This page displays the First Period, Georgian, and early Federal houses In Haverhill, Massachusetts. Included are the Rocks Village Historic District and the Bradford Common Historic District. The former town center of Bradford was annexed by Haverhill in 1897, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The images, and text were provided by the Haverhill Historical Commission in the 1980’s, and are online through the Massachusetts Historical Commission site (MACRIS). Photos are displayed alphabetically in order of street name, and some house numbers may have changed. Most dates of construction shown on this page were based on local tradition and should be considered unreliable.
To request or add information, please contact Gordon Harris at historicipswich@gmail.com. Visit the About page to request additional research, a PDF report and creation of a page about your house on this site.
On the houses shown below, click on the HVR link to view the house at the MACRIS site, and click on the INV link to download a PDF file about the house, produced by the city’s Historical Commission.
The oldest portion of the 2 1⁄2-story Hastings-Morse house, its central chimney and right-side rooms, were probably built c. 1706 by a man named Hastings. Left-side rooms and a partial lean-to section on the back of the house were added during the 18th century. The house underwent a major restoration in the late 1957, which included raising the roof on the lean-to section. Another 20th-century addition is the sunroom on the left (west) side of the house. Evidence of the building’s First Period origins is still visible in the right front room. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Hazen-Spiller House is a historic late First Period house built c. 1724 by Richard Hazen, It is a rare example of a brick house of the time, and notable for its role in early 20th century restoration activities. The 2 1⁄2-story building is made of brick laid in English bond, with end chimneys and a central hall layout. The house was acquired in 1911 by early preservationist William Taylor, who took notes detailing the buildings First Period features. In 1915 Taylor sold the house to Wallace Nutting, who undertook a “restoration” that covered over some of those features and may have destroyed others. The house was one of a series owned by Nutting and showcased in a guidebook, Chain of Picture Houses, he used to popularized colonial styles. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
In 1740-50 this ordinary was kept by Joseph Silloway, a disabled soldier of the Expedition for the reduction of Canada in 1775.
17th & 18th Century houses of Essex County, Massachusetts 