FORM B BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Assessor s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number Town Northborough Shrewsbury NBO.A NBO.80 Place (neighborhood or village) Northborough Center Address Historic Name WILDER BUSH HOUSE Uses: Present Original Residential Residential Date of Construction ca. 1850 Photograph Topographic or Assessor's Map East and north elevations, camera facing west. Source 1855 map Style/Form Greek Revival Architect/Builder Not known. Exterior Material: Foundation Stone, cut Wall/Trim Roof Aluminum siding Asphalt shingle Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Barn at rear (NBO.79) on separate parcel. Major Alterations (with dates) Doors, ca. 1900; modern siding, windows, exterior staircase, north side; rear wing raised in height. Condition Good Moved X no yes Date Acreage.35 acres Setting Nearby a number of other historic houses, just north of the Unitarian Meetinghouse. Recorded by Bruce Clouette, PAST, Inc., Storrs, CT Organization: Northborough Historical Commission Date (month / year) November 2008 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. The 2 ½-story house has its gable end facing the street. It measures 28 feet by 32 feet in plan, with a 2 and 2 1/2-story wing at the rear extending the house another 45 feet to the west. The roof extends 5 feet over a full-height portico in the front, supported on four paneled 2-story columns on the first two floors and two smaller paneled columns on the attic level. There is a floor at each level of the portico; the second and attic levels have intricately jigsawn railings of a pattern suggestive of lace. The front corners of the house have paneled pilasters echoing the portico columns. The façade is organized as four bays, with the entrance on the left. Currently, the entrance has double panel-and-glass doors dating from about 1900. The first-floor windows are tall, extending nearly to the floor level of the portico. The second story has a window on the left, a doorway with a paneled door, and then two more windows. There are three windows for the attic story. The cornice moldings, now encased in siding, form a partial return. Windows are modern, with 6-pane muntin grids in the upper portions. The building is now divided into apartments. Exterior stairways have been added to the rear and north elevations to provide egress. A related building, a former barn associated with the house, is inventoried separately as 25 Whitney Street. (continued) HISTORICAL NARRATIVE see continuation sheet Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. This house was the home of Wilder Bush (ca. 1803-1880), Northborough s pioneering comb manufacturer and a leading figure in the town s economic history. In 1839, Wilder Bush and his partner Silas Haynes moved their comb-making business from Feltonville (now Hudson) to Northborough, purchasing a former sawmill site on Howard Brook and building a factory and storehouses nearby. They produced dressing combs, ornamental objects for women s hairdos made from horn. Comb-making was a small-scale business requiring relatively little capital investment, and soon others established comb-making enterprises in Northborough, including Wilder Bush s brother, Warren T. Bush, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Gibson. Scores if not hundreds of Northborough residents were involved in comb-making in the small-shop era, either as owners or employees, and it was probably second only to woolens in importance to the local economy. Comb-making made Wilder Bush a wealthy man. In 1870, when he was retired from the business, the census listed his wealth as $16,000 in real estate and $75,000 in other assets, a substantial sum for the times. He may well have been the richest man in Northborough of his day: David F. Wood, owner of the Woodside woolen mill, had assets (according to the census) of $24,000 that year, and Caleb T. Chapin, owner of the Northborough Woolen Company, was worth $17,000. (continued) BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES see continuation sheet Beers, F. W. Atlas of Worcester County, Massachusetts. New York, NY: F. W. Beers & Co., 1870. Hopkins, G. M., Jr. Map of the Town of Northboro, Worcester County, Mass. Philadelphia, PA: Richard Clark, 1855. Kent, Josiah C. Northborough History. Newton, MA: Garden City Press, 1921. Pp. 167, 263, 515. U.S. Census Office. Census of Population, 1850-1870. Manuscript schedules, microfilm, Mass. State Library, Boston, MA. Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION (continued): Despite the modern siding, the Wilder Bush House is one of Northborough s most notable Greek Revival-style houses. Unlike the town s more modest houses in the style, which have Greek Revival detail appended to traditional house forms, the Wilder House attempts to create the appearance of a Classical temple by extending the roof over a full-height portico in front. At the same time, there is definitely a whiff of whimsy in the use of the portico as porches, complete with railings that are both functional and highly decorative. In another context, the railings would be called Carpenter Gothic. The Greek Revival as embodied in the Wilder House owed more to a Romantic evocation of the past than to any desire to reproduce Classical forms. The program of picturesque, country-villa architecture (as opposed to strict Classicism) originally was also carried forth by the associated barn, which had an ornamental cupola and flagstaff, a dovecote in the gable, and trained vines (espalier) on the front. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE (continued): Wilder Bush did not confine his business activities to comb-making. He also acted as a dealer in the raw material, horn, and for a time continued to operate the sawmill on the property. He was one of the founders of the Northborough National Bank, chartered in 1854, and served as its president from 1874 until his death in 1880. He also was one of the chief backers of the Agricultural Branch Railroad and served for many years on the company s board of directors; Wilder Bush even had a locomotive named after him. He was a Northborough selectman in 1853. Wilder Bush and his wife, Clarissa Gibson, had two children: Ellen E. and Wilder M. Wilder M. Bush followed his father into the banking business, working first as a clerk at the Northborough National Bank and rising to become the bank s cashier. As one might expect, the Wilder Bush household included live-in domestic servants. Irish-born Mary Clancy was assisting the family at the time of the 1860 census and Esther Bridges in 1870. Continuation sheet 1
South and east elevations, camera facing north. Continuation sheet 2
West elevation, camera facing southeast. Continuation sheet 3
Wilder Bush house and barn, marginal illustration from the 1855 Hopkins map (Northborough Historical Society). Continuation sheet 4
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Community Property Address NBO.80 MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING Northborough 25-27 Whitney Street 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Area(s) Form No. National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: Individually eligible Eligible only in a historic district Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district Criteria: A B C D Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G Statement of Significance by Bruce Clouette The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. The Wilder Bush house is the principal historic resource in Northborough 1 associated with Wilder Bush (ca. 1803-1880), the entrepreneur who introduced comb-making and participated in a number of other enterprises important in the town s economic history. In addition to his comb-making shop, Bush was one of the founders of the Northborough National Bank, serving as president for several years, and he was a major proponent of the Agricultural Branch Railroad, which provided Northborough with a vital link to the outside world. The introduction of comb-making (which became one of Northborough s major industries), the establishment of the bank, and the completion of the railroad were events that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of Northborough s history (Criterion A). The house also has architectural significance as an example of Greek Revival architecture (Criterion C); it is one of the largest and most elaborate examples in Northborough. Despite the extent of alterations, the original form of the house and much of the original detail survive and correspond closely to the house s appearance in the 1855 view. Although the Greek Revival had its roots in the 18 th century s respect for Classical forms as the only true Architecture, many authors, such as Virginia and Lee McAlester (Field Guide to American Houses, 1984), also view the Greek Revival as part of a Romantic movement that also included Gothic cottages, octagons, and Italian villas. The Romantic strain of the Greek Revival is evident in the Bush House s use of the portico as sitting porches and in its fanciful railings. It is recommended that the Wilder Bush House be considered for the National Register as significant on the local level under Criteria A and C. Also, any consideration of listing the Meetinghouse historic area (NBO.A) should consider extending the boundary to include this house and its immediate neighbors. The Gibson House, in particular, is related both stylistically and historically to the Bush House. 1 The Phase I of the survey recommended 35 Whitney Street as National Register-eligible because of its association with Wilder Bush, calling it his principal residence. Although Bush did own that property, it was one of three adjacent houses he owned. The 1855 map illustration clearly identifies the house at as the Residence of Wilder Bush, and the MHC database concurs in this attribution. The Phase I form itself refers to the house at 35 Whitney Street as the Wilder M. Bush House, that is, the residence of Wilder Bush s son. Continuation sheet 5