Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

28 Bridge Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Boston architect William Chapman was the designer of the house at 28 Bridge Street in 1912 for John D. Monahan, a foreman, and his wife Margaret. Chapman was well-known in Quincy having previously designed such buildings as the Old Courthouse, 12-24 Coddington Street (1911), the West Quincy Branch of Thomas Crane Public Library, 1240 Furnace Brook Parkway (1921), and the Wollaston Branch of the Thomas Crane Public Library, 41 Beale Street (1922). In the late 1920's Chapman would further design the Quincy Point Junior High School, Edwards Street (1927), the Merrymount School, 4 Agawam Street (1929), and the addition to the Montclair School, 8 Belmont Street (1930).

Number 28 Bridge Street, built at a cost of $4300, was one of several houses William Chapman would design in this immediate area. Together with local contractor Oscar A. Swanson, he built 28 Bridge Street in 1912, and the house next door at 9-11 Thayer Street in 1913. Eleven years later, in 1924, Chapman designed 36 Adams Street. The house at 28 Bridge Street at first glance bears a remarkable resemblance to its older neighbor diagonally across the street at 23-25 Bridge Street.

Both the house at 28 Bridge Street (sometimes numbered 3 Thayer Street) and the house next door at 9-11 Thayer Street were part of the George Washington Spear property which in 1849 ran from Bridge Street to Alleyne Street on the west side of Thayer Street with the large Spear house standing about midway on the block.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Atlas of Norfolk County, Mass., 1876.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1897.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1907.
H. Hobart Holly, Quincy Historical Society.
Quincy City Directories, 1915, 1930.
"Sprague Genealogy of Old Braintree Families". Microfilm at Quincy Historical Society.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This 1912 architect designed Four Square Colonial Revival house is similar to 23 Bridge Street but was built in a more sophisticated version of the style. The double hip roof projects slightly over the side elevations, giving the structure a"modern" Prairie Style look. The symmetrical facade is composed of a double window in the center of the second floor, and single window framing it. The sidelighted entrance is under a columned and balustraded portico, elegantly decorated with urn finials. Hip dormers pierce the double hip roof. The east elevation has a one-story bay window whose windows have diamond shaped panes at the top, the only non-classical element in the house design. The massing is compact, made up of strong, simple geometric forms. Unfortunately, the house has been sided with aluminum which detracts from its architectural integrity. With the Queen Anne house at 31 Bridge Street and the Four Square Colonial Revival house at 23 Bridge Street, together they create a fine enclave of an early 20th century residential grouping. It is part of the Quincy Center Local Historic District.

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