Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

1-3 Bradford Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The South Quincy neighborhood is bounded by the MBTA tracks (west), School Street (north), the Quincy Avenue (east) and the Braintree Town Line (south). The old Boston-Plymouth Highway followed two important streets in the area, School and Franklin, and it is on Franklin Street that is found the birthplaces of the two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, around which the Adams Birthplace Local Historic District is formed. This was a residential area and the earliest houses were along the old Boston-Plymouth Highway with woods and farmlands stretching behind. Now the major farms in the area, principally those of Charles Francis Adams and Job Faxon, have been subdivided and there is much commercial activity along Quincy Street, Franklin Street, School Street, and the beginning of Independence Avenue. A notable feature of South Quincy is the 54-acre Faxon Park, given to the City of Quincy, beginning in 1885. by the Faxon family. A local landmark is Penn's Hill, named for William Penn, an early settler and one of the first benefactors to the Town of Quincy.

This double residence was constructed in 1913 for William E. Duggan, a coat cutter, at a cost of $4000 by local builder John S. Johnson. The handsome apartment building at 29-31 Standish Avenue in the Wollaston East neighborhood is a later commission of Johnson's in 1928. The land on which Number 1-3 Bradford Street is located was originally part of the Adams farm and had become part of the Adams Real Estate Trust by 1907.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
H. Hobart Holly. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 58.
H. Hobart Holly. "Quincy's Granite Hills Were Golden". Quincy History. Spring., 1980.
William S. Pattee. History of Old Braintree and Quincy, 1879, p. 166.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This double residence with its two tiered porch is a fine example of an American Four Square residence of the early 20th century. It was built by John S. Johnson, a local contractor who had already built three similar double residences with the same configuration and attention to details in 1908 which are listed in this inventory as a streetscape on Faxon Park Road. 1-3 Bradford Street is characterized by a squarish massing and a slate (unusual for the area) hip roof pierced in the front by a large dormer. The house also has elements of the past Queen Anne style such as the two-story bay windows on the side elevations under a ridge roof gable, the turned balusters of the balustrade and an articulated cornice line of the sides. It is set on a typical Quincy granite foundation and also has granite steps leading up to the entance. The door is original to the house; it has a vertical oval glazed inset. It is one of the best examples of this type of housing in the neighborhood and it is an attractive component at the onset of Bradford Street.

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