FORM B - BU1l:DING In Area no. Form no.

95

---
.,
il,a r 1boro up.h

Eroad ::,treet

St. AnnIs Academy

-esent use Academy Knoll Apartments

Knoll Assoc ia tel

1888
Sour-ce Ella Bigelow

. le Federal
- -
--
4. Map. Draw sketch of building location Architect
in relation to nearest cross streets and
other buildings. Indicate north. Exterior wall fabric Red br ick

Outbuildings (describe)
----------
Other features

o
o
Altered

Moved
converted to
ap t s .
Date~l~9~~7~7

Date
_

o 5. Lot size:

One acre or less __ Over one acre_x__

DODD Appr oxi mate frontage __ 3_0_O~' _

Approximate distance of building from street

RECEI\/ED 100'
JUL - 6 1979 6. Recorded bY~W~.~G~i~b~b~o=--=n~s _

MASS. HIST. COMM. Organization MarJboro Planning' Dept.

Date 6/29/79
(over)

37M-7-77
• •
7. Originalowner (if known) Roman Catholic Church

Originaluse School/.Acad emv

Subsequent uses (ifany) and dates Build in@: restored, convert.ed to apts. 1977

8. Themes (check as many as applicable)

Aboriginal Conservation Recreation

Agricultural Education x Religion x
Architectural x Exploration/ Science/
The Arts settlement invention
Commerce Industry Social!
Com munication Military humanitarian x
Community development x Political Transportation

9. Historicalsignificance(includeexplanatron of themes checked above) (

In 1887, Marlborough was selected as the building site for St. Ann's t
Academy. The Academy was established in lS8e, with' faculty supplied
by the Order of St. Ann in WashinFton D.C. Thirty-four boarding
students comprised the first class. ~he first principal was
Sr. Victorine, who later rose to prominence in the order. Of the
first graduating class, lfarie L'Ecuyer of Marlborough entered the
order, and became Superior General of America.

In addition to the standard courses, music, art and elocution were

fea tur ed , Overlooking Lake '~Hlliam, St. Ann's has recently been
converted into 109 apartments by Academy Knoll Associates, assisted by
a loan of $2,544,876 from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency
(MHFA). Anderson-Kotter Associates designed the conversion of the
school to housing.
Much of the building features of the past remain intact, including
stained glass windows, a mailroom constructed of marble, and
cathedral ceilings. A life-size mural, non-religious in nature,
is used for decorative purposes, and is located in the community room
for the elderly.

10. Bibliographyand/or references (such as localhistories,deeds, assessor's records,

early maps, etc.)
Historical Reminiscences of Marlborough. Ella Bigelow, 1910, Marlborou1

Marlborough Enterprise (8/23/36)

••
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Anne's

Academy
Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 D 95

Additional information by Anne Forbes, consultant to Marlborough Historical Commission,

3/31/94:

ASSESSOR'S # 80-69; 4.27 acres.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTJON, cont.

Although the architectural significance of St. Anne's Academy, one of the largest institutional
buildings in Marlborough, lies primarily in its well-preserved 1925 Colonial Revival architecture,
the original building of 1888 still exists abutting the rear of the larger structure. It is a typical late
Queen Anne institutional building of the late1880's--a four-story, red-brick rectangular block.
Today it is flat-roofed; originally it had a mansard roof, as did the long southwest rear wing, which
was built in 1894 in a similar style. The windows of both sections are paired sash set into round-
or segmental-arched openings embellished with imitation dentiJs of projecting brick headers. On
some stories, pierced foliate designs decorate the wood window surrounds under the arches. A
large two-story wooden porch on square, chamfered posts, abuts the rear wing on two sides. The
architect of the 1894 addition, and possibly of the original building as well, was A.H. Vinel; the
building contractor was Charles McGee. The enlarged building was designed to accommodate 160
boarders and 105 day students.

The major part of the building, constructed in 1925, consists of a long four-story central, flat-roofed
block with two perpendicular end wings: the northernmost, containing classrooms and recreation
halls, extends to the rear; the southern, shorter one, which extends forward from the facade, was
built to house the sisters' cloister, an auditorium, and a chapel. The 1925 structure, an outstanding
example of the early twentieth-century Colonial Revival, like the original building, is also of red
brick, with a granite foundation, steps, and sills. It has considerable concrete trim in the door and
window surrounds; comices, and in decorative plaques, niches, and other decoration. Above the
fourth story is a solid brick parapet. The windows in this section are replacement J-over-l-sash,
with flat brick surrounds.

The facade of the main block is symmetrical, with a wide central pavilion with wooden Ionic
portico. The main center entry has a double-leaf, divided-light glass-and-panel door and a leaded-
glass transom. The center portico is flanked by two two-story polygonal brick bays. A pedimented
entry at either end of the facade has a replacement modem metal-and-glass door. Entries in the
wings are intact however; the one on the north side of the south wing has a double-leaf door
identical to the central one, and a concrete trabeated surround with molded architrave and lintel,
paneled frieze, and a cross and shield depicted above. Most of the south wing is occupied by the
chapel, which has a line of six tall stained-glass round-arched, divided windows. The comers of
both wings are articulated by double brick pilasters with concrete Ionic capitals and bases.

The architect for the 1925 additions was o.B. Nault & Sons, who also designed the Marlborough
Wire Goods plant at 406 Lincoln Street in 1923. The builder was George Roy.

St. Anne's occupies a beautiful four-acre site overlooking Lake Williams. A large landscaped lawn
with a central concrete walk slopes from the front of the building to Broad Street. At the northern
edge of the lawn is a spruce-lined drive; on its north side is the 1920's St. Mary's Rectory (see
Form #159), with St. Mary's Church (FonTI #96) and the modem building of St. Mary's School
beyond.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Anne's Academy

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 D 95
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cant.
The first parochial school in St. Mary's Church and Parish (see Form #96), St. Mary's Parochial
School, was opened in the basement of St. Mary's Church in September of 1887. The first cJasses,
which were for both boys and girls, were taught by local teachers. Construction 011 the first section
of this building was begun ill May of 1887, and a year later what was locally called "the French
Convent" was ready to house the sisters of St. Anne, who were brought in by Father Joseph
Dumontier to teach in the school. (Sources conflict as to whether they came here from Lachine,
Quebec, or from Washington D.C.) It is also likely that the building housed temporary classroom
space for the students until St. Anthony's School for boys was built just north of the church in 1894.

In 1894, the convent building was enlarged, and officially opened as St. Anne's Academy for girls.
The first class graduated four students. In 1925 the building was nearly tripled in size. St. Anne's
grew over the years into a school of international reputation; in 1960 the enrollment had reached
170 resident students and 213 day students. The school adopted the departmental system in 1941,
and formed an affiliation with Catholic University in Washington in 1953. It closed in 1972. Today
it provides housing for elderly and low-income tenants.

BIBLIOGRAPHY, cont.
Maps and atlases: Walker, 1889; Sanborn maps.
Centennial '90: Marlborough the City. 1990.
Marlborough Historical Society: Moineau Photo Collection.
Worcester Evening Post. 4/30/38.
(See also 1979 inventory form.)

[X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Anne's Academy

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 D 95
Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough 20 Broad Street
St. Anne's Academy

Area(s) Form No(s).

D 95
-----

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[ ] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[x] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [xl C [] D

Criteria Considerations: [x] A [] B [] C [] D [] E [] F [] G

Statement of Significance by Forbes I Schuler

The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

St. Anne's Academy meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of a three
building district of the St. Mary's Parish property. The importance of St. Mary's is tied to the
social history of Marlborough in that the Parish, the second Catholic parish in Marlborough,
was established in 1870 in direct response to the significant French Canadian immigrants who
came to work in the shoe factories following the Civil War. The school building was first
constructed in 1888 to house the sisters of St. Anne who were brought to St. Mary's to teach.
In 1925 a substantial addition and renovation took place. It is this Colonial Revival structure
that is most visible today, in front of the former building. The district retains integrity of
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
 FORM B - BUILDING In Area no. Form no.

ivlASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COl\1l\lISSIO~

96
Office OI the Secretary,
.-
State House, Boston
--------
own i',.arlboroUfh

---- ..--- ddress Broad Street

arne St. Iviary s Church

I

'resent use Church

,'resent owner Roman Catholic Church

iescr tptton.

1870
Source Public Record

Federal

4. Map. Draw sketch of building location Architect

in relation to nearest cross streets and
other buildings. Indrcate north. Exterior wall fabric brick

Outbuildings (describe)
---------
Other features

"'Il-R.~'5
?J:J
rtl
0
0
~

0
Altered addition Date 1955
~

0 ~
Moved Date

.'" A
<t
:r-
E
't1
~ 0 iN
5. Lot size:

One acre or less Over one acre~x~_

I.:i s
'" <t" e:t:
0 Approximate frontage 60'
Approximate distance of bui lding from street
W csr: MftllJ ST1?~El
30'
6. Recorded by W. Gibbons
RECEIVED
Organization Marlboro Planning Dept.
JUL - 6 1979 Date 6/29/79

(over)

37M-7-77
• •
 7. Originalowner (ifknown) 20man Catholic Ch ur' c h

Originaluse Chllrch
\
/
Subsequentuses (ifany) and dates

8. Themes (checkas many as applicable)

Aboriginal Conservation Recreation

Agricultural Education )( Religion x
Architectural x Exploration! Science!
The Arts settlement invention
Commerce Industry Social/
Communication Military humanitarian x
Community development x Political Transportation

9. Historicalsignificance
(includeexplanationofthemes checked above)
St. Mary's Pari~h was established in 1870 due to the increasing number
of parishioners at I~maculate Conception Church. St. ~ary's was
built in the French-speakin~ section of the city, and served the
french-Catholic population. By 1910, there were h,eoo members of this
church.
Father Gouesse was responsible for the establishment of St. Mary's
Church and parochial school, and was appointed first pastor of the
parish. He was succeeded by Rec. Octaree LePine. Rev. J.2. llumontie
followed, initiatin~ construction of St. Ann's Academy.

Prior to 191h, the lower portion of St. Mary's Church and St. Ann's
Academy (next door) were being used temporarily by St. Anthony's
Farochial S~hool. In 1894, the new school building was erected.
This wooden buildin~ contained eight classrooms, and served the
community until 1954 when a new structure replaced the old wooden one.
~hen the basement of the church became vacant, it was used as a
chapel wi th altar and a selection of st a t ue s , Rev. J. Louis Levesque
)1919-1933) built a new rectory C3-story brick). It still houses
, the priests of the parish.
Rev. Lariviere (1933-1953) took the responsibility of resurfacin~
the exterior of the church with brick, strengthening the foundation
and redecorating the interior. Under the administration of Rev.
Alfred R. Julien, a new parochial school was built with a spacious
auditorium. A lower church was added and the upper church was
completely renovated at the cost of $100,000.

10. Bibliographyand/or references(suchas localhistories,deeds, assessor'srecords,

early maps, etc.)
Historical Reminiscenses of Marlborough. Ella Bigelow,1910 Marlboroug}

St. Mary's Church Centennial Book. 1970 (Marlboro Public Library)

INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Mary's Church

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 D 96

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

The presence in Marlborough of three Roman Catholic parishes, (see also Forms #98 and 158
[Immaculate Conception and St. Ann's Churches]), attests to the large size of the Catholic
population ofthe city. The Parish ofthe Immaculate Conception, the first to be established in 1864,
reflected the coming of the first major wave of immigrants, the Irish. They, like their successors,
came to work in Marlborough's industries, especially the manufacturing of boots and shoes, which
were rapidly expanding at mid-century just after the building of the railroads.

St. Mary's was established as the second Catholic parish in Marlborough in 1870, and its formation
is indicative, not only of another period of industrial expansion after the Civil War, but of the influx
of a new immigrant group, the French Canadians. From the start, St. Mary's accommodated the
needs of Marlborough's French-speaking population. For many years French was the primary
language spoken at the church, and all the pastors until 1953 were born in Quebec, (save the first,
who was a native of Belgium.)

The first mass in the newly-established St. Mary's Parish was said by the founder of the parish, the
Rev. Francis Gouesse, in the spring of 1870 in what was to become the first rectory, the house of
Ambrose Vigeant on Broad Street. Subsequent services were held in the old Forest Hall at the
corner of Lincoln and Wnthrop Streets, until the new church was ready in June of 1871. Father
Gouesse served for only two years, and was succeeded by Father Octave Lepine (1872-1878), and
then the Rev. Joseph Zephirin Dumontier (1878-1899.)

The first parochial school in Marlborough opened in 1888 in the lower story of the church under
Father Dumontier. It is unclear exactly when the name of the school, which reached an enrollment
of 500 by 1895, became St. Anthony's. The Rev. Dumontier brought in the Sisters of St. Anne to
teach the children, establishing St. Anne's Convent at the same time. (See Form #95, "St. Anne's
Academy.") He had a mansard-roofed building constructed for the school northwest of the church
in 1894. That same year, the convent was enlarged, and became St. Anne's Academy, a boarding
and day-school for girls that soon gained an international reputation ..

St. Anthony's, which underwent a name change to St. Mary's Parochial School with the replacement
of the old building in 1954, closed in 1970. It is today used as a parish hall and CCD center. St.
Anne's, which was greatly expanded in the 1920's and eventually grew into a major boarding school
of nearly 400 students, closed in 1972. It was subsequently converted to elderly and low-income
housing.

BIBLIOGRAPHY, cont.
Maps and atlases: Walling, 1871; Beers, 1875; Bailey & Hazen, 1878; Walker, 1889; Sanborn maps.
Centennial Anniversary of St. MaIY's Parish. 1970.
Centennial '90: Marlborough the City. 1990.
Marlborough Directories.
(See also 1979 inventory form.)

[X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Mary's Church

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 D 96

Additional information by Anne Forbes, consultant to Marlborough Historical Commission,

3/31/94:

ASSESSOR'S # 80-68; 1.4 acres

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION, cont.

Over the years, this church, which was built in 1870-71 as a wood-frame, gable-roofed structure with
a tall four-stage steeple, has taken on several different guises. In spite of its present appearance as
a twentieth-century brick and stucco building, the general massing, two-story arrangement, roof pitch,
and number of window bays along the sides remains from the original church.

The first steeple was positioned atop a square tower that abutted the center of the facade, with a
projecting facade bay on either side of it. In an early renovation, the main roof was brought forward
over the facade bays to create a flat facade and hip-front roof, and a high stairway was built up to
the main center entry. After the building was extensively damaged in the 1938 hurricane, the outside
was sheathed in brick, and a gabled slate-roofed narthex was added at the east end, bringing the
front of the building closer to the street. At the same time the tower was redesigned to two square
stages, with a short, slender steeple above. At the same time each front comer of the nave was
embellished with an octagonal turret. Both the tower and upper turrets are covered with stucco, and
most of the trim, including the surrounds of the two pointed-arched entry doors, is concrete.

Seven narrow leaded, colored-glass windows of pictorial and abstract designs light the sides of the
main sanctuary. They are set into molded wood surrounds, with splayed-brick and concrete
voussoirs. Below them, along the sides of the first-floor 'flower church", are three-part rectangular
colored-glass windows. An outside stairway leads to a door in the sanctuary toward the rear of the
north side. A similar entry on the south side is altered; that on the north retains its shed-roofed
canopy on square, braced posts. At the rear of the church, nearly touching the rectory to the south,
is a one-story cross-gabled section with a tall south chimney.

The two main facade entries have double-leaf, vertical-board doors, each with a sma1l4-pane window
in the upper section. Above each door is a wood-mullioned, pointed-arched wooden transom. The
foundation, rebuilt after the 1938 hurricane, is concrete; all the roof except that in the narthex is
asphalt shingle.

A large Second-Empire wood-frame rectory was built next to the south wall of the church in the
early 1870's. It was replaced in the late 1920's by the present Federal Revival brick house, situated
farther back, parallel to the rear of the church. (See Form #159.) The 1954 St. Mary's School, just
north ofthe church, replaced St. Anthony'S School, a parochial school for boys that was built in 1894,
also in the Second Empire style.

In 1959-60, the lower story of the church was again renovated, to house a new "lower church".
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough St. Mary's Church

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 021.1.6 D 96
Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough 26 Broad Street
St. Mary's Church

Area(s) Form No(s).

D __ 96__

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[ ] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[x] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [x] C [] D

Criteria Considerations: [x] A [] B [] C [] D [] E [] F [] G

Statement of Significance by Forbes! Schuler

The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

St. Mary's Church meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of a three building
district of the parish property. The importance of St. Mary's is tied to the social history of
Marlborough in that the Parish, the second Catholic parish in Marlborough, was established in
1870 in direct response to the significant French Canadian immigrants who came to work in the
shoe factories following the Civil War. The Church building of 1870-1871 was substantially
altered following the 1938 hurricane. The new brick facade, the gabled narthex, and the
redesigned tower reflect the architecture of the Rectory and of the period of the 19s-1930's.
The district retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association.
 FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
l l

Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street
I 81-21 I I Marlborough I I B I 141

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Town Marlborough
..~
Place (neighborhood or village) "West End"

West Main Street Area

Address 9 Broad Street

Historic Name Rev Horatio Alger, Sr House

. Uses: Present Dwelling

Original Dwelling

: Date of Construction ca 1845

Source Maps; style; Gardner

Style/Form Greek Revival

~lArchitect/Builder lI_n_k_n_OWD _

Exterior Material:

.>ketch Map Foundation dressed granite

Draw a map of the area indicating properties within
it. Number each property for which individual WaUffrim S¥"tbetic siding
inventory forms have been completed. Label streets,
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof asphalt shingle
sheet if space is not sufficient here. Indicate north.
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures _

shed

Major Alterations (with dates} _

Bear ell added, attached carriage house

N removed after 1896
Condition go•.•.
o•.•.
d _

Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date N/A j

Acreage Jess than one acre

Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting picket-fenced cornet lot , with mid-

.Jrganization for Marlboro Hist Camm 19th-C double-hollse to north Sf Anne's

Date 2125194 Academy across Broad

BUILDING FORM

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings
within the community.

In spite of its synthetic siding, the Alger House is an excellent illustration of a 2 lI2-story, center-
hall-entry three-bay Greek Revival house of the 1840's. Its south gable end is pedimented, and two
chimneys pierce the main roof, one on the ridge, and the other just in front of it. A three-bay, 11/2-
story ell abuts the north end of the house. In spite of its change in siding, the building retains nearly
all its Greek Revival features, including recessed-paneled comer pilasters, a wide frieze board with (
architrave molding, and a deep boxed cornice. The windows are 6-over-6-sash with flat surrounds;
those flanking the main entry have the long proportions typical of the Greek Revival period. Both t
facade entries display rare examples in Marlborough of the classic Greek Revival door with two long
recessed and molded vertical panels. The main entry has full-length sidelights and a flat-roofed
canopy supported on a pair of fluted Doric columns.

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE pq see continuation sheet

Explain 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.
)
Although it is not known for certain whether this house had an earlier owner, it is most significant
as the residence of the fourth minister of the West (Unitarian) Church, the Rev. Horatio Alger, Sr.
(See Form #74). Still remembered as an outspoken fighter for the abolitionist cause during the
turbulent years before the Civil War, he served as minister from 1845 to 1859, at which time he was
dismissed from the church, and moved to a post at the First Unitarian Church in Natick. A highly-
respected man even outside his calling, the Rev. Alger was extremely active on behalf of his
community. He was the primary organizer of the Shenstone Society, a village-improvement group
formed in 1853 for the purpose of beautifying and landscaping the rapidly-growing "west end". (See
Area Form C: "West Village.") Members ofthe society planted shrubs and shade trees every spring
for over twenty years, and put out a newsletter, The Shenstone Laurel, first edited by the Rev. Alger.
He was also an officer of the Marlborough Savings Bank, a member of the School Committee, and
chaired the town's 200th anniversary celebration of 1860. From 1858 to 1859 he also served a term
as a state representative, where, because of his earlier experience as a delegate from Chelsea, he was
designated Patriarch of the Mass. House of Representatives.

In addition, this house is regionally and nationally significant for its connection with the minister's
son, Horatio Alger, Jr (1832-1899), who spent most of his teen-age years here, periodically returning
while at college to earn money as a caretaker and teacher in the Marlborough district schools. He
was one of the most popular American authors of the last three decades of the nineteenth century,
and bas been called the most socially influential American writer of his generation. The genre be
developed was the juvenile novel for and about boys, in which he preached that honesty,
perseverance, cleanliness and hard work could raise a boy from poverty to respectability and success.
After the phenomenal popularity of his best known work, the 1867-68 Ragged Dick, he went on to
write over 100 more books in the same vein, and the "Alger hero" soon became a household word.
(Cont.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [X] see continuation sheet

Bigelow, Ella. Historical Reminiscences of the Early Times in Marlborough. 1910.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1988.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Marlborough. 1862.
Centennial. '90: Marlborough the City. 1990. (Cont.)

[ X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property

Marlborough Alger House

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area(s) Form No.
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 B 141

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

Although in his novels Alger exerted considerable influence on American youth, he also took more
direct action on the part of social causes. He was a benefactor and hero to the boys in charitable
institutions in New York City, and late in life, though a bachelor, he even adopted three street boys.
His 1871 book, Phil, the Fiddler. which exposed the vicious "padrone", or underground contract-labor
system that threatened the lives of many New York street boys, raised popular support for the 1874
New York state law for the prevention of cruelty to children, the first such legislation in the country.

As a boy in Marlborough, Alger attended the Gates Academy. At the age of 16 he went on to Harvard
College, and, later, Harvard Divinity School. Except for his college and divinity school vacation time,
he did not return to live in Marlborough as an adult. He tutored briefly in Cambridge, took a post as
a Unitarian minister in Brewster, and eventually settled in New York City. He lived his last years in
failing health in Natick, at the home of his sister, Olive Augusta, (Mrs. Amos Cheney). Mrs. Cheney,
who also spent much of her youth here and taught in the district schools, was a life-long fighter for
temperance and women's suffrage, and, though much less well-known than her brother, was a popular
author in her own right.

Sometime after the Algers left Marlborough, the house was acquired, though apparently not lived in,
by Adolphus Parmenter, a prominent figure in Marlborough who had served briefly as postmaster. It
may have been during his ownership that it was the home of Charles and Adelaide Bigelow Witherbee.

By the early 1880's the house was the home of Michael B. Mullaney and his family. Michael Mullaney
was a foreman in the finishing department of the Russell & Alley shoe factory at the comer of
Winthrop and Lincoln Streets. He died in about 1888, and the house fell to his widow, Mrs. Mary
Mullaney, a milliner. After the tum of the century, city directories list another family member, Patrick
Mullaney, a shoe worker, (probably their son.) as living here, as well.

BIBLIOGRAPHY, cont.
Maps and Atlases: Walling: 1853, 1875, 1871; Beers: 1875; Bailey & Hazen: 1878; Walker: 1889;
Sanborns.
Marlborough directories and tax valuations.

Biographies and analyses on Horatio Alger, Jr.:

NOTE: Because most of the widely available work on Horatio Alger, Jr. has been based at least partly
on Herbert Mayes' fanciful 1928 Alger: a Biography without a Hero, much caution should be used in
discerning what is fact and what is fiction in these books about his life:

Alger, Horatio, Jr. Ragged Dick. and Mark, the Match Boy. Introduction by Rychard Fink, "Horatio
Alger as a Social Philosopher." New York: Macmillan, 1962.
Gardner, Ralph D. Horatio Alger, or the American Hero Era. New York: Arco Publishing Co., 1978.
Mayes, Herbert R. Alger: a Biography without a Hero. Des Plaines, II: Gilbert Westgard, 1978.
(The spurious 1928 biography, with a 1978 introduction by the author, and afterword by Jack Bales.)
Tebbel, John. From Rags to Riches: Horatio Alger and the American Dream. New York: Macmillan,
1963.
Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough 9 Broad Street

Area(s) Form No(s).

B ~~--
141

National Register of Historic Places. Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[x] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[ ] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [x] B [x] C [] D

Criteria Considerations: []A []B []C []D []E []F []G

Statement of Significance by _F_or_b_e_s~/_S_c_h_u_le_r _

The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

The Reverend Horatio Alger, Sr. House meets Criteria At Band C of the National Register. The
dwelling is associated with the development of the social history of Marlborough as the home of
the fourth minister of the West (Unitarian) Church. It is also important for its association with
Horatio Alger, Jr., nationally-known author, who spent most of his teen-age years here. The Alger
House is an excellent illustration of a Greek Revival house of the 1840s, which in spite of the
synthetic siding retains Greek Revival detail throughout. The property retains integrity of location,
design setting, workmanship, feeling, and association.
 FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Massachusetts Historical Commission I 80-68 II Marlborough II D I 159
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Town Ma r1bofOlIgb

Place (neighborhood or village) _

French Hill

Address ?6 Broad Street

Historic Name St Mary's Rectory

Uses: Present priest's dwel1ing

Original Priest's dwelling

Date of Construction _~la~t_e~1~9~2_0'~s _

Source Maps; style; Centennial Anniversary

Style/Form Federal Revival

Architect/Builder uD_k_D_o_\,,_'D _

Exterior Material:

Sketch Map Foundation brick

Draw a map of the area indicating properties within
it. Number each property for which. individual Wallffrim brick
inventory [orms have been completed. Label streets,
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof slate
sheet if space is not sufficient here. Indicate north.
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures _

St Mary's Cbmch and 3-car garage aD same

~ property
)9/' - '\0°0 Major Alterations (with datest...sxcau: _

~ O~ 9--
~~~ ~~,'}m
~- '0\-<.,0 N
~ {3./( 0- Condition excellent
~ -\)X.J' "...,j '--

Moved (X] no [ ] yes Date _~N_T/~A~

__

Acreage 1 4 acres

Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting Back from street, adjacent to St

Organization for 1:1arlboro Hist Comm Mary's Cbmch SpDlce-lined drive to S . St

Anne's Academy to rear. Lawn in front with
Date 205/94 statlJe of \Tiro-in'
o . Dlbble retainiDoD wall at front
BUILDING FORM

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings
within the community.

S10Mary's Rectory is one of the best examples in Marlborough of a brick Federal Revival residence
of the early modern period. It is a two-story, five- by seven-bay hip-roofed house with a two-story
rear wing. Hip-roofed dormers project from the front and side roof planes; the one over the facade
has an elaborate round-arched panel over a tripartite window.

Most of the 1-over-1-sash in the house appears to be original. Consistent with the Federal Revival
..I
style, the windows have granite sills and splayed, keystoned granite and brick lintels. The main,
central entry on the facade has a similar lintel over a glassed door with divided sidelights and J
transom. It is fronted by a formal portico on 2/3-height, unfluted double and triple Ionic columns,
which support a dentilated cornice and a square-dowel balustraded balcony. Opening onto the
balcony directly above the main door is another glassed, sidelighted door, with a molded granite
lintel. A granite staircase leads from the main entry to a walk on the front lawn.

The architectural trim here includes a compound-molded cornice with dentils and modillions. The
roof is embellished with crosses, and large finials of copper or bronze.

)
)
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [ ] see continuation sheet
Explain 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.

This building was constructed to replace the original wood-frame, Second-Empire St. Mary's Rectory
of the early 1870's, which stood farther forward on the property, adjacent to the front of the church.
This new rectory built under the Rev. J. Louis M. Levesque, who served as priest of St. Mary's Parish
from 1919 to 1933. In 1930 the parish celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, and in 1932 it honored
Father Levesque on the occasion of his own Golden Jubilee. The new rectory may have been
constructed in connection with those celebrations.

In addition to its function as the priest's residence, the rectory also houses the church offices, and
has a meeting hall in the basement for the Boy Scouts and other organizations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Maps and Atlases: Sanborns from 1929.
Marlborough Directories.
Centennial Anniversary of St. Mary's Parish. Marlboro. 1970.
Centennial '90: Marlborough the City. 1990.

[ X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough 26 Broad Street
St. Mary's Rectory

Area(s) Form No(s).

D __ 15_9__

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[ ] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[x] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district

Criteria: [x] A [J B [x] C [] D

Criteria Considerations: [xJ A [] B [] C [] D [] E [] F [] G

Statement of Significance by Forbes I Schuler

The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

St. Mary's Rectory meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of a three building
district of the parish property. The importance of St. Mary's is tied to the social history of
Marlborough in that the Parish, the second Catholic parish in Marlborough, was established in
direct response to the significant French Canadian immigrants who came to work in the shoe
factories following the Civil War. The Rectory is a fine example of a brick Federal Revival,
built in the late 1920s to replace an earlier wood-frame rectory. The district retains integrity of
location, design. setting. materials. workmanship, feeling. and association.