Russell - Boyden House
28 Mount Prospect St
1875
Architectural Style
Italianate
Significance
Architecture
Use Type
Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Bridgewater Town Center
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
This house is part of Bridgewater Center's collection of solid, well crafted late 19th c. Italianate houses. Rising 2 1/2 stories from a granite block foundation to a gable roof with return eave, its 3-bay main facade faces an open porch with champfered posts and small brackets. Victorian double doors are crisply enframed by square-headed moldings. Windows are fully enframed and contain 2/2 wood sash. To the rear is a 2-story wing.
Historical Significance
This house has significant local historical associations with the faculty of the Bridgewater Normal School. Its lot had been part of the property of Sally Washburn prior to the 1840s. By the early 1870's an Isacc Dunham owned this lot. #28 Mt. Prospect was built c. 1875 for Barrett B. Russell. He was a teacher of arithmetic and chemistry at the Bridgewater Normal School from 1871-1879. Known for innovative
additions to the curriculum, Mr. Russell introduced nature study, sewings shorthand,
manual training, etc. By the early 1900's, Albert G. Boyden, principal of the Bridgewater Normal School from 1860-1906, apparently owned this house as an investment property. His residence is listed as Summer, corner Plymouth.