National Register of Historic Places

House at 21 Chestnut Street

Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Listed
July 5, 1989
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
89000727

About this property

The House at 21 Chestnut Street is one of the best preserved Italianate houses in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It was built c. 1855 to a design by local architect John Stevens, and was home for many years to local historian Ruth Woodbury. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The house is set on the north side of Chestnut Street, a residential street running east–west between North Avenue and Main Street, the town's major commercial thoroughfares. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof and clapboard siding. The main facade is three bays wide, with a gable above the central gable, making room for a round-arch two-part window. A single-story hip-roofed porch extends across the front facade, supported by paired columns. The porch roof and main roof both sport paired brackets. The house was built about 1850, not long after Chestnut Street was laid out (1847). It is one of a series of Italianate houses on the street, and was designed by John Stevens, one of the few architects known to be working in Wakefield in the 19th century. Prominent residents of the house include Nathaniel Dearborn, a Boston printer active in the local militia and as a trustee of Lakeview Cemetery, and Ruth Woodbury, one of the town's best-known historians. National Register of Historic Places listings in Wakefield, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Location

21 Chestnut St.
Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
42.50357, -71.07409

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

House at 15 Chestnut Street
Industrial
0 mi
House at 25 Avon Street
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0.1 mi
House at 23 Avon Street
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0.1 mi
Yale Avenue Historic District
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0.1 mi
Buildings at 35-37 Richardson Avenue
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Lancaster (King Philip's War)
1676Colonial
6.3 mi
Battle of Menotomy
1775Revolutionary War
7.4 mi
Skirmish at Menotomy (Arlington)
1775Revolutionary War
7.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was House at 21 Chestnut Street listed on the National Register?

House at 21 Chestnut Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1989.

What type of historic resource is House at 21 Chestnut Street?

House at 21 Chestnut Street is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for House at 21 Chestnut Street?

The period of significance for House at 21 Chestnut Street is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near House at 21 Chestnut Street?

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