Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

122 Dixwell Avenue

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Hospital Hill/President's Hill/Cranch Hill neighborhood of Quincy is bounded by the MBTA tracks (east), Granite Street-Quarry Street (south), Quarry Street-Common Street (west), and Common Street-Furnace Brook Parkway (north). A key feature of this elite residential area was the extensive Charles Francis Adams Estate which was divided by the 1890's into three great real estate trust controlled properties called President's Hill, President's Hill Annex and Cranch Hill. Presidents Hill took its name from the Adams family who furnished two Presidents of the United States. Cranch Hill is located on the former homestead of Richard Cranch who, together with Joseph Palmer, is credited with the early industrial development of Germantown. Other features of this area are the smaller estates that lined the south side of Adams Street. the Quincy City Hospital at the top of Cranch Hill and the stone quarries lying to the east of Quarry Street. The close proximity of the Quincy Depot (which served the Old Colony Line to Boston), the City Hall, the street railway, and the city's financial center were major factors in the successful development of this area.

Built about 1836 by Edward Hall, a hatter by trade, Number 122 Dixwell Avenue until 1950 faced Granite Street. The house had a succession of owners, but in 1893 was sold to Henry Munroe Faxon, the son of the fabulously successful real estate entrepreneur Henry Hardwick Faxon. In 1950 the property was sold to Paul K. Duffey and the house was moved about one lot away and turned to face Dixwell Avenue. The house is crowded by overgrown evergreens but this may afford some protection against the proximity of nearby commercial Granite Street.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
"A Brief Historical Sketch of the City of Quincy, Mass." Issued by the President's Hill, President's Hill Annex, and Cranch Hill Real Estate Trusts. c. 1903.
Assessors Records.
Robinson's Atlas of Norfolk County, Mass., 1888.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1897.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1907.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1923.
McAlester, Virginia and Lee, A Field Guide to american Houses Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1984.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This modest residence built in 1836 is unusual for Quincy as its architecture is not derived from New England sources but rather from the state of New York where the Dutch influence was predominant. (McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, page 119). The most salient characteristic of this style is the wide flare of the steep pitched roof which covers the porch and the left facade and which is supported by thin columns. This configuration, often with the addition of shed dormers, was found throughout New York state but rarely in New England. Further research might indicate the reason for this interesting choice of style. It is a picturesque component of the Dixwell Avenue streetscape. It will be recommended that this property be included in the National Register Hospital Hill/President's Hill/Crarich Hill Historic District.

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