FORM A-AREA

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street
Assessor's Sheets

I 6,7, 17,
8, 19, 30, 3
II USGS Quad

Marlborough
Area Letter

II AP
Form Numbers in Area

I 1284-1290

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Town Marlborough

Place (neighborhood or village)

Name of Area Fort Meadow Area

Present Use residential, recreational

Construction Dates or Period late 1930's to

present
Overall Condition _

fair
Major Intrusions and Alterations mjd- to late-

20th century houses many visible additions

and alterations. '
Acreage ca 30 acres
within
al Recorded by Anne Forbes, consultant
I streets
, •..iparate Organization Marlborough Historical Comm,
cate North.
Date (month/day/year) 7/14/95

Streets included:
Algosi Street
Amory Road
Cullinane Drive
Lakeshore Drive
Longfellow Street
Meadow Street
SEE ATTACHED SHEET Oak Road
Paquin Drive
Pembroke Street
Red Spring Road
Reservoir Street
Spring Lane
Upland Road
Western View Road
Whittier Road

Follow ""'f{/~~~'achusetts
Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form
AREA FORM

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [X] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural, structural and landscape features and evaluate in terms of other areas within the
community.

Like most neighborhoods of its type, the lakeside-cottage community at Fort Meadow Reservoir in
Marlborough gives only a general impression of what it looked like when built in the 1930's and 1940's.
Still, it is significant as a rare survival of an intrinsically fragile neighborhood of low-cost, rustic
waterfront, often unweatherized houses. Most of the small cottages, cabins, and "camps" that were built
here, especially the ones for summer use, have been enlarged, winterized, and updated with new
windows, doors, etc. Still, the general scale and layout of much of the neighborhood remains intact,
as do a few of the buildings. Red Spring Road is still a long dirt road with its line of cottages widely
scattered between it and the shoreline, and the later cluster of streets in the area to its east, off Stevens
Street, still includes some relatively intact cottages, as well.

Typically, all the buildings here are wood-frame, and most are small, one-story structures on concrete-
block foundations. Surviving original details include 2-over-l or 6-over-l-sash windows, a few of which
retain either the vertical-board shutters that closed them up tight for the winter, or paneled shutters
decorated with pierced or applied designs. Cladding in wood shakes or shingles is common, as are low-
pitched or hipped overhanging roofs. A few fieldstone chimneys add to the rustic atmosphere. (Cont.)

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [X] see continuation sheet

Explain historical development of the area. Discuss how this area relates to the historical development of
the community.

The neighborhood along the shores of Fort Meadow Reservoir is significant as an illustration of a
rapidly vanishing type of residential area of the second quarter of the twentieth century in
Massachusetts--the lakeside cottage community. Between the two world wars entrepreneurs and realty
companies began dividing lake-front land in interior towns and cities to sell to low- or middle-income
families for small summer cottages, or "camps." The buyers were often city dwellers looking for
affordable summer homes; others were local residents who wanted to get away from the center city in ,i
the warm weather. Still others were buyers of limited means seeking to own permanent homes. Many
cottages and cabins were put up by the developers, while others were "home-built" designs constructed
by individual owners. It was fashionable to link these properties with natural features and with the
rustic life style of the Indians who once lived in the area. Here, that spirit is reflected in the names
associated with the development, such as "Indian Lake Shores" and Red Spring Road, named for a
nearby spring known to the early settlers.

The community here in Marlborough developed fairly late in the course of the lakeside "camp"
movement, which by the mid-'30's was declining in some communities as a result of new local zoning
and health laws that required minimum lot sizes, more stringent septic disposal procedures, etc. The
first few true "camps" at Fort Meadow were built in about 1938, and the area's major development took
place over the 1940's, extending into the early 1950's. Over 140 small lots were laid out on the south
side of the reservoir in the 1930's and '40's, and just after World War II about the same number were
subdivided on the north shore, where the earliest cottages appeared in about 1947. (Cont.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Maps: Marlborough Assessor's maps.
Marlborough Building Permit records.

[ ] Recommended as a National Register District. If checked, you must attach a completed

National Register Criteria Statement form.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Fort Meadow Area

'ilassachusetts Historical Commission
o Boylston Street Area(s) Form Nos.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 AP 1284-1290

ARCHITECfURAL DESCRIPTION, cant.

Although many of the buildings now have synthetic siding and replacement doors and windows, a few
retain some original features. Most of these are located on Red Spring Road, where #13 displays a
stone chimney, and #35 has 6-over-1-sash windows and the exposed rafter ends that lend a rustic note
to the architecture. The windows at the two-story 25 Red Spring Road still have their working vertical-
board shutters, and those at #33 are the paneled type, embellished with pine tree designs. The
Intercolonial Club building at the base of the road has a five-bay facade with 2-over-l-sash windows,
an overhanging roof, and a rubble foundation.

The eastern section on the south shore, denser, later, and generally more altered and less wooded than
Red Spring Road, has a few relatively intact examples of cottages of other types. For eample, 137
Cullinane Drive is a 1 1/2-stOlY,three-bay gable-end, and 48 Westernview Road is a four-bay cottage
with 6-over-1 windows, overhanging pitched roof, and a small brick ridge chimney.

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

The main attraction of these lakeside commmunities was the water itself and its recreational potential.
Fishing, boating, and swimming were all usually provided for to some extent in the developer's plans.
Access to a public or neighborhood beach, sportsmen's club, or other organized facility was a desirable
arnenity, and the presence here of organizations like the Intercolonial Club and the city of
.farlborough's Memorial Beach, which opened in 1946 as Moriarty's Beach, is typical.

The buildings discussed above and listed 011 the Area Data Sheet represent some of the most
historically or architecturally significant resources in the area. There are several more historic
properties located in the area, however. See Area Sketch Map for their locations.
INVI!:NTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Fort Meadow Area

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form Nos.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 AP 1284-1290

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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Fort Meadow Area

Massachusetts Historical Commission
....
0 Boylston Street Area(s) Form Nos .
.I0stOD, Massachusetts 02116 AP 1284-1290

AREA DATA SHEET

NOTE: Although the inventory includes the entire area outlined on the Area Sketch Map, only resources which
are mentioned in text of the Area Form have been given inventory numbers and are listed on the Area Data
Sheet. As a rule, these represent the most historically or architecturally significant resources in the area. There
are many more historic properties located within the area, however. (See Area Sketch Map for their locations.)

MHC# Parcel # Street Address Historic Name Date Style/type

1289 7-5 137 Cullinane Drive early 1940's gable-end cottage

1284 30~10 Red Spring Road Intercolonial Club ca. 1940 1 112-stol)', side-
gabled building

1285 30-10 13 Red Spring Road ca. 1940 shingled cottage

1286 30-10 25 Red Spring Road ca. 1940 2-stol)' cottage
1287 30-10 33 Red Spring Road ca. 1940 shingled cottage
J.288 30-10 35 Red Spring Road early 1940's gable-end cottage

1290 19-28 48 Westernview Rd. early 1940's 1 lI2-story cottage

INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Fort Meadow Area

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form Nos.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 AP 1284-1290
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Fort Meadow Area

Massachusetts Historical Commission
~OBoylston Street Area(s) Form Nos.
.soston, Massachusetts 02116 AP 1284·1290