Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

33 Cross Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
West Quincy, in its early days, was known as the Woods District. In 1644 it was the site ot 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 and 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.)

Number 33 Cross Street was probably built by James F. Burke. Listed in the 1878 City Directory as a "ledgeman". Burke by 1899 was the City Treasurer of Quincy and sufficiently important to have an impressive portrait and biography included in the 1899 Souvenir Edition of the Quincy Patriot Ledger. Forsaking the quarrying business. Burke became the Quincy representative for two major insurance companies. Archibald McIntyre, a driver, was the new owner of 33 Cross Street in 1927.

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.
Quincy Patriot Ledger, Souvenir Edition, 1899, p. 16.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This interesting house at 33 Cross Street is an unusual example of the Gothic Revival of the 1860s. It is a picturesque residence of the 19th century with its cross gabled configuration set on a typical Quincy granite foundation, under a ridge roof pierced pierced by a small chimney. Salient characteristics of the Gothic Revival include the gothic labels framing the windows, the Tudor arch in front of the recessed entrance and the decorated bargeboards with with what seems like bird cut-outs. The corner porch was added in the early 20th century. It is an interesting and pleasant component of the Cross Street streetscape.

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