Gates, Samuel Pearly House
40 Cedar St
1880
Architectural Style
Queen Anne
Significance
Architecture
Use Type
Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Bridgewater Town Center, Bridgewater State University
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
Architecturally, the Samuel Pearly Gates House is the finest example of the Queen Anne style in Bridgewater. Indeed, it is an unusually full blown example of this style in southeastern Massachusetts. It is characterized by an irregular plan, interesting volume and complex roof configuration, clad with alternating passages of clapboards and wood shingles, this house features a variety of window sizes, including a tall oriel window on the Cedar St. wall which presumably reflects a stair hall. Windows contain 8/2 wood sash in the Queen Anne manner and exhibit colorful, well crafted stained glass.
Historical Significance
Built during the late 1880s for Samuel Pearly Gates, this appealing Queen Anne house has housed presidents of Bridgewater Normal School/State College since 1933. The 1879 map indicates a house on the lot bounded by School, Maple Grove and Cedar Streets, owned by Joseph A. Hyde. The house faced a semi-circular drive and was close to School St. Hyde was for many years the manager of the Eagle Cotton Gin Co., and a major benefactor of the nearby New Jerusalem Church. The 1903 atlas indicates the present Gates house situated close to School St. with a barn to the rear. Samuel Pearly Gates was treasurer of the Bridgewater Savings Bank and treasurer of the Eagle Cotton Gin Co beginning in 1872 and 1877, respectively. He also had "much business to transact in the settling of estates." In addition, he was a life long Republican and held a clerkship in the War Department during the Civil War. This house passed to Mr. Gates' sister in 1914 and subsequently to the Bridgewater Normal School in 1925. At that time it was moved from its original site close to School Street and repositioned at its present Cedar and Grove Streets site. From 1925-1933 it was used as a dormitory. Zenos Edmund Scott became the first college president to reside here, beginning in April 1933.