Wrentham State School // 1910

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The Wrentham State School (also known as the Wrentham State Hospital) was authorized in 1906 as a school for the “feeble-minded”, and the campus is comprised of a few dozen buildings largely from the early to mid 20th century. The school was founded to house and treat developmentally disabled children and was the first in the state of Massachusetts to employ a standardized plan for wards and employee housing. A site occupied by farmhouses just north of Wrentham Center was selected and purchased by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The school officially opened in 1910 and brick structures were built to house students and workers. In its first year, 217 pupils were admitted to the facility, roughly half boys and girls. A majority of the early ward buildings were constructed in the early years of the school, with most designed by the Boston architectural firm of Kendall, Taylor & Stevens, who also designed many other similar facilities around the country in the early 20th century. Most buildings are examples of the Arts & Crafts and Colonial Revival styles built of brick. Today, the campus is comprised of roughly half, deteriorating historic buildings and half are used as part of the Wrentham Developmental Center, which continues the important (and under-funded) work of treating psychiatric and developmental disorders of patients.

Follett House // c.1820

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A rare surviving half-cape dwelling, the Follett House on Chestnut Street in Wrentham, Massachusetts, has been lovingly preserved by generations of stewards as a private home. Given its form and vernacular style, the house could date to the mid-18th century, but available early records show it was owned by members of the Follett family in the 19th century. The home was owned by Amorous Follett (1792-1863) and his wife, Huldah Mason Follett who operated a farm on the property and raised their children in the small residence. The property was later inherited by the couple’s son, Alonzo Follett and his wife, Tryphena. The half cape is just three bays wide with a steeply pitched side gable roof, shingled siding, and later wings, expanding the original house.

Philander P. Cook House // 1847

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Built in 1847 as a residence for local Postmaster and storeowner, Philander P. Cook, this historic house off West Street in West Wrentham, Massachusetts, showcases the evolution so many New England farmhouses have experienced, from working farm, to country retreat, to suburban residence. Philander Perry Cook (1816-1880) purchased this land in 1845 from prominent Massachusetts State Senator and local government official, Alan Tillinghast, and shortly after purchase, he began construction of this Greek Revival style, two-story residence with attached stable. At the turn of the century, wealthy Wellesley College graduate, teacher and published author named Lucy Freeman, purchased the property from Cook’s heirs (as well as a residence nearby where she took up residence) and she rented the Philander P. Cook House to friends during the course of her ownership. In 1910, she modernized the house, likely adding the fanlight transom in the Colonial Revival mode, and had the grounds landscaped as a country retreat. Throughout the 20th century, a number of owners have preserved and modernized the home, while retaining its unique charm and character, and it now is a large, single-family home. 

Fisher-Mason Mansion // 1868

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The Fisher-Mason Mansion on South Street in Wrentham, Massachusetts, is among the town’s finest and well-preserved Victorian-era homes. The house is said to have been funded and built in 1868 by Thomas Proctor (who lived in a large Mansard house overlooking the town common) for his daughter, Emma Proctor as a wedding gift upon her marriage to husband, Henry Kollock Fisher, a shoe manufacturer. The couple lived in the home, raising four children here until 1910, when the Proctors sold the property to Otis N. Mason of Providence. Today, the Fisher-Mason Mansion is known as the R. J. Ross Funeral Home, who have operated a funeral home from the residence since before WWII. The mansion features a mansard roof with unique mansard gable at the side sheltering an ocular window.

Proctor-Brown Mansion // 1861

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The Proctor-Brown Mansion in Wrentham, Massachusetts, is a striking example of Second Empire style of architecture and even retains its historic carriage house of the same period and style. The mansion was built in 1861 by Thomas Proctor, a wealthy businessman and industrialist from Providence who earned his fortune by inventing a gimbel point for screws with his company, The American Screw Company. He and his wife, Wrentham native Zeolyde Antoynette Hawes Braman, lived in the home until their deaths in the 1880s. The Proctor Mansion was later owned by Daniel Brown, owner of Wrentham Straw Works, and passed down through his descendants until 1991, when the building became the Proctor Mansion Inn, named after its first owners.

Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham // 1872

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Overlooking the Town Green in Wrentham, Massachusetts, the Trinity Episcopal Church of Wrentham stands as the town’s finest example of Victorian Gothic architecture and the community’s oldest Episcopal church. Episcopalians in Wrentham first began worshipping in 1863 and in less than ten years, quickly grew in numbers from just two members to so many that a church building was needed to house the congregation. The site on East Street was purchased and architect, Shepard S. Woodcock, was hired to furnish plans for the new building. Completed in 1872, the Victorian Gothic design features all of the hallmarks of the style, including the steeply pitched roof, pointed arch windows and entry doors, buttresses, and towering steeple.

Ebenezer Fisher House // c.1764

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This historic Georgian-era house at 677 South Street in Wrentham, Massachusetts, is one of the town’s most historic and unaltered dwellings. Dating to about 1764, the Georgian Cape farmhouse replaced an earlier house formerly owned by Dr. Cornelius Kollock, the town doctor and later purchased by Ebenezer Fisher. The home is said to have burned and was replaced by the present building around 1764. It is unclear if the original 17th century home was largely rebuilt or if the existing house now was built from the ground up. The home has historically (and even today) been known as the Wampum House, said to have been named after “Wrentham’s last Indian.” This claim highlights a common but harmful misconception that no Indigenous peoples survived colonization and its impacts in New England. However, the name Wampum’s Corner and the Wampum House remain. The house is today owned by the Wrentham Historical Commission, and operates as a historic house museum, though is suffering from some deferred maintenance. It would be important for the community to fully document the home’s history, namesake, and tell a more complete and accurate history of this historic house.

Wrentham Village Hall – Daniel Cook Store // 1853

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Arguably the most recognizable and beloved building in Wrentham, Massachusetts, is this eclectic mid-19th century commercial building, known as the Wrentham Village Hall. The structure was originally constructed for Daniel A. Cook where he operated a store in the ground floor retail space and rented a meeting hall to local organizations above. The building was constructed around 1853 as a more vernacular building, but given its current appearance decades later when the ornate Stick style porches were added to the facade. While the building has served many uses over its history, the structure is suffering from some deterioration, which hopefully will not impact the rare surviving exposed porch framing and trusses, which give the building so much character.

Samuel Hawes House // c.1742

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The Hawes’ in Wrentham, Massachusetts, were a prominent local family that largely settled in the western part of the town, building large farmhouses with properties bounded by rustic stone walls. This residence on Spring Street dates to the mid-18th century and was likely built for Samuel Hawes (1713-1795) around the time of his marriage to Priscilla Ruggles in 1741. After the death of both Samuel and Priscilla in 1795, the couple’s only son, David, bought out his two sisters value in the property and lived here with his family. The property was passed down through members of the Hawes Family until the 20th century, though later owners have still maintained and preserved this significant home for future generations.

Hawes Homestead // c.1740

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One of the earliest extant homes in western Wrentham, Massachusetts, the old Hawes Homestead on Williams Street stands as an important Georgian style farmhouse in what was once a more pastoral part of the community. The house likely dates to the mid-18th century (or earlier) and was possibly built by Daniel Hawes, who farmed the land here. Due to the varied sizes of the upper windows, the residence was most probably a three-bay house with central chimney, and the right-most bay and modern chimney were added later. The residence was later inherited by his son, and later by other heirs before the property sold out of the Hawes family in the mid-19th century.