Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

38-40 Apthorp Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Atlantic neighborhood in North Quincy is bordered by the Neponset River to the North and Quincy Bay to the East. It was once part of Dorchester and with the Old North Precinct that had split off from Braintree, became part of the Town of Quincy in 1792. The Jockey Club of Boston set up the first mile track course in the state in 1812 in a section of Atlantic known as Billings Plains and less than one hundred years later the track was filled in with new homes . Like its neighbors, Montclair and Wollaston, most of the community of Atlantic was built in the first third of the 20th century. For nearly 200 years North Quincy was referred to as "The Farms" and it was such as the Newbury, Wilson, Billings and Glover farms. that were split up for residences by real estate developers David H. MacKay, Henry Hunt. Maurice E. Kilpatrick, John E. Poland, Henry J. Grass and Charles M. Conant, Henry Blackwell, and Walter Webb. The development process was greatly accelerated by the Old Colony Railroad which began operations in 1845, eventually establishing stations in Atlantic, Norfolk Downs (the southern section of Atlantic), and Wollaston as well as by the advent of Quincy's extensive street railway system.

Number 38-40 Apthorp Street has an interesting building history as it was apparently started in 1927 by a J. W. McCallum who expected to expend $10,000 in construction costs. McCallum ran into some difficulties and a building permit for 1930 reads "House was partly built by J. W. McCallum and now to be completed by the above applicant." Henry J. Grass, an active developer and carpenter in the neighboring Montclair area, was "the above applicant" and finishing the construction for $3000, began to rent out the two units.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Building Permits.
Hobart Holly, Quincy Historical Society.
H. Hobart Holly, ed. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 4.
William S. Pattee, A_History-of Old Braintree and Quincy, 1878, p. 55.
John Ramsdell, "Historic North Quincy . ["Written about 1934"] . Typed manuscript at Quincy
Historical Society.
Daniel Munro Wilson, Three Hundred Years of Quincy 1625-1925. 1925, p. 280-281.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
There are numerous fine American Four Square residences in Quincy; the majority are of wood. This house at 38-40 Apthorp is a fine and unusual example of the style as it was constructed with red brick interspaced with burnt headers. Although it has a squarish configuration there are many projections from the surface to give the building an interesting and picturesque effect. Half of the facade is made up of a two story bay while the other half has a corner portico supported by one column. A ridge roof dormer with returns pierces the front slope of the hip roof while the side slope has a large dormer with twin gables. The foundation is no longer the traditional Quincy granite, but rather cement that is stuccoed over. The window sills and lintels are also made of cement. It is a good example of a double house of the 1920s built with a modicum of style and comfort. It is an interesting component of the Apthorp Street streetscape.

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