Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

26 Adams Street (Wickens and Troupe Funeral Home)

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Charles A. Howland, president of the venerable Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company, was probably the builder of the house next door to the Carrill Building at 26 Adam Street, as he is recorded as living there from at least 1876 past 1907. The Howland property, which in the 1870's directly adjoined the new handsome Adams Academy (National Register, 1872), included the present 24 Adams Street. Howland was president of the Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Company , which was founded in 1851, from the years 1885 to 1909. He was truly the embodiment of the american dream as he entered the office as a clerk, served one year as adjuster of losses, one year as assistant secretary, twenty-four years as secretary and finally rose to the presidency.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1907.
Paul Robert Lyons. Quincy: A Pictorial History, 1983, p. 61, 63.
Quincy City Directories, 1868-9, 1898, 1910.
Quincy Patriot Ledger, Souvenir Edition, 1899.
Quincy Patriot Ledger, 100th Anniversary, January 7, 1937, p. G-8, G-9.
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ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Once a fine 1870s Italianate Bracketed house with some stylistic characteristics still visible, such as the brackets under the eaves, pedimented facade with returns, corner porch with square posts and the regular fenestration composed of one over one windows, the residence at 26 Adams Street has lost much of its architectural integrity due to the presence of the inappropriate right front addition to the facade and the metal awnings. Some adaptions from residential to commercial use are successful; unfortunately the change of 26 Adams Street into a funeral home was not. Although aluminun siding is never to be recommended for a structure in a historic district, at least in this instance, the installers worked around the architectural ornamenttion instead of removing it. Set on a typical Quincy granite foundation and has an attractive granite retaining wall with square granite posts which frames the building in an attractive manner. It is part of the Quincy Center Local Historic District.

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