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Hancock St. Architecture Tour
By
Marsha Baker
Introduction
Welcome to the Hancock Street Architecture Walking Tour. Please click on the Help link at the top of this page if you need instructions on how to control this guide to the walking tour.
Welcome to the Hancock Street Architecture Walking Tour. Please click on the Help link at the top of this page if you need instructions on how to control this guide to the walking tour.
It was just before midnight on April 18th, 1775 when Paul Revere passed by Buckman’s Tavern and onto this country lane. He spurred his horse toward the Reverend Clarke’s parsonage. Along the way he passed the blacksmith’s shop and home, cow pastures, and open fields. He had ridden from Boston with orders to warn Patriots John Hancock and Samuel Adams that British troops were marching from Cambridge with orders to arrest them for treason and to seize the arms at Concord.
Fast forward 75 years and you would have just walked over the rail bed of the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad, now the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. The coming of the railroad had increased the popularity of Lexington as a summer and winter destination and this led to an increase of families moving to Lexington. Because of its proximity to the railroad depot and village center, Hancock Street quickly became a very stylish place to live.
Between 1830 and 1870, the featured houses along this street were built. The houses represent many different architectural styles. Architectural style is simply the features that make a building notable. These styles change with time, new ideas, technology, and materials.
Just as the street has changed, so did the houses. A simple federal farmhouse gets a Greek revival doorway, or a Greek Revival home built in 1845 is remodeled 50 years later and a Porte Cochere is added.
Along this short, 2 block, 10 minute walk, you will encounter the Federal, Greek revival, Italianate, and Gothic Revival styles of architecture, and hopefully, gain an appreciation of these classic architectural styles.
As you begin your walk down Hancock Street, stay on the right hand side of the street so that you can easily view the houses on the left hand side of the street. Please respect private property and view these homes from a reasonable distance.
And as you walk, also look for granite foundations, ells, barns, and carriage houses.
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