James Blake House

Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

United States historic place


James Blake House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places


42°19′10.71″N 71°3′37.05″W / 42.3196417°N 71.0602917°W / 42.3196417; -71.0602917
Built	1661^[2]
NRHP reference No.	74002350 ^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 1, 1974

The James Blake House is the oldest surviving house in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The house was built in 1661 and the date was confirmed by dendrochronology in 2007.^[2]^[3] It is located at 735 Columbia Road, in Edward Everett Square, just a block from Massachusetts Avenue. The Dorchester Historical Society now owns the building and tours are given on the third Sunday of the month.

History

The house was built in a Western English style of post-medieval architecture by James Blake, an immigrant from England. The Blake family owned the house until 1825 when it was acquired by the Williams family. In 1891, the City of Boston acquired the house.^[4] In order to save the house from demolition in 1896, the Dorchester Historical Society acquired the property from the city and moved the house less than 500 feet from its original location by Massachusetts Avenue to its current location. In 1978, the interior and exterior of the house were designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.

The immediate area, as well as the house, have been undergoing an extensive renovation and preservation. The house was completely re-shingled and the grounds improved.^[when?]

Exterior, 1898
"Ye Olde Blake House," 1920
Interior
Edward A. Huebner brick collection

References

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Massachusetts: Blake House". Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
^ "James Blake House". Dorchester Atheneum. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
^ "NRHP nomination for James Blake House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-06-09.

External links

Dorchester Historical Society: James Blake House
City of Boston, Boston Landmarks CommissionJames Blake House Study Report

U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Topics

Contributing property
Keeper of the Register
Historic district
History of the National Register of Historic Places
National Park Service
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