FORM B - BUILDING
Assessor's number
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
USGS Quad
Area(s)
Form Number
255
Town Kingston
Place
(neighborhood or village)
Address 4fi Si immer Street
Historic Name
Conk-Drew House
Uses: Present commercial
Original residential
Date of Construction 0.1800
Source maps, local history
Style/Form
Federal style
Architect/Builder
Eli Cook
Exterior Material:
Foundation granite
Wall/Trim
hrick and wood claphoard
Roof aspahlt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
Major Alterations
The
Barn
(with dates)
Door
Condition good
Moved _ no • yes
Date
Acreage 1 acre
Recorded by Deirdre Brotherson
Organization Kingston Historical Commission
Date
(month/year)
May 1998
Setting
urban village near RR tracks
RECEIVED
AUG 2 5 1998
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions when completing this form.
MASS. HIST. COMM
MRS?
BUILDING FORM
M see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings
within the community.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
SEE CONTINUATION
SHEET
E3 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.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
)
SEE CONTINUATION
SHEET
IS see continuation sheet
SEE CONTINUATION
SHEET
• Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places,
a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
If checked, you must attach
7/92
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Community
Kingston
Property Address
J/^K|/2^T
46 Summer Street
Area(s) FormNo.
255
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
The residence at 46 Summer Street was built c.1800 in the Federal style. This 5x2 bay, masonry and
wood framed, 2 story building sits on a granite foundation. The building has brick ends with the facade and
rear elevation are clad with wood clapboards. The hip roof is covered with asphalt shingles. Two brick
chimneys are located at opposite ends. The center entrance contains a 6-panel wood door flanked by
pilasters and full entablature. An elliptical fan light is directly above the door. The windows are symmetrical
and contain 6/6 wood sash with flat surrounds with a molded drip cap. The cornerboards are thin and flat.
The cornice is boxed. A 2x4 bay, 2 story ell is perpendicular to the rear of the building.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
This building was built by Eli Cook, a stone and brick mason. Cook, an upstanding citizen, Benjamin
Delano and Ellis Bradford were appointed in 1814 to draft local citizens for services needed when there was
a cry by opponents against fighting the War of 1812. The opposing forces wanted to secede from the
Union because of their distaste for the war. Again it was Cook, town treasurer since 1828, who, with
another committee, petitioned those at a meeting of the First parish in 1841 to build a Town House on the
Training Green. That House was built and enlarged 30 years later. Eli Cook Drew, nephew of Eli Cook's
wife, Hannah Drew, inherited the house in 1861 from his aunt. In 1917, Lester Burton Drew, station master
at the Kingston Depot, inherited the property from his parents, Eli Cook Drew and Helen K. Drew. Lester,
better known as Burt Drew, left his property to his wife, Addie L. Sprague Drew. When Addie Drew's
estate was settled in 1949, one of her four sons, George B. Drew of Plymouth, purchased the house. His
daughter, Eleanor Drew Mani, inherited the house in the 1970's. She kept an antique shop here for several
years finally selling the house to her cousin John Burton Drew. Drew is the son of John E. Drew, the
youngest son of Lester Burton Drew.
This is one of only a few brick ended federal style houses in Kingston. It has changed use from a residence
to commercial property but retains architectural integrity and a fine example of Federal architecture. The
Federal style was the dominant style in the United States from about 1780 to 1820. The Federal style was
a development and refinement of the preceding Georgian style. The style drew on English buildings,
especially those designed by the Adams brothers. Robert Adams had traveled to Italy and the
Mediterranean to study the original classical buildings. Robert Adams and others like him returned to
England with sketch books full of detailed drawings of the Greek and Roman monuments. Adam then
popularized a number of the classical design elements such as pediments, columns, and symmetrical spatial
planning which became some of the hallmarks of this style. The exteriors of Federal houses have few
elaborations other than the fanlight and accentuated front door. Among the elaborations that sometime occur
are roof-line balustrades, Palladian-style windows. The goal was to create a light and delicate design in
contract to the heaviness of Georgian architecture.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Melville, Doris Johnson. Major Bradford's Town: A History of Kingston: 1726-1976. Kingston, MA., 1976.
[KPL]
MAPS:
1726 Kingston. John Gray [MHC]
1795 A Plan of the Town of Kingston. John Gray. [MHC]
1820-30 Five School Districts [KPL]
1876 Town of Kingston. Boyden (w/directory). [KPL]
1876 Town of Kingston, Enlargement of Village. Boyden. [KPL]
1879 Atlas of Plymouth County. George E. Walker. [MHC]
1896 Bird's Eye View of Kingston [KPL & MSL]
1903 Atlas of Plymouth County. George E. Walker. [KPL]
Sanborn Insurance Company Maps:
Plymouth: 1896 June
1901 April (1896,1901,1906 include Kingston Village
1906 Feb. and Factories in Kingston)
Kingston: 1912 (6 sheets)
1925 (7 sheets)
1943 (7 sheets)
1954 (8 sheets)
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Property Address
Community
46 Summer Street
Kingston
Area(s) FormNo.
D
I255
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement
Form
Check ail that apply:
• Individually eligible
• Eligible only in a historic district
M Contributing to a potential historic district • Potential historic district
Criteria:
• B
Criteria Considerations:
QC
•D
•A
•B
Statement of Significance by
CC
• D
•E
•F
rjG
Deirdre Brotherson
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
This property is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building to a
Historic District (Area D). This district is eligible under Criterion A for the association with the
development of the Old Colony Railroad and associated commercial ventures. This property is
also eligible under Criterion C for its architecture which help illustrates the evolution of this
district.