Hyde, J. A. House
25 Cedar St
1845
Architectural Style
Greek Revival, Stick Style
Significance
Architecture
Use Type
Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Bridgewater Town Center
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
This house is of interest as a c. 1845 Greek Revival Cottage which was enlarged c. 1880 with a 2-story northeast addition. The Greek Revival segment features a recessed entrance porch with fluted Tuscan columns. The columns support a flushboard entablature and broad gable—the original northeast roof slope was altered to accommodate a 2-story brick style addition which features narrow, double, fully enframed, and cornice headed windows on floors 1 and 2. Particularly noteworthy is the jerkinhead gable with its punched and cut barge boards.
Historical Significance
This house represents an interesting marriage of vernacular architectural styles derived from classical revival and picturesque modes. The Greek Revival segment was built c. 1845 for Joseph A.Hyde a partner in the Bates and Hyde gin works. Mr. Hyde was the first president of the Bridgewater Savings Bank (1872) and was a generous patron of the New Jerusalem Church—donating the property for this church (Bedford and School Sts.) in 1869. This may be the house that was located on the block bounded by School, Maple, Grove and Cedar Sts. (now occupied by Bridgewater State College). This house appears on its present site on the 1887 Birdseye view map of Bridgewater. By the early 1900s this house was owned by C. H. Pickering, a conductor on the N.H.R.R. (New Haven R.R.?)