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Home My Public Portal AboutMainSt_2660, BRE.185Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.12/12 FORM B  BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Locus Map N Recorded by: Eric Dray, Preservation Consultant, for Organization: Brewster Historical Commission Date (month / year): November, 2017 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 89-27 Dennis A, G BRE.185 Town/City: BREWSTER Place:(neighborhood or village): East Brewster Address: 2660 Main Street Historic Name: Hopkins/Freeman House Uses:Present: Commercial Original: Residential Date of Construction: ca. 1858 Source:Deed research, historic maps Style/Form: / Saltbox Architect/Builder: Unknown Exterior Material: Foundation: Stone, cement Wall/Trim: Wood shingles/ Wood Roof: Asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: None Major Alterations (with dates): Roof replacement (2013) Rear addition (post-1980) Condition: Good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage: 0.46 acres Setting: This property is located in East Brewster on the south side of Main Street, and bordered to the west by Thad Ellis Road. The surrounding area is developed with a mix of historic and contemporary residential and commercial buildings. The building is set relatively close to the street on its level parcel. A large gravel parking area surrounds much of the building. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2660 MAIN STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 A,G BRE.185 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. As noted in the 1980 version of this Form B, this former house has a form that is unique in Brewster. The roof has a saltbox or lean-to form, and the high front stud wall allows for a second row of narrow 3/3 windows which abut the roof eave. If not for the second row of windows on the front elevation, this former house would have the form of a Full Cape, so this form could be classified as a Full Saltbox. The closest in form to this house are two “Half Saltboxes” at 178 Stony Brook Road (BRE.429) and 524 Stony Brook Road (BRE.62). The main block of the building rests on a stone foundation. The front elevation is clad in wood clapboard and the side elevations are clad in wood shingles. Fenestration includes 2/2 double-hung wood windows on the first story and 3/3 double-hung wood windows aligned above the windows and door on the front elevation. The east side elevation on the second story has 3/3 windows. A one-story ell with hipped roof, built pre-1980, extends from the right (west) side of the main block. There is also a large rear addition built post-1980. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles. As seen in the 1980 Form B photo (see attached), there was a large center chimney that has since been removed. According to the 1980 Form B, the house has a post and beam construction. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. No date is given for the building in the 1980 version of this Form B. Deed research traces ownership of this property back to 1858. That year, Elery E. and Sarah Cahoon of Brewster conveyed this parcel to Godfrey Hopkins of Brewster (Book 66/ Page 358). That deed describes the property as coming “with a building improved for a shoe shop.” It is unknown if the existing building was adapted from the shoe shop; if it was, that might account for the unusual form of the building. The shoe shop is shown on the 1858 Map of Cape Cod, and immediately to the east is a house with the name E. Cahoon. However, as noted above, the deed only references the shoe shop. Godfrey Hopkins (1805-1871) married Reliance Mayo in 1829 and was a sea captain who became a farmer upon retirement (1870 US Census). It is unclear how the property passed in ownership from the Godfreys to Seth and Melissa S. Freeman, but “S. Freeman” is shown on the 1880 Barnstable County Atlas, and it was Seth and Melissa Freeman who conveyed this property, now with reference for the first time to a dwelling, to Nelo Nelson in 1882 (Book 172/ Page 386). Nelo (also spelled Nils, Niles, Neils and Neiles) was born in Sweden in 1849, immigrated to the US in 1860, worked as a sailor before his marriage to Augusta Bassett in 1882, then worked as a weir fisherman (1910 US Census) and then farmer on his own farm (1920 US Census). According to the 1980 version of this Form B, there was a big barn at the rear of the property which was used for cleaning the fish caught in the weirs, no longer extant. Later Niles was to move across the street to 2705 Main Street (BRE.33). In 1938, the estate of Augusta Nelson conveyed this property to their daughter Serena D. Robbins of Brewster (Book 537/ Page 30). By the time of the 1940 US Census, Serena (1887-1954) was working as a cook in a restaurant and her husband Frank (1885-1954) was the caretaker for a cemetery. Following their death in 1954, their son Lawrence F. Robbins of Harwich conveyed this property to Louise and George Nicholson of Brewster. The property has changes hands a number of times since then and the building was converted from residential to commercial uses, including a real estate office. This parcel is located within the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District adopted in 1973. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2660 MAIN STREET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 A,G BRE.185 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 1858 Map, Map of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, & Nantucket, Walling, Henry. 1880 Map, Atlas of Barnstable County, Boston, MA: George H. Walker & Co., 1880. 1910 Map, Atlas of Barnstable County, Boston, MA: Walker Litho. & Publishing Co., 1910. Barnstable County Registry of Deeds www.ancestry.com - Vital records, US Census (1860, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1940), State Census (1865) 1980 version of Form B, Teresa Ellis Brewster Assessor sketch. Photo 2. 1980 Form B photo, looking south. Photo 3. View from Thad Ellis Road, looking northeast.