Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

21 California Avenue

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
West Quincy, in its early days, was known as the Woods District. In 1644 it was the site of the first productive iron furnace in America. But the West Quincy we know now is the result of the phenomenal expansion of the granite industry which began in the early 19th century, flourished well into the 20th, and achieved such milestones as the first commercial railway in 1826. Hiking through the now silent quarries it is hard to imagine that in 1837 fully one sixth of Quincy's 3000 persons were engaged in the quarrying industry. Historian Daniel Munro Wilson, writing in 1925, tries to capture some of flavor of the change: "Great elevations are being leveled and the very roots of the mountains are being torn out, but the supply is inexhaustible. Stone sheds for the hammering aud polishing of the obdurate material have multiplied, so that within the last twenty years these and the houses of the workmen have quite altered the face of the country." (quoted in Holly, Quincy: 350 years, p. 57.) Quarrying in Quincy has ceased, yet the fashioning of granite, taking place largely in West and Southwest Quincy, is still an important business, utilizing the skills that made Quincy famous.

Number 21 California Avenue was probably built by Charles Haggerty, a section master on the Old Colony Railroad. Constructed in 1845. Haggerty's house faced the Granite Branch of the Railroad and he was steps away from the West Quincy Station. By 1897 the house had changed hands and Patrick Buckley, a blacksmith, was the new owner. The Buckley family was still in residence in 1935 and a Henry Buckley had opened up "Buckley's Garage" on nearby Willard Street.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
William Churchill Edwards. Historic Quincy Massachusetts, 1957, p. 116-123.
H. Hobart Holly, Quincy Historical Society.
H. Hobart Holly. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 51.
H. Hobart Holly. "Quincy's Granite Hills Were Golden". Quincy History. Spring, 1980.
Walter o. Nisula. "Granite Drew the Finnish to Quincy". Quincy History, Spring, 1984.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This residence at 21 California is one of the finest example of a modest Italianate collage of the 1860s in Quincy. It has not been scared by synthetic siding or unfelicitious additions; it has retained its architectural integrity. It is a gable end to the street Italianate cottage with a side entrance indicating a side hall plan. On the right is a fine angular one story bay window with a paneled base. The roof has slight returns onto the gable indicating an 1860s date and a small chimney piercing it, typical of the period. The small side wing is either of the period of a particularly sensitive later addition to the house's architecture. It is set on a granite foundation. The focus of architectural ornamentaion is on the entrance with scrolled brackets supporting the door hood. The door is original; it is composed of paneled lower section topped by two vertical panes of stained glass. It is a significant component of California Avenue in West Quincy.

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