Preservation Matters Newsletter
Volume 38, Number 1 Spring 2010
Worcester - Then & Now
By Susan McDaniel Ceccacci and Thomas Lingner
Supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Preservation Worcester carried out a citywide survey of historical buildings and resources in 1977 and 1978. During the spring and summer of 1977, historic preservation consultant Brian Pfeiffer and volunteer photographer Susan Ceccacci traveled methodically up and down the streets of the city recording and photographing over 1,000 historic properties. Of those surveyed, 152 properties and districts comprising 650 structures were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Some properties included in the original survey were found not to qualify for National Register listing because of changes or additions that had altered their historical appearance. One such building was the Italianate style Morse-Clafin House, built around 1860, at 34 Oread Street in the Main South section of the city. The first house built on Oread Street when this section of the city was being developed with stylish houses on large estates, the Morse-Clafin House had once been an opulent example of Italianate architecture. Happily, recent a restoration has revealed in its façade a surprising elegance previously hidden from view. This effort has restored to Oread Street some of the flavor of the earliest days of one of the city’s first suburban neighborhoods.
THEN Morse-Claflin House, 34 Oread Street, 1977
Photograph taken by Susan McDaniel Ceccacci The photograph above, taken for the 1977-1978 survey, shows the house in its altered state. Unaltered were notable Italianate features, including a gabled center pavilion and a pair of round-arched windows at the center of the main façade, as well as handsome bracketed eaves with wide friezes at the roofline. However, the original siding is covered up with wide shingles, its front porch is closed in and shingled, and ornamental bracketed returns on both the main façade and at the gable ends had been removed. While many stylistic features survive, much of the building’s original character has been lost. A statement included on the survey form for this building speculated that the house had once been much grander in appearance – that the house might originally have looked very similar to an Italianate style dwelling designed by Worcester architect Elbridge Boyden, which had once stood at 32 Cedar Street, (see below). Late-19th-century view of 32 Cedar Street, circa 1850s, Elbridge Boyden, architect
Photograph courtesy of Worcester Historical Museum
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THEN Morse-Claflin House, 34 Oread Street, 2010
Photograph taken by Thomas Lingner 1978 Speculation Proves Accurate |
Cleaning House?
We are less than three months away from our If you have any items such as architectural elements (mantles, windows, hardware, stained glass), fine furniture, china and glassware, carpets, vases, artwork or other collectible that you are willing to donate to our sale, please let us know. We will happily pick up your donations if you desire. Please email us at info@preservationworcester.org
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