Final Report - Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

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Submitted to:

Final Report

Whitman Community-wide Historic

Properties Survey

Whitman, Massachusetts

Phase IV

September 30, 2016

PAL PN 3142

Town of Whitman

54 South Avenue

Whitman, Massachusetts 02382

and

Massachusetts Historical Commission

220 Morrissey Boulevard

Boston, MA 02125

Abstract

The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL) undertook a project for the Town of Whitman

Historical Commission (WHC) and the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) to document

approximately 100 historic resources within the town of Whitman. PAL has completed

documentation for the historic resources, identified contexts for National Register of Historic Places

(National Register) evaluation, and identified properties eligible for listing in the National Register.

The results of the survey are discussed in this report and the accompanying MHC Area Form As and

Building Form Bs. Copies of the completed survey documentation and final report will be on file

with the Whitman Historical Commission.

Whitman was incorporated as South Abington from parts of Abington and East Bridgewater in 1875,

and renamed as Whitman in 1886. At the end of the nineteenth century, the town’s agricultural and

modest industrial economy expanded rapidly in conjunction with neighboring Brockton’s shoe

industry. Population nearly doubled and there was significant new building construction. Industry,

population, and growth leveled off through much of the twentieth century (MHC 1981).

The Town and WHC have laid some groundwork for the community-wide survey and identification

of National Register-eligible properties through the listing of the Olmsted-designed and town-owned

Whitman Park, and the Commonwealth Shoe and Leather Company.

Methodology

Survey Objectives

The objectives of this project were to survey and comprehensively document approximately 100

historic resources, as selected by the WHC. These properties were selected in order to document

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Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

Phase IV

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residences surrounding Whitman Park, the commercial core of the town, and numerous industrial

complexes within the town.

Assessment of Existing Documentation and Research

Previous documentation for Whitman generally dates to the mid-2000s, but contains limited

architectural and historical information, with the exception of those buildings documented as part of

the preparation of a National Register nomination. 37 areas and individual resources in Whitman

have been assigned inventory numbers Massachusetts Cultural Resources Inventory System

(MACRIS). 3 individual properties are listed in MACRIS as being on the National Register.

Research was conducted at the Massachusetts State Archives, the Whitman Public Library, the

Brockton Public Library, the Whitman Town Archives, and the Whitman Historical Commission.

Resources on the overall history and development of Whitman, including historic maps and atlases,

city records, local histories, and unpublished materials, are contained in both the local history room

of the Whitman Public Library and the Whitman Historical Commission, as well as other local

repositories. Online resources consulted included City Directories and US Census reports available

through Ancestry.com and other online repositories. Limited property ownership research was

conducted through the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds. PAL staff examined a number of historic

maps and atlases, local records, and town histories located in the Whitman Public Library. Historic

maps and atlases examined include 1848 Map of East Bridgewater, 1857 Map of the County of

Plymouth, Massachusetts: South Abington and Northville of E. Bridgewater, 1879 Atlas of Plymouth

County – Map of the Towns of Abington and S. Abington, 1896 Map of Abington, and 1900 Atlas of

Plymouth County – Plate 006: Bridgewater, Holbrook, Whitman, Brockton, and Weymouth, and

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from 1891–1950. Local records examined include Town of Abington

and Whitman directories from 1872–1937, and the 1981 Massachusetts Historical Commission

Reconnaissance Survey Report for Whitman and the 1982 Historical & Archeological Resources of

Southeast Massachusetts: A Framework for Preservation Decisions. Town histories examined

include History of Whitman (Gardner 1985), Whitman: Images of America Series (Hickey 2003),

History of the Town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, From its First Settlement (Hobart

1866), as well as History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of many

of its Pioneers and Prominent Men (Hurd 1884).

Selection Criteria

The criteria for property selection for Whitman were derived from the Request for Proposals (RFP);

a discussion at the project startup meeting among representatives of the City, the MHC, and PAL;

and a list of properties included in the RFP. The list of properties predominantly consisted of

previously undocumented resources, however there were a small number of previously documented

resources whose forms contained limited descriptive and historical information.

Survey Procedures

The Whitman Community-wide Survey used current MHC criteria and methodology as defined in

MHC’s Historic Properties Survey Manual: Guidelines for the Identification of Historic and

Archaeological Resources in Massachusetts (1992), Survey Technical Bulletin #1 (1993), MHC

Interim Survey Guidelines (March 1999, et seq.), MHC Interim Guidelines for Inventory Form

Photographs (2009), and MHC’s Guidelines for Inventory Form Locational Information (2013).

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Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

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Both MHC survey guidelines and the tasks and products of the survey Scope of Work meet the

Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Identification (1983).

PAL prepared and submitted an Interim Report, Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties

Survey, Whitman, MA, Phase I Methodology in November 2015 that outlined the methodology. As

part of Phase II, a list of resources to document was submitted in January and confirmed at the Phase

II meeting in February.

A walking survey of Whitman was undertaken in order to assess and document the previously

selected properties. The properties surveyed were commercial and residential buildings dating

primarily from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. PAL utilized a mobile GIS map for

research, data collection, and survey refinement, accessed via the ArcGIS Collector application on a

3G-enabled iPad tablet as well as from desktop web browsers at the office. Staff used the data

collection functionality to record the attributes of pre-determined survey properties in the field via

the iPad tablet, as well as with a paper survey matrix. Resources were photographically documented

using a high-resolution digital SLR camera.

National Register Eligibility

The National Register eligibility recommendations for the resources included in this survey update

were based on analysis of the background information available for each property, including the

general context of the historic development of Whitman, and the visual data collected during

fieldwork against the National Register criteria (36 CFR 60). These criteria are the standards for

evaluating the significance of resources as established by the National Park Service, Department of

the Interior. The criteria are designed to guide the evaluation of potential entries for the National

architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures,

and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and

association and:

A. that are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad

patterns of our history; or

B. that are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or

C. that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of

construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic

values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose component

may lack individual distinction; or

D. that have yielded, or may be likely to yield information important in prehistory or

history.

Results

MHC Area Form A and Building Form B inventory forms were completed for each surveyed resource

on the final list. Each form includes an architectural description of the resource(s), discussion of the

historic context, locus map, and digital image of the resource(s). MHC National Register Eligibility

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Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

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forms were completed for five areas and four individual properties. See “Recommendations” below

for details on these evaluations.

Inventoried Properties

Property

MHC #

AREA A FORMS

Whitman Park Area

WHI.C

Whitman Center Area

WHI.D

Dunbar, Hobart, and Whidden Tack Manufactory

Area

WHI.E

Peaceful Meadows Dairy Area

WHI.F

National Foundry, Inc. Area

WHI.G

D. B. Gurney Tack, Nail, and Box Factory Area

WHI.H

INDIVIDUAL B FORMS

262 Bedford Street

WHI.21

351 High Street

WHI.22

24 Linden Street

WHI.23

65 Plymouth Street

WHI.24

169 Plymouth Street

WHI.25–WHI.26

54 South Avenue

WHI.5

110 South Avenue

WHI.27

120 South Avenue

WHI.28–WHI.29

458 South Avenue

WHI.30

54 Temple Street

WHI. 31

127 Warren Avenue

WHI.32

760 Washington Street

WHI.33–WHI.34

58 West Street

WHI.35

168 Whitman Avenue

WHI.36

OBJECT C FORMS

54 Temple Street

WHI.917

BURIAL GROUND E FORMS

Mt. Zion Cemetery

WHI.800

STRUCTURE F FORMS

478 South Avenue

WHI.915–WHI.916

Recommendations

National Register of Historic Places evaluation criteria were applied to all properties included in the

survey effort. A total of five areas and four individual properties was evaluated as eligible for listing

in the National Register, either as of potential historic districts or individual nominations.

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Phase IV

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National Register Eligibility

Five properties were assessed as being potentially eligible for listing in the National Register

as historic districts: Whitman Park Area, Whitman Center Area, Dunbar, Hobart & Whidden

Manufactory on Colebrook Avenue, Peaceful Meadows Dairy at 98 Bedford Street, and D.

B. Gurney Tack, Nail, and Box Factory at 746 Washington Street. Four properties were

assessed as being potentially eligible for individual listing in the National Register: Whitman

Town Hall at 54 South Avenue, the Hobart Tunnel and Canal at 478 South Avenue, the

David Porter House at 351 High Street, and the Harrison Prouty House and Barn at 169

Plymouth Street.

The Whitman Park Area is eligible for listing at the local level under Criterion A and C in

the areas of Community Planning and Development and Architecture as a discrete residential

area in Whitman enframing, and associated with the development of, the Olmsted-designed

Whitman Park in the late 19

and early 20

centuries. The area is also eligible for its diverse

collection of 19

-and 20

-century residential buildings that represent a range of architectural

styles and levels of ornamentation, and form a coherent and distinguishable entity. The

Whitman Center Area is eligible for listing at the local level under Criterion A and C in the

areas of Community Planning and Development and Architecture. The area is eligible under

Criterion A as a discrete commercial area in Whitman associated with the development of

Whitman Center as the central business district and the changing industries of the town in

the late 19

and early 20

centuries. The area is eligible under Criterion C for its diverse

collection of 19

-and 20

-century commercial and institutional buildings that represent a

range of architectural styles and levels of ornamentation, and form a coherent and

distinguishable entity. Peaceful Meadows Dairy, 94 Bedford Street is eligible for listing at

the state and local levels under Criterion A in the area of Agriculture as a dairy farm which

has operated continuously on the property for over a century, and run by the same family

nearly a century (1920–2016). The farm is significant for its association with 20

-century

small-scale dairy farming practices in Massachusetts, and as one of a small number of

remaining dairy farms in the state, only 160 as of 2011, and one of only 11 dairy farms, as

of 1997, in Plymouth County (Holm et al. n.d.:30). The Dunbar, Hobart, and Whidden Tack

Manufactory complex is recommended eligible for National Register listing at the local level

under Criteria A and C in the areas of Industry and Architecture. Under Criterion A, the

complex is significant for its associations with the early tack making industry in Whitman,

an important economic activity in the town. Under Criterion C, the complex is a significant

and distinguishable grouping of late-nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century industrial

buildings erected to form an integrated plant for tack manufacturing. The D. B. Gurney Tack,

Nail, and Box Factory is eligible at the local level under Criterion A in the area of Industry

for its association with the history of tack making in Whitman. The site has been

continuously occupied by the Gurney company since 1875, and is now the only remaining

cut tack and nail factory in the United States

The Harrison Prouty House and Barn, 169 Plymouth Street is eligible for listing on the

National Register of Historic Places at the local level under Criterion C in the area of

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Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

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Architecture, primarily for its attached barn, an unusual form of a gambrel-roofed English

barn seated on a raised rubblestone foundation, and as a late and unusual, for Whitman,

example of a connected farm complex. The David Porter House, 351 High Street (possibly

ca. 1730) is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places at the local level

under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an unusual example of a Colonial-era brick

residence constructed in Whitman. The Hobart Canal and Tunnel is eligible for listing in the

National Register of Historic Places at the local level under Criterion A, C, and D. It is

eligible under Criterion A in the area of Industry for its association with the early industrial

development of Whitman, under Criterion C in the area of engineering as the earliest canal

and tunnel system in Plymouth County, and under Criterion D for its potential to yield

substantive archaeological information about the early industrial development in this part of

Whitman, particularly early saw- and gristmills. Whitman Town Hall, 54 South Avenue

(1906–1907) is eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places at

the local level under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning and Development for

its association with the development of Whitman, beginning in 1905. The building is also

eligible under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an excellent example of Classical

Revival architecture in Whitman. Whitman Town Hall is also eligible for listing in the

National Register as a contributing resource of a potential Whitman Center Historic District

(see Whitman Center Area).

Further Study Recommendations

PAL recommends that National Register documentation be undertaken for the above properties.

Additionally, further research is recommended for the D.B. Gurney Tack, Nail, and Box Factory.

Bibliography

Public Records

Plymouth, MA. Plymouth County Registry of Deeds. Deed records.

Boston, MA. Massachusetts Historical Commission. Historic Resource Survey reports and forms,

and National Register Nomination Forms for selected Whitman Historical Commission Inventory

Forms.

Whitman, MA. Annual Report of the Town Officers and Committees of Whitman. Avery & Doten,

Plymouth, MA; Hatch & Co. Whitman, MA; Town of Whitman, MA, 1893-present.

Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC). MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report:

Whitman. On file, MHC, Boston, MA, 1981.

Massachusetts State Archives. “Department of Public Safety, Division of Inspection, Building

Inspection Plans, 1889–1987 (PS9-Series 306X).” On file at Massachusetts State Archives,

Boston, MA.

Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS).

Washington, DC. US Bureau of the Census. United States Censuses, 1790–1940.

Whitman, MA. Town of Whitman Assessor’s Office. Assessor’s Records.

_________. Whitman Public Library. Local History Collection. Whitman Public Library.

Maps

Bailey, O. H. Bird’s Eye View of Whitman, Massachusetts. Boston, MA, 1889.

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Whitman Community-wide Historic Properties Survey

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Bates, James. Map of Abington, Mass, 1830.

__________. Map of East Bridgewater, Mass, 1848.

Payne, Elbridge. Map of Abington, 1896.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Maps of Whitman, Massachusetts. New York, NY, 1891–1950.

Walker, G. H. Atlas of Plymouth County-Map of the Towns of Abington and S. Abington.

Boston, MA, 1879.

__________. Atlas of Plymouth County-Plate 006: Bridgewater, Holbrook, Whitman,

Brockton, and Weymouth. Boston, MA, 1900.

Walling. H. F. Map of the County of Plymouth, Massachusetts: South Abington and

Northville of E. Bridgewater. Boston, MA, 1857.

General Bibliography

Gardner, Russell Herbert. History of Whitman. Whitman, MA: Book Committee of the Whitman

Historical Commission, 1985.

Hickey, David. Whitman: Images of America Series. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Hobart, Benjamin. History of the Town of Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, From its

First Settlement. Boston, MA: T. H. Carter and Son, 1866.

Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of

many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia, PA: J. W. Lewis & Co., 1884.

Whitman Board of Trade. Whitman, Mass. 1900. Whitman, MA, 1900.

Whitman’s Centennial Booklet Committee, Whitman: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. Whitman,

MA. On file, Whitman Public Library, 1975.