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Rockland Ma. Historical Commission | |
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This house is one of Rocklands rare surviving high-0styl buildings from the nineteenth century. The Italianate style is revealed in the hip roof and the wide overhanging eaves which are supported on a large number of heavy brackets The roof line is broken to form round arches in which a frieze window with two lights appears. Original windows have pediment caps set on brackets. The large balcony on brackets over the entranceway is one of the early twentieth-century addition made to this house. The combination of Colonial Revival and Italianate features contribute to marking this one of the most unusual houses in Rockland. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE The house was built by W. G. Perry, an important mid-nineteenth century shoe manufacturer, like many of Rockland's shoe manufacturers of the time, the actual factory was in Perry's back yard along Concord Street. The turn of the century alterations to this building were made by Winthrop I. Perry. Winthrop Perry was born in 1878 and became a prominent lawyer in Rockland. Records in the Assessor's Office reveal that Alonzo Perry, an important real estate operator in early twentieth century Rockland history, owned the house prior to 1919 when he sold it to Winthrop Perry who owned the building to 1963. Bout that time the building became the Perry Academy, a school. Following the fire which burned Rockland's Town Hall in 1974, this building served as the seat of Rockland's government until the building on Union Street was completed. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCE Directory of Rockland, 1867,1916. Town of Rockland Assessor's Office Campbell, Martha. Research Reporter # 76, 6/71967 Atlas of Plymouth County, 1874, 1879, 1903. |
