase Street.

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. 684 County Street, J. Henry Herring, 1907, Neo-Georgian Style

Designed by architect, Samuel C. Hunt, this home was built in 1907 for J. Henry Herring in 1907. Herring was a representative of the R.G. Dun mercantile agency at the time. The architect, Samuel C. Hunt was trained as a carpenter as a youth but later attended architecture classes at M.I.T. during the time when he was employed as a construction engineer. The broad porch with thin Ionic detailing is not quite as elaborate as its neighbors, but the Palladian window on the north side gives the house formality.

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688 County Street, Martin and Annie Bartley, 1907, Neo-Georgian Style

This house was also designed bySamuel C. Hunt for Martin and Annie Bartley. Martin Bartley was a partner in the real estate firm of Bartley and Meaney. The block where the house was built was the original sight of the John Avery parker House. The Bartley house an excellent example of Neo-Georgian style in this vicinity. The balustraded porch, Palladian window on the second level, and detailed dormers above give it a complexity of design. The building has one chimney, which rises from the north half of the roof line. Normally Georgian design would demand another chimney on the south to balance it, but the modern heating system of the house required only one. In his blueprints Hunt provided a wooden false chimney, now removed, to provide the appropriate balance.

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692 County Street, Walter Gordon, 1904, Neo-Georgian Style

The house at 692 County Street, overlooking Clasky Common Park, was built for Walter S. Gordon in 1904. Gordon was the treasurer of the Consolidated Meat and Grocery Company when he commissioned Edgar B. Hammond, of the firm Caleb Hammond and Sons, to design a home for him.Hammond saw the advantage of the site immediately. He placed porches and a balcony on the north side to take advantage of the view over the park. A bay window topped by a balustrade and a Georgian “swan’s neck “pediment over the third-floor dormer face County Street. These provide asuitable focal point on the street facade, while reserving the main entry for the north porch.

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Clasky Park was New Bedford’s first city park. New Bedford citizens were conscious of the fact that a “typical” New England town had to have a Town Common, and the park was so designated. Property was first purchased by the city in 1822 and enlarged b

Clasky Park was New Bedford’s first city park. New Bedford citizens were conscious of the fact that a “typical” New England town had to have a Town Common, and the park was so designated. Property was first purchased by the city in 1822 and enlarged by further acquisitions by 1830. At that time, of course, it was just another open space in the middle of farmland, but the future was to prove the wisdom of this decision of the town fathers. Gardens and walkways were begun as early as the 1850’s and the carefully laid out paths and trees are the result of long planning. Originally known as The Common Park, It is now known as Clasky Park, Harold H. J. Clasky was a well-known political figure in New Bedford who served for twelve years on the City Council and later as State Senator in Boston. The park was re-named for him and dedicated on October 13, 1969.In Clasky Common Park is a monument dedicated to New Bedford Veterans of the Civil War, known popularly as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. It is one of the earliest erected in the nation, dated 1866. It commemorates “sons who fell defending their country in the struggle with slavery andtreason.”