The McFarland-Sanger House, Hopkinton - Part 1 of 2

The McFarland-Sanger House is one of those rare small houses that has survived into the 21st century. The building is in excellent condition, in the sense that while it has been expanded several times, the interior has seen few alterations. The building is currently owned by the Town of Hopkinton. They received it from a developer, who was planning to demolish the building to make room for a 55+ condominium community. Today, the condos nearly swallow the small house on its quarter-acre of land. The house is on Lumber Street, a rural road in Hopkinton that was historically well-traveled. The area has seen more development in recent years, as large tracts have been sold off and parceled into subdivisions. The town has done little to the building besides removing an ell and maintaining the building's envelope. A new roof was put on several years ago, some windows were replaced, and the building was painted.

The small room at the end may seem like an addition, but it is actually the oldest part of the house.

When the house was first built around the middle of the 18th century, it was a one-room building. This space today is the area furthest from the road, the little space at the west end of the building that seems tacked on. One-room buildings were not unusual for the 1750s, and in fact one- and two-room houses were incredibly common even into the early 1800s. However because they were so small, they were often demolished to make way for a bigger building, or subsumed by additions. Although the original one-room McFarland-Sanger House was added to, the interior was barely touched, making the original space easily visible today.

The single-room space, roughly 13' by 18', was entered from a door on the south wall. It may seem strange that the house is placed perpendicular to the road, but the house was placed so that its main facade faces south and takes advantage of the warming winter sun - 18th century green design! This was a common practice until the beginning of the 19th century, when houses began to be oriented towards the road, regardless of direction.

When you enter the McFarland-Sanger House, you are immediately greeted by the side of a massive fireplace and a set of open stairs up to the half-story. The fireplace is made of stone and parged with concrete, and is very large. It also shows signs of several additions for ovens and stoves, as heating and cooking methods have changed several times since the 1750s. It is unclear if the house originally had a stone fireplace, but it would not be unheard of, especially in a town like Hopkinton that is built on ledge.

The house was built with hand-hewn timbers using traditional timberframing methods. Six posts (the black squares shown above) made up the vertical structure of the house - one at each of the corners and two in front of the chimney, to create a chimney bay. The posts are one indication of the building's early date. They are "gunstock" posts, meaning they are larger at the top and taper about halfway down. This allows for more space to support the difficult joinery at corners, where there would be two beams as well as a rafter coming in from the top. Gunstock posts were being phased out by the end of the 18th century, as new joinery methods and smaller timbers came into common use. The posts were held together by a front and rear plate (the long timbers that span the front and rear of the house), a side girt at either end of the house, and a summer beam, which ties the house together (the beam extending from the front of the chimney bay to the west wall). Above in the attic are six pairs of rafters supporting the roof. Visible on the rafters are builder's marks, Roman numerals used to match up pieces that needed to be joined together. Typically, a house joiner would lay out all the pieces of a house, assemble the joints individually, mark the pieces that went together, disassemble everything, and then reassemble it as a house. It was a long process, but it insured that the house fit together perfectly.

Four hatch marks are visible on each of these rafters, alerting the house joiner that they go together. The six pairs of rafters were pegged together at the top; the peg is visible at the junction of the two pieces.

Who were the McFarlands and Sangers? My original research got tied up in probate records in the middle of the 19th century, so I have not been able to trace deeds back into the 18th century. However it is believed, based on maps and later deeds, that one of the earliest residents of the house, if not the builder of the house, was Ebenezer McFarland (1751-1837). His father Robert McFarland was one of the first settlers of Hopkinton. Ebenezer was active in town politics and was one of the founders of the town's Methodist society. He married Elizabeth Gibson (1752-1847) in 1774, and the couple had eight children. McFarland was probably a farmer, as there was little industry in Hopkinton in the 18th century.

This is the first of two posts about the McFarland-Sanger House. Next I will detail the later additions and more recent history of the building. Stay tuned!

Hopkinton Public Library and Library Additions in Massachusetts

Over the past several years, the town of Hopkinton has begun the process of applying for a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners' (MBLC) grant to expand their 1895-1898 public library. However after the design of the new building was revealed, it was clear that yet again, another historic public library building in Massachusetts was being sacrificed in the name of meeting the MBLC's rigid space requirements.

Before 1990, if a municipality in Massachusetts wanted to expand their public library, they had to apply to the state legislature for funds. Although this process was highly unregulated, it allowed cities and towns to build to suit their needs. After 1990, the MBLC took over the process, converting it to a grant format. Municipalities apply to the MBLC for funds to build a new library or expand their current one. The amount of money a community receives is based on their 20-year population estimate. The MBLC has a number of different space requirements the new deign must meet, such as the number of seats for certain activities and the kinds of rooms libraries should have. While this has standardized the process statewide, it also has created a number of outsized additions to historic library buildings, which are numerous in Massachusetts.

A detail of George Hartnell Bartlett's 1904 map of public libraries in Massachusetts, with Hopkinton (misspelled "Hopkington") at the center. From the collection of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library.

In the 19th century, Massachusetts was at the forefront of the public library movement. Beginning in the early part of the century as private lending libraries or subscription libraries, public libraries began to appear in Massachusetts by mid-century. These small libraries were a source of pride for a community. They were a unique feature that towns could advertise to investors, in the hopes of attracting industry at a time when Massachusetts was growing rapidly. Libraries were also a sign of an educated workforce, another selling point for towns. And in a time of political turmoil, libraries were seen as a way to democratize the general public, as a place to educate them on current events and issues in the hopes of preventing the spread of radical ideas.

In the beginning, many early public libraries were housed in a building dedicated to another use, such as a store, school, or church. But as they became more and more popular, communities began to construct dedicated library buildings. These small buildings can be found throughout Massachusetts. They were often constructed of brick or stone, and located in a conspicuous place, usually on the town's common. Often, a wealthy resident of the town provided the catalyst for building a library. They often donated the land for the building, funds for the building, or a collection of books.

An undated photograph of Hopkinton's 1895 public library building. From the collection of the Hopkinton Public Library.

The construction of Hopkinton's public library was spurred forward by a monetary donation from a former resident, John Quincy Adams of Illinois. The land for the building was donated by Sarah Whitin, the granddaughter of Col. Joseph Valentine. Plans for the building were donated by Sanford Phipps, a Hopkinton resident and partner in the Boston architectural firm of Loring and Phipps. Construction progressed quickly through 1894, and the stone Romanesque Revival building was dedicated on January 1, 1895.

Around the same time, on the plot of land to the east of the library (also donated by Sarah Whitin), Hopkinton's Episcopal community was raising a new church. The 1898 stone Gothic Revival church was designed by the Rev. Hermon Gaylord Wood. Wood was very active in the Epsicopalian ministry and community in Massachusetts at the end of the 19th century. Although he was not a trained architect, he designed a number of church buildings throughout Massachusetts. At the present time, thirteen churches have proven to be the work of Rev. Wood. When the Episcopalian congregation outgrew their church around mid-century, they decided to donate it to the library next door, which was in need of more space. In 1967, the two buildings were connected by a single-story hyphen, greatly expanding the library's space. However, the library has not been expanded any further, even thought the town's population has grown rapidly, especially in the last few decades.

An undated photograph of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. From the collection of the Hopkinton Public Library.

It is easily seen that the current Hopkinton Public Library is too small to serve the town’s needs. When the building opened in 1895, the town’s population was 2,984; at the most recent census in 2010, Hopkinton had 14,925 residents. The current library has few of the features that make a modern public library successful in small Massachusetts towns. There is no dedicated meeting space or community room, the children’s room is very small with no space for young adults, and there is very little in the way of modern technology access. There are also few ways to modify the interiors of the two historic buildings to make room for new spaces. However, pursing MBLC money to fund the expansion of the library has forced the town to design a building that is too large for the lot and the surrounding neighborhood. The town should consider other design alternatives that take into account the historic building and streetscape in addition to meeting the needs of a modern library. This could mean forging ahead with the library project without making use of state funding, as the town of Concord did several years ago.

Concord chose to expand their historic library without the use of MBLC funds, instead raising the needed funds through a private capital campaign. Before beginning construction in 2003, Concord’s private Library Corporation raised the necessary $7.6 million to complete an addition to the town’s 1873 public library. The building’s history included several other additions, which had expanded and altered the historic building, but the main historic section was still largely intact. Using private funding rather than state funding, the library was able to create an addition that “focused more on the redesign and efficient use of existing space than on expansion.” The town was able to build a library that suits their needs now and in the future, without extras and additions mandated by the state that may not be necessary for the town. The library was able to gain needed new space,

integrated systems, air conditioning, new elevators, a variety of safety features, and wireless Internet access were installed, and the building brought up to code. The charging and work areas for Circulation were revamped, the Special Collections reading room significantly expanded and tastefully appointed, and new periodical and young adult areas created. Great care was exercised through all of this to protect and showcase the remaining architectural features of the original library building (the octagonal lobby) and of the renovation of the 1930s (the Reference, Trustees’, and Thoreau Rooms). Source

J. Stewart Roberts & Associates designed the Concord addition. They were the predecessor firm to Johnson Roberts Associates, Inc., who did the designs for the proposed Hopkinton Public Library addition. Their design has given Concord a modern public library that serves the needs of its current patrons while maintaining its historic fabric.

The proposed design for the Hopkinton Public Library addition. From the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation.

A major difficulty with expanding the current Hopkinton Public Library building is the site itself. Siting is an important factor in how successful a historic library addition ultimately is. Hopkinton Public Library is on a small corner lot, surrounded by few tall buildings. The streetscape of Main Street around the library is nearly uniform at two stories, with Town Hall one of the few buildings rising above that. The buildings are generally of a smaller size, on small lots. The north side of the street has commercial style buildings that are boxier and placed close to the street, taking up most of their lots. However the south side of the street where the library is located is mostly residential buildings set further back from the street on the center of their lots, with grass (or pavement) visible on all four sides of the buildings. The new library building would extend up Church Street, a residential street composed of historic single-family houses. Like the houses surrounding the library on Main Street, the buildings on Church Street are set back from the street and centered on their lots. The plan for the library calls for demolishing a historic house on Church Street and replacing it with a parking lot. The site constraints are one of the biggest hurdles with expanding the Hopkinton Public Library, but they are not helped by the requirements imposed by the MBLC that necessitate a large building.

 In May of 2014, Hopkinton’s Annual Town Meeting passed a motion allocating over $7 million in town funds for the expansion of the library. A resident made a motion to use only this money to renovate the library, rather than accepting the MBLC grant to bring the total to over $11 million; the motion was denied. The $7 million the town is spending is comparable to what Concord recently spent to update and expand their library, fixing many of the same issues that Hopkinton currently has. Hopkinton could choose to spend only town money on the project, allowing the town to have greater control over the final design aspects of the library. This would likely lead to a smaller building that still provides for the town’s needs, and fits better onto the lot and into the town’s established streetscape. While the MBLC money is considered by library proponents to be “free” money, it comes at the cost of damaging two beloved Hopkinton landmarks, and forever altering the town’s small-scale, residential streetscape.

This post was edited together from information gathered during my Master's project, entitled "Expanding 'A Library Building for Library Work:' Additions to Historic Libraries in Massachusetts Since 1990," which I recently adapted into a report for the Hopkinton Historical Commission which specifically dealt with the Hopkinton Public Library's proposed addition.

The Toll House in the Hopkinton Independent

The June 5, 2014 issue of the Hopkinton Independent features an article by Cathy Buday on the Toll House and its uncertain future. The article is on the front page of the newspaper, available from their website as a PDF.

The Toll House, Hopkinton - Update

My previous post on the Toll House and its history can be found here.

Recently, while working on another project, I came across a series of images in the collection of the American Antiquarian Society. I generally do not check AAS during projects, because in the past I've found that their local history collections are not as strong as what I can find at town libraries or historical societies. However these photographs were taken by Harriette Merrifield Forbes (1856-1951) as she documented 17th and 18th century buildings in central Massachusetts. The AAS has a collection of 853 negatives of pictures Forbes took between 1887 and 1945. The AAS lists these digitized photographs by place on their website, and although I was working in another town, I took a look at the few pictures Forbes had taken in Hopkinton. Two of these, taken April 5, 1931, were listed as the Claflin House on Framingham Road. Imagine my surprise when I opened these and found the picture below - what is labeled as the Raftery and Smith house in various sources and at the Hopkinton Library!

Photo from the collection of the American Antiquarian Society.

This is a much clearer, higher-quality image of the Smith/Raftery homestead, and is also taken from a different angle than all the other images of the house that I've seen. Fortunately, this angle faces west, and if you look close enough, shows just a little bit of the Toll House to the west of the main house.

Between the front yard trees and the larger house, the Toll House is visible. We can learn a few different things from this photo. First, the road was much further away from the house than it is today. Today, a stone retaining wall is only a few feet in front of the house, but when this photo was taken in 1931, there was a sizeable yard that sloped down to the street. Second, the larger 18th century house appears to be in the area of what is today a driveway onto Weston Nurseries' landscape yard, and it also possibly stood on some wetlands that are in that area. Third, the larger house was still standing when this photo was taken in 1931. So although we don't know exactly what happened to the building (whether it was torn down or moved), it existed a few decades into the 20th century. Today there is a large mid-20th century barn/garage in the area where the larger house stood, suggesting the house was removed around that time and the barn/garage built in its place.

The photograph is a wonderful find, because it confirms what until this point had been speculation, well-documented though it was. The photograph (and the one below, also from AAS's Forbes collection) provide a much more detailed view of the large 18th century Smith/Raftery House. It would have been an impressive building for the time, and would have stood out on the road from Hopkinton to Framingham.

The Toll House, Hopkinton

The Toll House at 123 East Main Street, Hopkinton (image from the town's 1989 survey).

Recently I was hired by the Hopkinton Historical Commission to research and document a small house at 123 East Main Street, rumored to be a toll house. The owner is planning to move or demolish the building, and the Historical Commission wanted to make sure there was a record of the building and to substantiate (or disprove) the local lore about the toll house. Buildings usually come with stories that rarely prove to be true - George Washington slept here, this was a stop on the Underground Railroad - but in this case, the house was in fact a toll house.

I always begin my research with maps, as they help to orient you to a property, give you a general idea of who owned a property, and can provide other valuable information. In the case of the Toll House, a map from 1831 proved to be incredibly helpful. Shown below, you can see that there are two dots marked on the map: the first, to the west, is labelled "Toll House," while "N. Smith" is listed as the owner of the dot to the east. Generally, each dot corresponds to a building - this meant that there were two buildings on this property, the Toll House, and N. Smith's house. Currently, the Toll House is the only extant (still standing) building. Looking at maps up to the present, I found that two dots were consistently placed on the property, and that aside from the 1831 map, the same person owned both dots. This indicated that the two buildings continued to stand, and were part of one property after 1831. I also had a rough idea of who owned the property throughout the 19th century (unfortunately, because it saw very little development during the 20th century, Hopkinton has few maps that cover the town from that time and none that cover this area of town).

After I had established that there was indeed a toll house on the site, and that it was a separate building, I began research into what road the toll house could have been for. Today, the house stands on Massachusetts Route 135, which runs from Dedham to Northborough. Digging into turnpikes, I found that the Central Turnpike Corporation was established by an act of the Massachusetts legislature in 1824. The proprietors of the corporation were allowed to build a toll road from Wellesley to Dudley, where the road would enter Connecticut. There was some delay in opening the road, and it was not officially opened until 1830. From Wellesley center, the road followed modern Route 135 through Natick, Framingham, Ashland, and Hopkinton (passing right by the house at 123 East Main Street); in Hopkinton, the toll road split from Route 135 at West Main Street and continued through Upton, Northbridge, Sutton, Oxford, Webster, and Dudley, where it extended down into Connecticut. The toll road was ultimately not successful, and the section in Middlesex County (including Hopkinton) was accepted as a public road in 1836; further sections were opened in the late 1830s, and the section in Connecticut operated until the 1850s.

The route of the Central Turnpike takes it from Wellesley center, down to Dudley, and then into Connecticut. From The Turnpikes of New England by Frederic J. Wood, 1919.

With the maps of the property and the information on the Central Turnpike Corporation, it was fairly clear that there was indeed a toll house on the property at some point. And the house that stands at 123 East Main Street is typical of buildings from 1830 - small, with a center chimney plan, and details consistent with the transition between the Federal and Greek Revival styles that was happening at the time. However various local sources suggest that the toll house was demolished or moved at some point in the past - and nearly every source says something different. So I had to figure out if the small house still standing was the toll house, or if there had been another house on the property that was the toll house. What helped clear this up was a photograph in the collection of the Hopkinton Public Library of a larger, early 18th century saltbox-style house. It is labeled as the "Raftery Place," which was the name of the property's owners for nearly 100 years, from 1887 until 1985 (Hopkinton residents will think I spelt Rafferty wrong, the name of a street nearby. But Raftery is how the family name was spelt in deeds, and it was likely corrupted over the years to Rafferty). This photo noted that the Raftery house was moved to New Jersey and rebuilt - making it clear that the small house at 123 East Main Street was in fact the toll house, and likely stood to the west of the much larger, older house, until that house was moved or demolished.

The photograph from the Hopkinton Public Library, labeled "Raftery Place - Toll House Family Home E. Main near Clinton 1706. Moved to N. J. & reblt."

The current owner of the property is Weston Nurseries, a large nursery that has been in Hopkinton for years. The Toll House stands on land they are hoping to develop for a parking lot, and they need the land the house stands on, as there is very little dry land in the area. The Hopkinton Historical Commission voted at their February 25 meeting to impose a six-month demolition delay on the property. This important preservation tool gives the Historical Commission time to work with the owners of a historic building to see if there is a way the building can be saved, either by incorporating it into the owner's plans or even moving it. One possibility for the Toll House includes keeping the building where it is, but selling it to a new owner on a small lot. A few years ago Hopkinton passed a by-law allowing for the creation of a non-conforming lot (a lot smaller than is allowed under current zoning regulations) if it would save a historic house. It was recently used by a developer to save a historic house and barn; by creating a smaller lot for the historic buildings, he was able to build the same number of new houses that he would have if he had demolished the historic structures. The hope is that Weston Nurseries will be able to create a small lot to keep the Toll House where it is, since so much of the building's history is tied to its location. If it was moved to another site, it would still be historic because of its age and condition, but it would no longer be the Toll House standing on the road it once served.

Structurally the house is in good condition, although the interior needs some work. Vandals have broken into the house and torn down some paneling and plaster in one room, but all of the other rooms are in relatively good condition. The house has had some updates over the years, such as new floors, carpets, and even walls, but many of its historic details remain, such as the historic fireplaces and late-19th century two-over-one window sash. Check out a gallery of the Toll House, below.

The east elevation, showing the ell that was added in the late 19th century to the side of the house. Much of the house is obscured by overgrown bushes.

The main entry, which is centered on the house. The entry is typical of the transition between the Federal and Greek Revival styles, and of the buidling's construciton date of 1830.

Paneling under the sidelights on the main entry, a common feature of Federal and Greek Revival style houses

A detail of the entry which shows the blind carved fanlight over the door, often found on Federal style houses, and the simple cornerblocks, hallmarks of the Greek Revival style.

The historic kitchen has seen the most damage in the house. Original paneling has been pulled from the walls and some of the ceiling plaster has been taken down.

Some of the paneling in the historic kitchen that is still in place.

The fireplace in the historic kitchen has a bake oven to the left. The mantel, while original, has unfortunately been stripped of paint.

The house retains its original four-panel Greek Revival style doors in all its doorways.

The fireplace and built-in closet in the parlor. This room was built to be a more formal space, as its fireplace was not built with a bake oven.

A detail of the fireplace in the parlor, which is more ornate than the one in the historic kitchen.

The hallway on the second story has an original three-over-three operable sash window. This means that the top half of the window has three lights, or squares of glass, and the bottom also has three lights, and the window can be opened.

The east bedroom is the largest; looking from the bedroom into the upstairs hall.

Looking into the two west bedrooms on the second floor. The upstairs has seen more updates than the first floor, such as carpeting and wall treatments.

The west wall of the west bedroom. Many of the windows in the house are two-over-one sash from the late 19th century. After the Civil War, glass production began to advance, and larger panes of glass could be manufactured. The house originally likely had six-over-six sash windows.

The kitchen ell, dating to the late 19th century, has modern updates such as new flooring and appliances, but retains its original two-over-one window sash.
 

The rear of the ell is a mudroom space, with a pantry just behind the sink, to the right.

Another clue to the building's construction date is its framing. The framing members are smaller than those from the 18th century. Here in the attic/crawl space, the rafters are joined to a ridgeboard at the peak of the roof. Before about 1820, this ridgeboard would have been a much heavier ridgebeam.

Hopkinton Center Architectural Tour

Recently I gave an architectural walking tour on behalf of the Friends of Hopkinton 300th Anniversary Celebration. The tours lasted approximately an hour, and highlighted the different architectural styles visible throughout Hopkinton Center.

Hopkinton developed during the early part of the 19th century as a major manufacturer of boots and shoes. A local resident, Joseph Walker, invented the pegged shoe sometime in the 1810s; this was a way of attaching the sole and the upper of a shoe using small wooden pegs, and it made the process of making shoes much easier. By the middle of the century the process had been mechanized, and shoemaking had moved from small "ten-footers" on family farms to large factory buildings in the center of town. Unfortunately, several large fires at the turn of the 20th century destroyed much of Hopkinton's factory infrastructure. After the fires, many of the boot and shoe companies chose to relocate elsewhere, and the town saw little development until Interstates 90 and 495 made the town an outer suburb of Boston in the 1980s and 1990s. So while today Hopkinton's downtown does not have the large factory buildings that you might find in other historic manufacturing cities, many of the houses and shops of the workers and factory owners are still standing. My walking tour focused on these, and showed how the different styles in Hopkinton are representative of its development throughout the 19th century. Below are a few of the highlights from the tour.

8 Hayden Rowe Street - the Lee Claflin House

The Lee Claflin House on Hayden Rowe Street, just off of the Common, is one of the more impressive Greek Revival buildings in Hopkinton. It is a high-style example, with an end-gable layout, fluted Ionic columns, an elaborate door surround, and elongated first-floor windows. The house was built for Claflin by his son, Hon. William Claflin, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1869 to 1871. It is unclear if William ever spent any significant time in this house, but one of the librarians on tour mentioned that the homeowner has been doing some work on the building, and in one of the walls found a metal stamp or press with William's name on it.

28 Hayden Rowe Street - the Samuel Crooks House

Just a few houses down from the Claflin House is the Samuel Crooks House, another high-style example, but this time of the Italianate style. Hopkinton was still growing rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, when the Italiante style was popular. Its features include asymmetrical massing with a side entrance and projecting bays, elaborate woodwork at the eaves and around windows and doors, and large panes of glass in the windows. Because glass production had advanced so significantly by the middle of the century, later styles often feature one-over-one or two-over-two sash, such as seen here on the Crooks House.  Crooks and Claflin were both prominent Hopkinton factory owners who had money to spend on large and ornate buildings like these.

82-84 Pleasant Street - image from the town's 1980s survey

Because Hopkinton Center began to grow in the 1830s and 1840s, residents built a different form of housing than what you might find in other factory or mill towns, such as Uxbridge, Grafton, or Worcester. This double house on Pleasant Street from the 1850s is representative of what you might find in those towns, but is one of the only double houses remaining in Hopkinton Center. By the 1850s, much of Hopkinton Center had already been built up with smaller end-gable Greek Revival cottages, leaving little room for larger buildings such as this.

21 Hayden Rowe Street - the Greek Revival cottage form which is found throughout Hopkinton Center

One common feature on these smaller Greek Revival cottages is that they were often updated with Italianate features at the end of the 19th century. It is rare to see one of these houses in Hopkinton Center that does not have brackets at the eaves or a hood over the door. 

28 Main Street - the Hopkinton Supply Company Building

Hopkinton's only building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1906 Hopkinton Supply Company building is representative of later development in Hopkinton. A fire at the turn of the century had destroyed much of the northern side of Main Street, resulting in a new Town Hall and a row of several new shops in the 1900s. The Hopkinton Supply Company was one of these new buildings, but it stands out from its neighbors for its construction - it is a mail-order building. The building was ordered from the George L. Mesker Company of Evansville, Indiana, shipped to Hopkinton, and assembled on-site. The whole building is constructed of galvanized pressed steel, another unique and interesting feature of the building. Because Hopkinton had little to no growth after the turn of the century, this is one of the few newer buildings in Hopkinton Center.