Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey
214-8 Quincy Avenue
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Quincy Point neighborhood, once called the Old Fields District, is bounded by Quincy Avenue (west), Elm Street (north), Town River Bay (east) and the Weymouth Fore River and the Braintree Town Line (south). Two major early roads, now heavily commercialized, originate in Quincy Center and run the length of Quincy Point: Quincy Avenue, the old Braintree-Weymouth Turnpike and Washington Street, the old Quincy-Hingham Turnpike terminating in the massive Fore River Bridge (1934). Although some inhabitants of Quincy Point were associated with the nearby granite and other industries, one of prime reasons for the development of the Point was the commercial maritime industry located on the Town and Fore Rivers. Quincy Neck, the site of the giant Fore River Shipyard (now General Dynamics), is delineated by Haywards Creek. the Weymouth Fore River and Bent's Creek. Some boat yards still remain, but many others used to dot the Town River Bay shoreline. The other major industrial complex is the Proctor & Gamble Manufacturing Co. located at the Fore River Bridge. Many residential developments sprang up in Quincy Point; one was Edison Park, an area north of Washington Street developed in the 1890's.
Number 214-218 Quincy Avenue was probably built for John J. Sullivan, a granite polisher. The Sullivans retained the property until about 1897 before selling to Robert J. Williams, an electrotyper in Boston. Like the nearby property at 200 Quincy Avenue, Number 214-218 Quincy Avenue was acquired about 1920 by the Taddeo family. Domenico Taddeo was a truckman.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The photograph of this property listed in the previous Quincy inventory shows a dark Queen Anne house with white trim and a porch with a pediment over the entrance, with solid rails, and turned posts. The residence still retains its Queen Anne configuration with walls that undulate due to the preence of two-story bay windows, with a high granite foundation, a closed front gable pediment and regular windows. It has lost its original front porch; the replacement does not enhance the facade. Fronting the house is a low ranite retaining wall and granite steps leaving to the entrance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
H. Hobart Holly. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 49, 51.
H. Hobart Holly. "Quincy's Granite Hills Were Golden". Quincy History. Spring, 1980.
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