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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
90-158 Dennis A, G BRE.35
Town/City: BREWSTER
Place:(neighborhood or village): East Brewster
Address: 2821 Main Street
Historic Name: Higgins, George and Abigail House
Uses:Present: Residential
Original: Residential
Date of Construction: ca. 1825
Source:Deed research, Deyo, History of Barnstable
County, Massachusetts: 1620-1890
Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder: Unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Stone
Wall/Trim: Wood shingles/ Wood
Roof: Asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
None
Major Alterations (with dates):
Rear addition (date unknown)
Condition: Good
Moved: no yes Date:
Acreage: 0.35 acres
Setting: This property is located in East Brewster on the
north side of Main Street. The surrounding area is
developed with a mix of historic and contemporary
residential and commercial buildings. This house is set
close to the street on its level parcel. There is a large
asphalt parking area east of the house. The parcel is
landscaped with lawn and mature foundation plantings.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2821 MAIN STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
A, G BRE.35
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.
This is an unusual example of a Federal style building. Rather than the five-bay configuration with center entrance typical of two-
story Federal-style houses, this house is four bays wide with an off-centered entrance. The building rests on a stone foundation.
The walls are clad in painted wood shingles with plain cornerboards. The low-slung hipped roof of the main block and the rear ell
roof are clad in asphalt shingles (likely wood shingles originally). A second two-story ell extends from the north side of the rear
ell – this was originally a one-story ell (see Photo 5). The roof has a projecting box cornice. Tall brick chimneys rise from both
the main roof and rear ell roof. Fenestration consists primarily of wood 6/6 double-hung sash set in slightly-projecting flat frames.
The windows on the second floor of the rear ell have 6/9 windows, and all windows on the second floor abut the roof eave. Some
of the windows appear to be replacements. The front entrance has a six-panel wood door flanked by partial sidelights and a
narrow lintel (see Photo 2). An open porch with hipped roof supported by square posts runs along the street-facing elevation of
the rear ell.
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.
(This Historical narrative is adapted and expanded from the 1980 version of this Form B)
Deed research and other records trace ownership of this house back to George W. Higgins (b. ca. 1800) and the 1980 version of
this Form B dates this house to ca. 1825. George Higgins was originally from Orleans. In 1822, he married Abigail Crosby, a
sister of Roland Crosby who owned the property that bordered this parcel to the east. Simeon Deyo states in his History of
Barnstable County, Massachusetts: 1620-1890 that “George W. Higgins of Orleans came to the village before 1827 and
commenced business as a trader.” This refers to the store that was originally located to the west of this house (see historic view,
Photo 4), that was later moved across the street and converted to a dwelling (2814 Main Street, BRE.186). Whether or not
Higgins built the house himself or it had already been built is unknown. However, the Federal style was still popular into the early
1820s. In addition to operating the store, Higgins served as postmaster for more than thirty years.
In 1864, George and Abigail Higgins sold this parcel, at that time three acres including the store, to Nathan Crosby (Book 98/
Page 302). Nathan Crosby (1793-1882) had married Catherine Nickerson of Chatham in 1819. They had five children, Ann P.,
Albert, Emeline, Catherine A. N., and Nathan A. (who died young). In 1879, Crosby conveyed the “two story building near the
grist mill formerly occupied for a grocery store” to Reuben Chapman (Book 132/ Page 413). This deed reserved the right for
Joseph Foster, who had married Emeline in 1851, and his heirs to occupy the southwest corner of the store “to use in
transacting the business of his Post Office.”
The property passed through Emeline C. Foster to her daughters, Sally Freeman and Emeline Hamlin. In March of 1912, Sally,
then of Jersey City, NJ, sold her undivided ½ interest in the property to her sister Emeline of Brewster (Book 313/ Page 208). In
April of 1912, Reuben Chapman conveyed his interest in the store to Emeline (Book 315/ Page 107). It should be noted that this
deed referenced a second parcel with improvements located on the west side of the town road – this would be the parcel on
which Higgins operated a windmill for the grinding of corn. Referred to as the Higgins Farm Windmill, it was built ca. 1795, was
originally owned by several farmers, was moved at least twice, and is now located at 785 Main Street.
Emeline Foster (1861-1933) was married to Willard Hamlin (b. 1877). Willard worked as a home farmer (1920 US Census) and
by 1930 was a highway surveyor. He was considerably younger than she, and he was already married again when his former
wife’s estate conveyed this property to him in 1936 (Book 520/ Page 440). In 1943, Willard’s second wife, Grace Hamlin,
conveyed “a portion” of the property that included the dwelling to Thomas S. and Gertrude V. Higgins of Rockland, MA (Book
606/ Page 261). In 1951, the Higgins conveyed this property to G. Everett and Clara Ellis of Brewster (Book 792/ Page 39). In
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2821 MAIN STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
A, G BRE.35
1957, Clara recorded a plan of the property (see attached Plan Book 138/ Page 107). At that time, the only outbuilding was the
barn to the northeast (now 2827 Main Street). That same year, Ellis conveyed this property to Walter H. and Susan B. Sinervo of
Brewster (Book 989/ Page 225).
In 1966, the Sinervos conveyed the property to Frank E. Lee of Orleans. In 1969, he recorded the subdivision plan which divided
the property into the three parcels that now exist, with this house on Lot 3 (Plan Book 231/ Page 159). This property changed
hands a number of times until 1977 when Lot 1 (the barn) and Lot 3 (the house) were purchased by Florence and Gerald Palmer
of Andover, MA (Book 2559/ Page 171).
This parcel is located within the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District adopted in 1973.
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
Boyd, George H. III, Brewster, The Way We Were, George H. Boyd III: Brewster, 2016.
Deyo, Simeon L., ed., History of Barnstable County, Massachusetts: 1620-1890, New York: H. W. Blake & Co., 1890.
www.ancestry.com - Vital records, US Census (1920, 1930)
Brewster Assessor sketch.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2821 MAIN STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 3
A, G BRE.35
Photo 2. View of front elevation, looking northeast.
Photo 3. View looking west.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 2821 MAIN STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 4
A, G BRE.35
Photo 4. Historic view, looking northeast.
Photo 5. Historic view, looking west.