Author: Buildings of New England

Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company Factory // 1889

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The Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company traces its roots to the pioneering work of William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer of Boston, whose 1850s telegraph-based fire alarm system was the first practical fire alarm box system that consisted of telegraph-based boxes placed on street corners, which, when activated, sent a coded signal to a central fire station notifying them of a fire or emergency. The duo applied for a patent for their “Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities” which was later acquired by John Gamewell of South Carolina. Following the Civil War, Gamewell partnered with Kennard and Company and built a factory in Newton Highlands in 1873. The company would adopt the trademark of a fist gripping lightningbolts, and by 1886, the Gamewell system was operating in over 250 cities in the United States and Canada. As the company grew operations, the business moved to this site in the Upper Falls village in 1889, which was desirable for its close proximity to the railroad and markets all over the region. The first factory was the two-story wooden factory building completed in 1889, with later wings to its east (1904) and west (1912) as the company continued to expand into the 20th century. The Gamewell company remained here until the 1970’s when Gamewell became a division of Gulf and Western. Luckily, the former factory was restored by owners Alexandria Properties and architects, Kraus Associates, as Telegraph, which now offer retail and office space for small local businesses

Whitney-Dearborn House – St. Elizabeth’s Center // 1838

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Located adjacent to the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church and Rectory in Newton Upper Falls village, this stately Greek Revival style residence has sat in a state of intentional deterioration for over a decade by its owners. The handsome and high-quality structure was built in 1838 for Dr. Samuel S. Whitney, who lived in his new home for six years before moving to Dedham in 1844. Dr. Abraham D. Dearborn bought his practice and home and remained here for ten years, until 1854, when Fred Barden, proprietor of a rolling mill and paper mill in the village, purchased the home in 1855 and lived here until his death 1877. The large property, with fine gardens, a fish pond, and stable, were eventually purchased by the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes parish in 1900 and the house moved to its present location to facilitate the construction of the new church in 1909. For nearly a century, the former Whitney-Dearborn House operated as the St. Elizabeth’s Center until it closed and the property was sold to an LLC in 2016, who sadly, appear to be pushing for a demolition by neglect as the building is located within the local Upper Falls Historic District. If anyone knows more, please share.

Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church and Rectory // 1909 & 1938

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At the turn of the 20th century, Newton’s Upper Falls village was an industrial center in the region, with factories employing hundreds of workers, primarily recent immigrants from Ireland and Italy. A Catholic parish in Newton was originally established in the 1840s and within decades, the Roman Catholic church here included between 1,000-1,200 Catholics as far as Needham and Newton Centre. Originally known as St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the former structure was located on Chestnut Street in the village, but was eventually outgrown by the congregation. Ecclesiastical architect from Boston, Edward T. P. Graham, drew plans for the new church, which is unlike the typical Neo-Gothic edifices built in the early 20th century around Boston. The blending of Classical and Renaissance Revival styles works well with the design of Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton, with its monumental classical portico and tympanum with figures in a bas-relief in the Classical style and the Italian Renaissance campanile with balconies and hipped roof towering over the structure. Inside, the sanctuary is illuminated by stained glass windows by Franz Xaver Zettler of Munich, Germany, which were custom-made for the church. On an adjoining lot, Timorthy G. O’Connell, a prominent Boston-area ecclesiastical architect, designed the parish rectory in 1938 in the Colonial Revival style.

Echo Bridge // 1876

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Rapid population growth in the Boston area strained the already overburdened water supply capacity in the second half of the nineteenth century, and engineers and city officials struggled to find solutions. In 1872, the Boston City Engineer proposed a plan to draw water from the Sudbury River in Framingham nearly 19 miles to the Chestnut Hill reservoir to be distributed to homes and businesses all over Boston. The aqueduct was initially designed to carry 80 million gallons of water per day but the route faced one big issue, how to allow the water to travel over the Charles River. The solution was what became Echo Bridge, a 475-foot-long bridge that carries the brick-lined aqueduct over seven powerful granite arches, which is the longest crossing of the Charles River. When completed in 1877, the seventh and largest arch, which spans the Charles River, is said to be the second longest span in the United States when completed. Originally named the Charles River Bridge, the structure was later known as Echo Bridge because of its unusual acoustical properties when standing underneath the largest arch. Today the Sudbury aqueduct system is not in full use and serves only as a standby, in case of a breakdown in the water supply presently being received from the Quabbin Reservoir located in the center of the state. In 1895, the Echo Bridge became the centerpiece of Hemlock Gorge, one of the first reservations in the newly created Boston Metropolitan Park System for its scenery and sheer beauty. Echo Bridge remains one of the most unique places to visit in the Boston area, and retains much of its original details, down to the BWW (Boston Water Works) insignia on the rails.

Ralph Waldo Emerson School // 1904

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The Ralph Waldo Emerson School in Newton’s Upper Falls village was built in 1904 and dedicated a year later serving as the main school building in the industrial village. The brick school building was constructed adjacent to the Levi C. Wade School, a large Second Empire style wood-frame school constructed in 1869. The Wade School was razed for a 1950s addition to the Ralph Waldo Emerson School. The substantial school building was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Hartwell Richardson & Driver, at a time when the Upper Falls Village continued to expand due to the well-established cotton manufacturing mills and the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company. The large structure is hard to classify architecturally, as it blends elements of the Renaissance Revival, Arts & Crafts and Classical Revival styles, but with its massive chimneys, hipped roof with projecting eaves, and large arched windows, the building is an architectural statement for the relatively vernacular industrial village it is located in. By the end of the 20th century, school enrollments and consolidation of village schools saw the closing of the Emerson School, but luckily, the building lives on after it was converted to condominiums, with the 1955 addition now serving as a day care center, a senior citizen room and gymnasium-hall for the community. 

Pettee Stone Cottage // c.1839

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Located next to the Pettee Stone Barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village, this equally charming stone cottage was built around the same time by Otis Pettee, a wealthy industrialist and founder of the Pettee Machine Works, which manufactured cotton and silk machinery. This cottage served as a shop and later as the residence of the caretaker of the silk mill which also had space and equipment to raise the silk worms in the adjacent barn. Later in the nineteenth century, the cottage was owned by George Pettee (1827-1896), son of Otis Pettee. In the 20th century, the structures were operated by the New England Spun Silk Corporation and it now is a single-family residence. The facade of the Pettee Cottage is three bays wide with twelve-over-twelve windows with wood shutters.

Pettee Stone Barn // 1839

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This historic stone barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village is representative of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this once thriving nineteenth century mill village. Known as the Pettee Stone Barn, the structure dates to 1839 when Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who managed an iron foundry and machine-works for cotton machinery, built this structure as a warehouse. The barn was said to have been used additionally as a location for raising silkworms by Pettee’s company. After the business closed, the handsome barn was used later in the 19th and early 20th century as a carriage and horse barn for a shipping company and today, is rented to local businesses. Architecturally, the barn is significant for its use of fieldstone walls with door and window surrounds of cut stone and brick. A monitor roof runs the length of the gable ridge and illuminates the interior spaces. The Stone Barn remains remarkably preserved today and is a landmark in the community. 

Newton Upper Falls Railroad Depot // 1852

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When the short-lived Charles River Railroad opened in 1852, first connecting the Boston and Worcester Railroad in Brookline to Newton’s Upper Falls village, the small community here saw immediate prosperity and turned into a thriving industrial village. In 1847, a petition was filed with the Legislature of Massachusetts to build a rail line linking greater Boston to the Rhode Island border. While a more direct route was easier, Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who owned an iron foundry called Pettee Works where he manufactured cotton machinery, seems to have been the principal promoter for the line to pass through the village of his factory. Pettee died soon-after the line was finished, but his persistence for this track served two additional benefits. Firstly, it opened up development into other Newton villages for early suburban development, and secondly, it served as a major line to bring gravel from Needham to fill the Back Bay, opening that iconic Boston neighborhood to development. The Upper Falls Depot dates to about the time that the initial line opened in 1852 and is a typical, vernacular train depot in New England from this period. The Charles River Railroad merged with the New York and Boston Railroad in 1855 and was later sold to the Boston and Albany Railroad. Following the near death of the railroad system in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, much of the former Charles River Railroad today has survived despite the abandonment of much of the rest of the former New York and New England Railroad lines. This section is currently a part of the D-Branch of the MBTA’s Green Line. 

Cairncroft Cottage // 1892

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Set into the trees in Chocorua in Tamworth, Cairncroft stands as one of the many stately “cottages” built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for city-dwellers to escape the hot summers for the fresh air and views of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This cottage was built for Emil Christian Hammer (1823-1894), who migrated to the
United States from Denmark in 1840, where he became a prominent businessman in several Boston business, including Waltham Manufacturing Company. In the mid-1880s, he founded the United States Watch Company in Waltham, one of the most important such companies in the country. From his success and connections, Emil was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Danish consul in 1864. Emil purchased the land here in 1886 and built a barn and ice house before having his home and nearby stone cairn built on the grounds; the latter is likely what gave the property its name. Cairncroft was designed by Boston architect, Edwin James Lewis, Jr., an expert at Arts and Crafts and Shingle style designs. After Emil’s death, just two years after his cottage was completed, the property passed to his wife, Martha. Her daughter, Cynthia Hollis and also an accomplished artist, inherited it later and eventually passed it to her husband, John Charles State Andrew, professor of theology at Harvard and Boston
University.

Emery-Scudder Barn // c.1845

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There is something so enchanting about vernacular buildings with a backdrop of New England nature. This mid-19th century barn is located in the Chocorua Basin area of Tamworth, New Hampshire, and it tells the story of the area from its agricultural past to become a prominent summer colony in the White Mountains. The barn was once part of the Emery Farm that was purchased by Boston couple, Rebecca and Marshall Sears Scudder, the son of hardware dealer Charles Scudder of Brookline, who had the house moved and used the property as their summer retreat. The Emery Farmhouse was renovated and renamed, ‘Birchentower’ and purchased by Scudder’s half-brother, Horace Elisha Scudder (1838-1901) in 1889 from Rebecca following the death of her husband. Horace was a writer of numerous novels, children’s books, histories and biographies and introduced Hans Christian Anderson to the English-speaking world. A year after buying Birchentower, he became editor of the Atlantic Monthly, a post he held for eight years. The Scudders preserved the old Emery Barn across from the summer cottage which now sets the bucolic scene from the new scenic vista overlooking Chocorua Lake and Mountain beyond.

Chadwick Cottage // 1891

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One of the many summer cottages tucked away in the trees in the Chocorua Colony in Tamworth, New Hampshire, the Chadwick Cottage was built in 1890 for prominent gynecologist, Dr. James Read Chadwick (1844-1905). Dr. Chadwick was introduced to Chocorua during his summer visits to the White Mountains, where he and his family stayed at local hotels as early as 1876. He purchased seventeen acres of forest nearby Chocorua Lake in 1890 on which he erected this house and its outbuildings the following year. The design of the buildings is attributed to Boston architect, Clarence Howard Walker, who was affiliated with the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts and designed this rustic cottage to fit within the forest, enhancing the landscape surrounding it. Dr. James Chadwick was a professor at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer nationally in the field of gynecology, where he played a key role in organizing the American Gynecological Society. In 1905, while vacationing at his Tamworth cottage, Dr. Chadwick died following a fall from a piazza roof. The Chadwick Cottage was sold a year later to Lillian and William G. Farlow, a world-renowned authority on fungi and other non-flowering plants, likely a friend of the late Dr. Chadwick. The cottage and its associated out buildings are lovingly preserved over a century later and exemplify the best of summer cottages in New Hampshire.

Intermont Estate – President Grover Cleveland Summer House // c.1905

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Tucked into the hills of Tamworth, New Hampshire, Intermont was the beloved summer home of President Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances as a respite from the stress and pollution of ordinary life. The Clevelands purchased the property, which built from two farms joined together, in 1905 at a time when Tamworth and the Chocorua area of the White Mountains were rapidly developing into a summer enclave. The old farmhouse was modified and converted into this stately summer cottage, fitting for a President. Architecturally, Intermont reflects the early 20th century rustic movement with a white clapboard exterior, cross-gabled rooflines, and wraparound porches on three sides, opening onto sweeping mountain views. Cleveland spent his final summers here fishing, hunting, and writing before his death in 1908. The property remains one of the finest summer residences in New Hampshire and is lovingly preserved inside and out.

St. Andrew’s in the Valley Church // 1927

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The St. Andrew’s in the Valley Episcopal Church in Tamworth, New Hampshire, is an architecturally significant early 20th century rustic chapel that has been lovingly preserved and expanded by its congregation. The church was envisioned by Reverend Frederick C. Cowper (1851-1929), who was called to gather congregants in the summer colonies in the White Mountains to fund and build a new chapel. Rev. Cowper was granted land in the Whittier area of Tamworth and worked with Boston architect, Walter H. Kilham, who had a summer home in Tamworth, to draw up plans for the new church. Kilham is said to have based his designs off of the 11th-century Church of Saint Helena in Austerfield, England, just in the local vernacular with rubblestone acquired from the land in New Hampshire and not cut stone blocks like that of St. Helena. The church exhibits elements of the Arts and Crafts style with the stucco wing and thoughtful stone bell tower.

George Dodge House – Highland House // c.1790 & c.1850

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Built in the 1790s by a Salem mariner, merchant and tanner, George Dodge (1750-1821), this large Federal-period residence in Tamworth, New Hampshire, is now preserved and lives on as the Highland House, a historic bed & breakfast. The residence was owned by George Dodge, who arrived to town and engaged in local affairs, serving as town clerk and housing the local congregation in his barn until the town house was built in 1794. Dodge assisted with bringing Rev. Samuel Hidden to Tamworth as it’s pastor, and settled in nicely to the community until he was lured back to Salem following the death of his father, whom he inherited a sizable fortune. George Dodge does not appear to have returned back to Tamworth, but willed his property here to the Congregational Church. By the mid-19th century, the house was renovated in the Greek Revival style, with the addition of the Classical door surround and corner pilasters (and likely the addition of the third floor and gable roof). The dwelling stands as a stately country mansion, with rooms for rent as the Highland House, which opened in the 1990s.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel, Tamworth // 1905

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Located in rural Tamworth, New Hampshire, the Our Lady of Perpetual Help chapel was built as a vernacular, Roman Catholic house of worship in 1905 and later altered into the present shingled-Gothic style. The chapel was originally a typical late-Gothic, rural chapel with white clapboard siding and a belfry, and it served as the house of worship for many local, working-class residents of Tamworth, specifically in the summer months. Many members of the church likely worked at the mills in nearby towns or as housekeepers in the large summer mansions in the White Mountains. By the 1940s, the chapel was renovated with the present shingle siding and Tudor portico, around the time that the summer chapel became a year-round church. As the membership dwindled in the late 20th century, the Catholic Diocese deconsecrated the church and sold it to a private owner. Since then, the building has been preserved inside and out, and used as a weaver’s studio, but is now (2026) for sale!