2 Cedar Street Historical Inventory FormInventory No:SAL.2168
Historic Name:Morrill,George A.and Florence N.House
Address:2 Cedar St
City/Town:Salem
Village/Neighborhood:Stage Point;South Salem;
Local No:
Year Constructed:C 1914
Architectural Style(s):Colonial Revival;
Architect(s):Richardson,Arthur G.;
Use(s):Single Family Dwelling House;
Significance:Architecture;
Area(s):SAL.GR,SAL.GT,SAL.GY
Designation(s):
Building Materials:Roof:Asphalt Shingle;
Wall:Aluminum Siding;Wood;
Foundation:Granite;
Demolished No
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FORM B - BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
80 BOYLSTON STREET
BOSTON, MA 02116
AREA FORM NO.
34- lOl
bwn
iddress 2 Cedar Street
•fstoric Name 6.A. Morrill House
pe: Present _
Original
ESCRIPTION
ate 1914-1915
Residential
Residential
PlRnr Toll e.g. Arrh j f.entu re in
Salem tyle Colonial Revival
Sketch Map: Draw map showing property
1n relation to nearest cross streets and/or 1 Exterior Wall Fabric AI
geographical features. Indicate all buildings
between inventoried property and nearest Outbuildings
Intersection(s).
Irchitect A. G. Richardson
uminum
Indicate north
r4 x Major Alterations (with dates)
Condition Gnnrl
Moved Date
Acreage Less than one
Setting Residential Street
UTM REFERENCE Recorded by Northfields Preservation
Associstss
USGS QUADRANGLE Organization 0 i m • r, *.
— — _ wy»iiuanuii Salpm Planning fiopf SCALE Date June 1989
(
NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA STATEMENT (if applicable)
This building meets criteria A and C for listing on the
National Register as part of the Fairfield Street district. The
district possesses integrity of location, design, setting,
materials and workmanship from its development as a Colonial
Revival style residential area between 1915 and 1930. In addition,
the district possesses historical associations with development
patterns in Salem during the period of reconstruction after the
1914 fire.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of
other buildings within the community.
2 Cedar Street, the George A. Morrill house, is one of Salem's
more historically correct examples of the Colonial Revival style,
one of the area's finest examples. The house is two stories high,
five bays wide with a gabled roof extending to form a saltbox. The
central entry is slightly recessed within a panelled arch with
fanlight, and is framed by fluted Ionic pilasters supporting a
broken-based, dentilled pediment. To the rear of the east
elevation is a glazed porch with a pilaster cornerboard. The
foundation is granite, and granite piers flank the front steps and
the front corners of the lot. Other details include windows with
cornerblocks and 6/6 sash, a cornice with triglyphs and louvered
lunettes in the gable ends.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played 1n local or state history and how the
building relates to the development of the community.
This house was built during the reconstruction of Salem after
the fire on June 25, 1914, and is significant as an example of
high-style Colonial Revival design on a relatively modest sized
house. The design was executed by A.G. Richardson, a Boston
architect who resided in Salem, for George A. Morrill. Morrill was
the owner of the H.A. Bixby Company, installers of carpets,
upholstering and paper hanging. The house design may have been
modelled after architectural precedents, accounting for the
historical accuracy of the design; architectural historian Bryant
Tolles suggests that ''it is possible that this doorway was modeled
after that of the John Hodges house (1788)...at 81 Essex Street"
(Architecture in Salem, p. 235).
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Tolles, Bryant. Architecture in Salem. Salem:
Salem Rebuilding Commission Plans
Salem City Directories
Essex Institute, 1983.