Lynnfield, MA
February 22, 2017
Marblehead, MA
February 22, 2017
Manchester was first settled by Europeans in 1629 and was officially incorporated in 1645. It was formed out of territory taken from Salem (that portion since given to Beverly) and Gloucester.
The community thrived primarily as a fishing community for over 200 years. Its economy shifted to that of a Bostonarea summer colony starting in 1845, when Richard Dana, a Boston-based poet, built a house in the town. Over the next fifty years, development of summer houses along the coastline established the community as Boston society’s community of choice for summer residency. The trend continued with designs by other notable architects, such as “Sunny Waters”, designed by John Hubbard Sturgis for his older brother, Russell, in 1862.
The most famous of these “summer cottages” was Kragsyde, built on Smith’s Point in 1883 and demolished in 1929. Commissioned by George Nixon Black, the Peabody and Stearns-designed residence has been hailed as the zenith of the Shingle style substyle of the Queen Anne style of architecture.
