national register of historic places … register of historic places received inventory--nomination...

j F-oqr’i No. O-3OO , O

UNIILDSIAII,DLPRltlLN1OI IIILINHkIORFORNPSUSEONLY

- NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES RECEIVED

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM bAE E TERED H .. -V

SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN I-/OW TO COMPLETE NA TIONAL REGISTER FORMSTYPE ALL ENTRIES--COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS

NAMEHISTORIC

Lawton-Almy-I-Iall FarmAND/OR COMMON

Lakeside Farm

LOCATIONSTREET& NUMBER

559 Union StreetNOT FOR PUBLICATION

CITY. TOWN . CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Portsmouth- vrcINITY0F 1 [-Ion. Pernand J . St. Germain

STATE CODE COUNTY CODERhode Island 44 Newport 095

jCLASSIFICATION

CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USE_DISTRICT _PUBLIC XOCCUPIED 2AGRICU1TURE _MUSEUM

XBUILDINGISI PRIVATE _UNOCCUPIEO _COMMERCIAL _PARK_STRUCTURE _BOTH _WORK IN PROGRESS _EDUCATIONAL X.PRIVATE RESIDENCE -

_SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION . ACCESSIBLE _ENTEHTAINMENT ._.RELIGIOUS

_OBJECT _IN PROCESS £YES: RESTRICTED _GOVERNMENT _SCIENTIFIC

_BEING CONSIDERED _YES: UNRESTRICTED .INDUSTRIAL .TRANSPORTATION

_NO _MILITARY _OTHER:

OWNER OF PROPERTYNAME

Mr. Herbert [JailSTREET & NUMBER

559 Union StreetCITY. TOWN STATE .

Portsmouth VICINITYOF . Rhode Isiand 20871

LOCATION OFLEGAL.DESCRIPTION . .

COURTHOUSE.REGISTRY OF DEEDaETC, Portsmouth Town ClerkSTREET & NUMBER

East Main RoadCITY. TOWN - STATE

Portsmouth Rhode island 20571

REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYSTITLE

1-895 Corridor SurveyDATE -

1977 ....FEDERAL LSTATE ....COUNTY

DEPOSITORY FOR . - .

SURVEYRECORDSRh0de Island Historical Preservation CommissionCITY. TOWN - STATE -

Providence Rhode IsI and -

* DESCRIPTION

CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE

_EXCELLENT _DETERIORATED _UNALTERED RIGINAL SITE

X000D _RUINS XALTERED _MOVED DATE________

_FAIR _UNEXPOSED

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL IF KNOWN PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Lawton-Almy-Hall Farm, one of the finest and most completeearly farmsteads remaining in Rhode Island, includes house,nine outbuildings, and forty acres of land, approximatelyits original acreage. Sited on the crest of a gentle hillwhich rises near the middle of Aquidneck Island betweenEast Main and West Main Roads in Portsmouth, the farm straddlesUnion Street; the complex of house and outbuildings, however,is all north of the road see site plan

The immediate surroundings ofthe farm complex remainprimarily open; many of the fields are still worked and beyondthe present owner’s property bounds lie Lawton Valley Reservoirto the north and St. Mary’s Lake and Sisson Pond to the south.All three bodies of water were built, apparently, as part ofthe Newport Water Works, starting in the 1880s. St. Mary’sLake in particular gives the farm a tranquil and expansivevista southward - Despite the open land immediately surroundingthe farm buildings, there are an increasing number of twentieth

. century intrusions in the middle distance, including severalcontemporary ranch houses and a golf course. Portsmouth, likeother formerly rural towns in Rhode Island, is succumbing todevelopment pressures.

The Lawton-Almy-Hall farmhouse, built in two main sections,one dating from the late seventeenth or early, eighteenthcentury and the other, from about 1800, is set at the rear ofa generous, tree - shaded dooryard facing south. The dooryardand practically all the farm acreage are surrounded andinternally divided by old and exceptionally handsomedry-laid,level-topped walls of slim, smooth, horizontal slabs of nativestone. -

The earliest rear part of the house is Set on a north-- south axis, has a gambrel roof covering two and -ahalf stories,and is of frame construction. It has no cellar, being setinstead upon heavy timbers carried by rock piles, as: in theearliest part of Newport’s Quaker Meeting House, which datesfrom 1699. It has always been shingled, though this old wallcovei- is now concealed by composition siding which the ownerintends to remove. Surprisingly, its original front was noton the south, facing the carriage or waon road, hut, rather,on the north, where a slightly later c 1725 One-story, -

gable-roofed dl shelters the entrance. This entry is unusbal

See Continuation Sheet 1

"*--:IS.

- Form No 1 O-300aIHev. 10-74

UNI!Ii!. SlAtES Dll’,:R1:j[N’j iF IlIF lIRIOR FOR NPS USE ONLY -

NATIONAL PARK SERVICERECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF FHSTORIC PLACES , -

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED

CONTI NUATWN SHEET j ITEM NUMBER PAGE 2

because it has a barrel-vaulted plaster ceiling, which is similarto the ceiling in the still-extant Southernmost Schoolhouse, builtto serve this neighborhood in 1725.

Internally, the original part of the farmhouse contains, to* the south, on its ground floor, a generous keeping room now used

as the kitchen and for family dining , two small east and westchambers now used as pantries , and a small stairhall betweenthe northern entry and the keeping-room see floor plan - Thestairs lead to four tightly proportioned but adequate bedchamberson the second floor and to a storage garret under the mortisedand pinned roof-framing. In this part of the house there is noelaboate finish; door and window surrounds are of plain flatboards and doors are of board and batten construction, stillretaining their thumb-latch hardware. Corner posts, now cased inthe keeping-room, are evident throughout and on the second floordisplay gunstock terminations; diagonal bracing timbers are alsoto be seen on the second floor. Three windows in this sectionstill have their old twelve-over-twelve and six-over-nine paneds ash -

The keeping room remains the heart of the older part of thehouse and has in its southern side a large cooking fireplace withbake-oven beside it, concealed behind a simple panelled door.Above the fireplace and oven runs a mantel shelf supported byheavy, early eighteenth century moulding. The original, andpresumably larger, firehox was restyled to its present configurationapparently about mid-century - -

Some rooms ‘in the northern part of the house may no’ be usedfor different purposes than originally, hut there has been noshifting of partitions, no changing ‘of door dr winddw openingsThis section has suffered few changes over the passing years andfor over a century remained a sufficient, if perhaps increàs inglycramped, family dwelling.

- About 1800, however, the old-fashioned and smaj.l accommodationwas increased by a five-bay wide, two-bay-deep extension, set ata right angle to the earlier section and stretching beyond it ateach end. This new portion, only one room deep but thirty-eightfeet from east to west, gives the building its present "T" shapeand more modern, though modest, architectural, pretension toward t,he

-

. See Continuation Sheet 2

*

__ __ _

Ft,rm No. 1 O-300aNov 10741

LJNd’I’hI S’f,’IFS II,’.P,-l’&’i’N’lIiN’I’ Oil’ 1111 IN1’I’,RIJl-t

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

FORNPSUSEONLY

RECEIVED ,

DATE ENTERED

CONrINUATION SHEET 2

wing

ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 3

street. ‘Its gable roof, with ridge running east to west, is ofthe same height as the north-south ridge of the older gambrel.The new frontal hasP simple, and, indeed, still somewhat old-fashionedfacade treatment. Windows are , as in the old part, in protrudedenfràmements with plain cappings - The only Federal style gesturesapparent are the simplified pilaster and entablature enframementof the central, door vith its transom and the use-of six-over-sixpaned window sash.

The southern addition makes use of the large’ keeping roomchimney, us ing it, in enlarged form, as a central one. The forwardpart of the house forms, in effect, one half of the famil iar five -

room central-chimney plan, with the original gambrel-roof structureproviding the rear half. Both the location of the chimney 9n thesouth side of the earliest part of the house and this interestingjoining o’f two sections around the chimney make the house anunusual one.

The new front section provides a small entry- and stair-hallwith two flanking parlors on the first floor ,and two good-sized -

bedchambers above. Access to the stone-walled cellar is througha doorway under the stair-landing. The rear wing of the houseis reached by several doorwpys on each floor. On the second floorthe floor level in ‘r ont is two steps higher than that in the old

Interior woodwork in the nineteenth century addition isexpectedly more sophisticated than that in the rear wing, but usesseveral old-fashioned elements which’provide interesting contrasts.For example, the walls of the entry hall are treated below thestairs with large, bevelled, raised panels reminiscent of preRevolutionaryWar times; yet the stairway itself, with its moulded,square, bun newel tops, rectangular halusters , and naively sawnscrolls applied along the string course at the end of each stepclearly reflects the Federal style, if in a somewhat heavy manner.Doors in this section are four-paneled, in contrast to the primitiveplank ones in the rear wing, and there are wainscots of horizontalboarding with capping mouldings - Outstanding features in thesection, both downstairs and UI, are the sensitively decoratedmantels, very fine in several crisp variations of Federal design--

paneled pilasters , fret work, protrusions and recessions of the

- See Continuation Sheet 3

* . - .-.

Form No 10-300,Nev, 10741

IJNI’I’ED STAt ES !IUAR’I’MLN’F OF ‘tIlE INFERIOR FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES’ . ‘ ‘

INVENTORY.-- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED

CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER PAGE

shelves, and sharp mouldings. Perhaps a Newport woodworker orshop supplied these special and handsome features of the newrooms, so unlike the ol:d style paneling and heavy detailing ofthe stairs in the front hall.

* For more than 250 years the house has had few changes insideor out, except for the insertion of six-over-six pane windowsash in the lBOOs; the laying of hardwood floors on top of theoriginal floor boards and the application of new trellised ceilingsdownstairs in the early twentieth century; and the decidedlyinconspicuous placement of electrical and plumbing conveniences,accomplished only within recent decades. The house still lackscentral heat.

As always, the ‘house remains the heart of its agricultural‘ acreage - Around it, to the rear ‘and hides, are grouped the nine

outbuildings which contribute so significantly to the strong sense,of time and place Lawton-Almy-I’Jall Farm embodies. In 1938, therewere twenty-four outbuildings still ‘standing; of these, eight remaintoday and a modern 1962 garage has been added. Most of thebuildings which have since vanished were chicken houses, built bythe Almys in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Onewas an ice house which, regrettably ,was torn down to providelumber for an unrelated building. Another was the SouthernmostSchool House which was moved to the property in 1863; the schoolmet a happier fate, being given by the Hall family to the PortsmouthHistorical Society in 1952 and moved to a location at the eastend of Union Street. Of the remaining outbuildings, the cookhouse, corn crib now used as a tool shed, part Of the cow barn,’and possibly part of the horse barn heavily rebuilt about the

- turn of the twentieth century are thought to date back to theLawtons - The remainder- - the wagon shed, chicken house, and:cottage ‘for hired help were built by the Almys . ‘ -

While the house. and outbuildings aje of great importance inthemselves, theland surrounding them 1k also significant. Everyportion of the acreage is well maintained; enormousold trees areprominent; there are flowers in the dooryard; and the Very finestone walls have already been mentioned - Included also in the farmproperty, in a southeast corner of these walls, is the old family,burying ground, containing Lawtons and Almys, Rhode IslandHistorical Cemetery, Portsmouth Number 18.

Form No. 1 0-300a

jr’il’I’I’l SI ,-‘l’IS ll’,I’,-I’I’’1lLN’I’,I- ‘I’III l’

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE’


FORNPSUSE ONLY

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED

CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER

F-iN1

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Nov. 10-74

7 PAGE 5

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orm No l0-300aNov. 10-74.

LJNJI’I’IiI, SI’.-’I 1S,II’_I’,’ItI’NIILI"i’I’OI’l’lIIi IfNATIONAL PARK SERVICE


FOR NPS USE ONLY

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED

CONTI NUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7S PAGE 6

LA.h/TO//-ALM5’ -PALL MHM

S’tTTC7/ PLAY - NOT /0 ScALE

worH

SIGNIFICANCE

PERIOD AREAS OF SIGN;FICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW

* _PREHISTORIC ,ARCHE0L0GY-PREHISTORIC _COMMUNIT’PLANNING _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _RELIGI0N

_1400-1499 ARCHEOL0GY-HIST0RIC _CONSERVATION _LAW SCIENCE

_1500-1599 flORICULTURE _ECONOMICS _I,ITERATURE _SCULPTURE

1600-1699 XARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION _MILITARY _SOCIAL/HUMANITARFAN

700-1799 _AAT _ENGINEERING _MUSIC ..,THEATER

.t8oo*iage _COMMERCE _EXPLORATIONISETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY _TRANSF’ORTATION_1900. COMMUNICATIONS JNDUSTRY _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT _OTHER ISPECIFYI

JNVENTION

SPECIFIC DATES BUILDER/ARCHITECT

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Lawton-Almy-Hall farm i’s a well-preserved example of theRhode Island farmstead ahd is significant to the town of**OrtsIflouthand the state for its visual and architectural character, for itsability to portray to the observer several important aspects ofRhode Island agricultural life in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies, and for its association with several locally importantfamilies.

The farmstead survives in almost complete form; isolated fromrecent suburban development by its’ fields, stone walls, and aman-made lake created from a swamp in 1882-1883 and the sourceof the property’s common name--Lakeside Farm, the Lawton-Almy-HallFarm is an historic oasis, a placid, rural reminder of Portsmouth’scharacter in preceding centuries.‘While several such farmsteads exist in Rhode Island, fewretain se much of their land or are as uncharged, still occupiedand farmed. Even more remarkable is the survival of so manydependent structures--including wagcn shed corn crib, milk andcQok houses, and chicken coop. Such outbuildings, representing themultiple tasks and functions of a farm family, are vital cluesfor the re-creation of early agricultural life. Only a few RhodeIsland farms, such as Casey-farm in North Kingstown now’ owned by

SPNEA and on the National Register rival the Lawton-Almy-HallFarm in unity and integrity.While the farm as a whole is significant, the house itselfis also of special interest; even if it stood alone, it would beworthy of study for its structural features, its interestingmating of two parts 100 years apart in age, and its unchangedinterior detailing. . ‘ -

The Lawton-Almy-I-Jal’l Farm originally included about fortyacres and was granted by the town to Geoi-ge Lawton, a captain inthe Royal Navy and a member of the Court of Trials, i 1648, onlyseven years after Portsmouth’s land was laid out. Lawton wasadmitted as ‘a freeman in 1655. Thomas Lawton, George’s brother, alsoowned land nearby, and this ancient Portsmouth family gave their

See Continuation Sheet 4 -

* Form F4o 10-300, -

11ev, l0’741

IJNI’I’IiI S’FA’I’IIS IFp1R’I’hiINII:’I’IiI.:’j’II.:RIR FOR NPSUSEONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE -

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATEENTERED

CONTINUATION SHEET 6 - TEM NIJMBER 8 PAGE 2

name to the entire vicinity, which is still known as Lawton’sValley. George Lawton’ s son Robert inherited the farm from hisfather in 1693. His son and grandson were in turn, owners ofthe Lawton property. In 1797, it came into the possession ofEl izabeth Lawton Brightman . The Lawton family owned tile farmfor nearly two hundred years through six generations ; theyproduced meats and a variety of ships stores, - probably forsale in Newport or in Portsmouth’s own secondary seaport.

In 1829, Harvey Sullings, a New Bedford merchant, boughtthe Lawton farm. He held the property for only three years;in 1832 Peleg Almy pur.chased the land which was then owned by

‘his descendants until 1938 when the last Almy heirs left theproperty to the Hall family who now oi-n it.

- Peleg Almy added adjacent properties to the farm until thetotal acreage had increased to 120 acres. He lived at the farm‘for twenty years until his death in 1853 at the age of 92.His wife Hannah died that same year at 34, and the farm was- leftto their son Edward, one of their fifteen children - Edward Almymarried three times; one of his wives was the daughter of HarveySullings, from whom his father Peleg had purchased the farm. Hedied in 1883 and was, buried in the Lawton graveyard, the 1 astinterment there. During the nineteenth century, the land wasused for general market gardening, poultry, and dairy produce -*

Before his death Edward AImy deeded,the western part of thefarm to- his son Edward ,Jr - , hut on his death the homestead andits core of forty acres were left to his wife Elizabeth and,after her death in 1917, to her sons Williams and Henry. TheAlmv family were never pol it ical leaders in their town, s ihcethey were Democrats in staunchly RepLlbl ican Portsmouth, buth’il ham and Henry Almy were noted locally as affluent andexemplary farmer and’ as leaders in introducing new farminmethods; Henry had charge of the dairy and livestock, whileWilliam cared for the poultry and produce on the farm. Under theAl’my brothers the ‘farm flourished; in 1938, there were twenty- fouroutbuildings on the property.

With the deaths of the two childless Almy ‘brothers, the farmpassed to Herbert Hall , who had grown up in tile ir family since1905, and it is the Hall family who still own the Lawton-Almy-HallFarm, raising potatoes and heeF cattle -

See Continuation Sheet .5

Form No. I 0-300a1Mev. 10741

IJNII’EI, S’I’A’I ES IIiI’A.RFMEN’I’ 01-’ ‘11W IN i’ERIOR FOR NPS USE ONLYNATIONAL PARK SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED

CONTI NUATION SHEET 7 ITEM NUMBER 8 ‘PAGE 3

- The Lawton-Ahmy-Hall Farm is important as still-activeand well-tended survival of the increasingly disappearingrural environment and architectural heritage. It is notablefor its unbroken occupation and use of the land, its survivalas a complete form, and the’ability of its fence’s, ‘fields,and buildings to portray how farm families lived and built.

1 kMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFER I&NCES

Beers, J. H. Co., Representative Men and Old’Famihies of Rhode Island.J. H. ‘Beers, Chicago, 1908. . - - --

Hall, Herbert F., III, Handwritten narrative history of farm, containedin letter dated May 13, 1976,. in ‘files Rhode Island HistoricalPreservation Commission.

Portsmouth Land Evidence, Volume 1.

WGEOGRAPHI CAL DATA ‘ -

ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY 4 0UTM REFERENCES

All1 91 L31 1,01 2 610.] I 46 I03l4, 701 , 811,9 13111016010[ 10,31 19 0!.ZONE EASTING NORTHING . ZONE EASTING NORTHING

C11191 131 140l29,0J 141610,218,OIOJ D1l191 1310I91912101l4j6I03J3js0JVERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

This property consists of two rectilinear holdings on the north’and south sides of Union Street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.In the Portsmouth ‘Tax Assessor’s records, they are Lots 29 and -

37 on Tax Map’ No. 58.

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE CODE COUNTY . CODE’

STATE . CODE COUNTY CODE

FORM PREPARED BYNAME / TITLE

Richard B. Harrington. Consultant, and February, 1978 -

ORGANIZATIOtame1a A. Kennedy, Historical Survey SpecnPtTistRhode Island Historical Preservation Cnmmiccinn -

STREET & NUMBER . - TELEPHONE‘Old State House 150 Benefit Street

CITY OR TOWN - . STATE

Provide’.ce ‘ Rhode Island -

WSTATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION -

THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

- ‘ NATIONAL.. STATE._X.. LOCAL_._. -

As the designated Stale Historic Preservation OffiCe .ioQhe National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Public Law 89-665.hereby nominate this property for inclusion in th Natio Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to thecriteria and procedures set forth by the National Pa Servic

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE

TITLE Stace Historic Preservation Officer DATE March 31, 1978FORNPStJSEONLY - --

I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER

DATEDIRECTOR. OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION

ATTEST - DATE

KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER

GPO 892. 45

LawtonH-Almy-Hall Farm / "Lakeside Farm",Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, PhotographerFebruary, 1977Negative: Rhode Island Historical Preservation

Commission

View of the farm complex from the southwest.

Photo 1

7

9r I

Lawton-Almy-Hall Farm / "Lakeside Farm"Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, PhotographerFebruary, 1977Negative: Rhode Island Historical Preservation

Commission

View of the house from the northwest, showingearly section of house and rear gable-roofedentry.

Photo 2

Lawton-Almy-Hall Farm / "Lakeside Farmt’Portsmouth, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, Photographer February,1977Negative: Rhode Island Historical Preservation

Commission

Vaulted ceiling of rear entry, looking north.

Photo 3


Warren Jagger, Photographer February, 1977Negative: Rhode Island Historical Preservation

Commi s sion

Kitchen or keeping room fireplace, looking south.

Photo 4



Commi s si on

Front staircase, looking northwest.

Photo 5



Commission

Mantel in the front east parlor, looking northwest.

Photo 6

national register of historic places … register of historic places received inventory--nomination...

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