Historical House Projects

Over 25 years ago historic Salisbury houses and structures, both lost and standing, were documented in a very large cooperative community project. The results were two books:  Historic Salisbury Houses and Salisbury Lost by Paul S. Shaw, M.D. published in 1995 and available.  All this was a very time consuming project. We are very grateful to Paul Shaw for all of his hard work and research as well as all those involved who helped him in some way on this extraordinary documentation project. His work has given us clues as to the ages of our town’s oldest structures.

OWNERSHIP & DATING

How did Paul Shaw document houses?  It is difficult to gather an exact picture of when houses were constructed. There may be houses built but date of sales possibly may not be registered for a time in some cases. Scientific methods of dating timbers is costly and when done does tell us when the trees were harvested but then they were milled and dried for a period perhaps of several months. It is likely the timbers were then used in construction or even sold for use in constructions at later dates but scientific dating gives us valuable clues about approximate time frames. Combining information found in town records showing evidence of residency, deeds, letters, family or church records, taxation records on farm livestock, evidence from architectural details, data from the History of Salisbury by John Dearborn 1890, a picture emerges about the early settlers and their residency.  Essentially Paul Shaw gathered all available information he could gather from various sources to create a researched and reasonable timeline for dates of Salisbury’s old houses.

Several workshops were conducted with the Salisbury Historical Society in which people were encouraged to bring in old photos of Salisbury buildings to be photographed for the publications and in some cases the photos were donated to the Society and are in our archives. He took photos as well. Please contact the Historical Society for information on acquiring either book.

DATING AN EARLY 18th or 19th CENTURY HOUSE BY ROGER HEATH 

        “You learn a lot when you know the date a building was built. It gives away the builder’s and owner’s personality, sense of style, and financial status. Mistakes in dating a building can send a study quickly into inaccurate assumptions. A 10 year error on dating a house in Salisbury might incorrectly answer this question, “Was this built to be close to the turnpike, (Rt 4), or did it get there before the Turnpike location was settled. Not everyone wanted to be away from this important artery of breaking news, easier access to markets, quicker common defense and more medical services.
        The location of a major road had a huge impact financially and culturally: I have wondered whether ”Highway View Farm” (Crete Farm Boscawen) was bragging about the the view from the farm of this magnificent modern improvement OR was it promoting the still lovely view of a thriving farm on the gentle Merrimack.    
         The traditional way of dating a house was to look to building materials and marks left by tools: plane marks on boards, nail styles, lath style, plaster content and so on. But these clues did not change on a uniform schedule that could be tracked reliably.     
        Another popular means to estimate the age of the building is look at style. There is no doubt styles change often both in means of construction and style design.   
 First you need to eliminate things that have been repaired or replaced like window sashes and shingles. Mantle style changed often and we see many have been replaced. Then there are things that are often reused. After house fires, folks often sifted through ashes to get nails back as well as hinges and latches. Panes of  “wavy glass” are commonly reused.
        Perhaps the least two dependable ways to date a house are by style (Georgian vs Federal etc) and by date of “appearance’ on a deed or will.
        Style tends to move from Britain to our NE coast and thence inland and it tends to simplify as it moves. Fashion is fickle. Fashion depends to no small degree on wealth and neighborhood. It never is a reliable source for dating a house with any accuracy.
       Dendrology is a science-based method of determining the year (winter/summer) in which a tree (board) died. First a tree ring database is established for a species and a climate region. A number of overlapping samples establish a chronology base. Every year is a unique combination of rain and snow, wind and temperature. Today a computer reads and dates the samples.   
Picking a sample, usually many samples, takes care and knowledge of early structures. The sample must have some bark to determine the year it was harvested and it must be integral within the structure where it has little chance of having been been replaced.  Usually most samples point to a single year and just as likely a simple species. 
       We know from diaries, bills, public votes on public buildings etc that a log took about 2 years to move from forest to house wall, ceiling or baseboard.
       Just as DNA has done for crime detection, Dendrology has done for house dating and it will get smarter and less cumbersome and less expensive if it follows the trend we see today.
       Some major historic sites have been embarrassed by Dendrology. Some have been detected by discoveries of earlier – than – thought dates.
        The assumption of a margin of two years from felling to finished building is hard to argue with given the research that went into it and it makes practical sense. Green lumber may twist or warp during drying.  Lumber left piled too long begins to deteriorate fairly soon. It is not a product that is stable or in the 18th century secure from theft. We may come up with a better method, but for now, it has moved to the top of the field.”

Using data from the Shaw book the following two lists were created of standing historic structures.

Both refer to the updated 2019 printing of Historic Salisbury Houses by Paul S. Shaw, M.D.

One list is sorted by Page and the other by Date. Both lists indicate whether there is an identification sign that was purchased as part of the House Sign Project which is explained below.

HOUSES, Sorted by Pages

The following link lists historic houses and structures by date:

HOUSES, Sorted by date

Using the data from Paul Shaw’s research it is very likely that these are the seven oldest standing houses in Salisbury. It is unclear which house was built first in 1760. Reference numbers relate to pages in his book Historic Salisbury Houses. 

          PRESUMED OLDEST:       1753, pgs 138-141 JAMES TAPPAN HOUSE , North Road

  • 1760:    pgs 74-75  John Webster – Leonard Judkins House 1760, Franklin Road (aka South Road/South Range Road/Rte 127), center chimney “Colonial” style
  • 1760:    pgs 78-79  Esq. Joseph Bean House, Franklin Road, (aka South Road/South Range Road/Rte 127), center chimney “Colonial” style
  • 1760:    pgs 88-89  Bohonon & Fellows House, South Road, center chimney   “Colonial style
  • 1760:    pgs 96-99  David Pettengill House, Loverin Hill Road, Center Rangeway, center chimney “Colonial” style
  • 1760:    pgs 100-103 Chestnut Cottage-Stevens House, Loverin Hill Road, Center Rangeway, modified Cape style
  • 1760:    pgs 132-133 Samuel Judkins House, North Road near the Webster Birthplace,  Cape style
  • 1760:    pgs 144-145 Humphrey Webster House,  North Range Road just off Old Turnpike Road (Route 4), center chimney “Colonial” style

Recent Historic House Sign Project 

An additional Historic House project began just a few years back when our then curator Mary Phillips realized a long time dream to identify all older structures with signs. The extensive research work of Paul S. Shaw provided an abundance of the data needed as a foundation.

Phase 1- abt 2014  For quite awhile Mary Phillips had been discussing her vision with friends to have the beautiful historic homes in our town identified and dated. Sometime in 2014 the vision was energize and began. Mary Phillips and David Rapalyea, with the help of several residents including Karen Sheldon, began Phase 1.  The signs arrived in November and December and David Rapalyea braved the ice and snow to help get them up at long last.

Phase 2- Spring 2015- When Phase 1 was completed several houses still did not have signs. David Rapalyea personally attempted to completed Phase 2 by visiting homes without signs. Subsequently, additional signs were ordered and put up on homes.

Phase 3- We are pleased to report that in the winter of 2017 the last phase of the project was completed. 73 out of 93 historic structures shown in the book Historic Salisbury Houses now have identification signs with dates all adding to the wonderful Legacy of our dear friend Mary Phillips who passed Nov.  2016.

 

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