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Orcutt - Caswell - Barney Farm Outbuilding

740 Summer St

1890

Architectural Style

Significance

Agriculture, Architecture

Use Type

Agricultural, Out Building

Neighborhood

Massachusetts Historical Commission Report

Architectural Significance

The farm buildings on this property rank among the largest in the town. Sheathed with clapboards and wood shingles, these buildings are enclosed by steeply pitched gable rooms with handsome metal (tin?) ventilators at the roof ridges.

Historical Significance

Although the original homestead on this farm is no longer extant, several large, attached farm structures (e.g. barn, stable) along with extensive, unspoiled lands are of interest. The 1830 map indicates that a Mrs. Orcutt owned a building on this site. By the early 1850s an S. Caswell owned this property. This maps shows a stream running across the northern portion of the property--a branch of South Brook. By 1851 a Mark F. Barney, butcher, lived here. By c. 1870, Barney family members also owned #596 Summer St., near the intersection of Conant St. The Barney family continued to live here until at least the early 1900s. The present 1 1/2 story cottage on this site is said to be 60 years old. The large, interesting barn and stable on the property date to at least 1900.

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