[MassHistPres] Examples of clusters of workmans cottages in Massachusetts

[Henry Cooke]

 Anne, it sounds like and interesting study

Please define the term "cottages".  To me, it creates the image of small one room summer homes, intended for temporary or seasonal use, especially those built in the bungalow style at the turn of the 20th century.
Randolph has a number of homes of workers in the boot and shoe industry, built in the 1850s and 1860s. Most were built to accommodate the influx of Irish immigrants who came to Randolph during that time. Some are scattered singly, but most were built "cookie cutter" style, in clusters, especially in the more densely populated West Village (downtown Randolph), which is where many of our surviving examples still stand, and can often be found in proximity to the locations of central shops where leather was cut and bundled for distributions to boot makers and finished products were received and packed for shipping. 

These houses are built in a vernacular style, 1 1/2 stories high, 2-3 bays wide, by 3-4 window bays deep, gable end to the street, with asymmetric floorplans usually consisting of an offset entry hall with stairway to the second story, a formal front room and fireplace, a back room at the rear of the main building, and a kitchen addition at the rear. Most of ours have a "ten footer" ell projecting at right angles to the axis of the principal block of the house, that was in most instances used in the production of shoes for the local central shop. These houses are nearly identical to larger houses of the same style, only with the rooms scaled down in size. These workers homes are small, often on narrow lots, with the houses about 30-40 feet apart, compared to much wider spacing outside the downtown area.

MHC has area surveys of some of these properties, compiled by Katleen Kelly Broomer that discuss this housing in greater detail.
Henry Cooke, ChairRandolph Historical Commission


 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Anne Lusk <annelusk at gmail.com>
To: Masshistpres <masshistpres at cs.umb.edu>
Sent: Mon, May 24, 2021 1:04 pm
Subject: [MassHistPres] Examples of clusters of workmans cottages in Massachusetts

Dear All,   I'm working on a Study Report for a Local Historic District submission in Brookline that concerns a cluster of workman's cottages that were built, starting around 1820.  There are 11 cottages really close together on Hart Street and 5 cottages really close together on Franklin Court.      Are there any other clusters of workman's cottages in Massachusetts?  I gather there are some cottages near the old glass factory in Sandwich. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarvesville_Historic_District   Could someone give me a street name for these cottages?  Those cottages would have been built by the glass company to house their workers.       The houses on Hart and Franklin were moved in 1870 to these streets to be owned by Irish Catholic workers or rented to them. Eventually, all the houses were owned.  Many single women owned the houses, widows remained in the cottages for a long time, and houses were passed down from family to family.       With so many wealthy mansions already being listed and the threat of smaller homes being demolished to build McMansions, saving the humble cottages and telling the stories about the owners is worth the effort. Thanks so much for your help,Anne Lusk, Ph.D. 617-879-4887    _______________________________________________
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