Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

83 Farrington Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Montclair neighborhood in North Quincy is bordered by the Neponset River to the north, Beale Street to the south, Newport Avenue to the west and the Town of Milton to the east. It was once part of Dorchester and became part of the Town of Quincy in 1792. Like its neighbors, Atlantic and Wollaston, most of the community of Montclair was built in the first third of the 20th century. From earliest colonial times until the Civil War, North Quincy was referred to as "The Farms" and it was to the farmlands of Montclair that real estate entrepreneurs beckoned the nearby inhabitants of Boston and its suburbs. The Micaih Pope farm was one of the largest to be subdivided; Arthur D. McCellan cut it into street and house lots in 1883 calling it "Montclair". The development process was greatly accelerated by the Old Colony Railroad which began operations in 1845, as well as by the advent of Quincy's extensive street railway system.

Conveniently located a few blocks from the Norfolk Downs Station of the Old Colony Railroad, this group of four similar multiple residences at 83 and 79 Farrington which back up to 66 and 70 Safford Street were all built on 5000 square foot lots in the 1920's. All these lots were owned by Andrew R. Risem in 1923 (not located in Quincy City Directories) and the houses were all built before 1927.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Building Permit.
H. Hobart Holly, Quincy Historical Society.
H. Hobart Holly, ed. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 4.
William S. Pattee. A History of Old Braintree and Quincy, 1878, p. 55.
Quincy City Directory, 1888.
John Ramsdell. "Historic North Quincy". ["Written about 1934"]. Typed manuscript at Quincy Historical Society.
Daniel Munro Wilson, Three Hundred Years of Quincy 1625-1925. 1925, p. 280-281

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Quincy has many apartment buildings, traditionally designed and residentially scaled; some of the finer and grander ones are built in bricks while the modest ones are built in wood, often emulating the configuration of an American Four Square Style house. This grouping of four apartment houses, covered with wood shingles, set on cement foundations with regular fenestration composed of bands of three windows are built with function and space consideration in mind; architectural ornamentation is at a minimun. The only decorative details are found in the entrance porch which has two stucco pillars on the facade and two plain square posts supporting a roof with Craftsman type revealed contruction elements. The entrance has a door composed of small glass panes framed with large sidelights; this treatment allows light to filter in the entrance hall. It is a workable and affordable solution to multiple housing and a good example of a 1920s modest apartment building in Quincy.

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