15, 19, 23, 25-27, 29-31Bennington Street

Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

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 Adam, around which the Adams Birthplace Local Historic District is formed. This was a residential area and many of the homes belonged to those connected with the nearby granite industry. 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.

There are four single and four double residences in this streetscape that ascends Penn's Hill from Independence Avenue to Verchild Street on Bennington Street. Penn's Hill was named for William Penn, an early settler and benefactor to the Town of Quincy. The houses vary in age from the 1890's to 1923 with lots ranging from 6,250 to 11,021 square feet. The first owners of these residences probably were, Number 62 Independence Avenue, Oliver Leaman, a Boston salesman; Number 15 Bennington Street. Christopher McAuliffe, a bicycle maker: Number 19, Charles G. Rich: Number 23, real estate developer George H. Field: Number 25-27, Leon Ward, general manager Bay State Aluminum Co.: Number 29-3, William Ross, bookkeeper: Number 37-39, Alexander Mundie & Sons (granite): and Number 43-45, Simone Vergobbi, Stonecutter.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This streetscape listed in the previous inventory is a group of single and double houses built at the end of the 19th century and up to the 1920s. They all have in common their gable-to-street orientation, and they all have some form of a front porch. They are ample comfortable homes, constructed in a traditional style, a simple version of the Colonial Revival. They have well proportioned facades, a minimum of architectural ornamentation and a functional design. The rhythmical repetition of gabled forms cascading down Bennington Street is an attractive component in the area. They are all fine representatives of Southwest Quincy housing in the early 20th century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
H. Hobart Holly. Quincy Historical Society records.
H. Hobart Holly. Quincy: 350 Years. 1974. p. 58.
H. Hobart Holly. "Quincy's Granite Hills Were Golden". Quincy History. Spring. 1980.

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