Lincoln Estate - Elm Park Historic District

The Lincoln Estate - Elm Park Historic district is an extensive residential area which contains a large number of architect-designed houses, including many of Worcester's best examples of Victorian and early twentieth-century styles. Having enjoyed nearly continuous popularity as an upper-class neighborhood from the late 1840s until the 1930s, the area has many house associated with Worcester's most prominent businessmen, lawyers and industrialists.

Initial development in the area resulted both from a boom in Worcester's population during the 1840s and the efforts of governor Levi Lincoln who, in the 1830s, had inherited extensive property along Elm Street. The earliest construction in this general area occurred slightly outside the present district boundaries on Elm Street, where Lincoln built a temporary house for himself in 1834. This he replaced with a large mansion in 1836 (now relocated at Old Sturbridge village). Around 1847-1848 Lincoln built at least four side hall, Greek Revival houses on Elm Street west of his mansion. Originally located outside of the present district bounds, three of these houses were moved into the district in the 1870s when the original lots were built with larger houses. All three were enlarged and redesigned by local architects, but each retains much of its Greek Revival design.

Although Lincoln remained active in the area's development until his death in the late 1860s, most of his efforts were concentrated around Elm Street, leaving large undeveloped parcels along Fruit, William and Sever Streets, which would be more actively developed by Lincoln's heirs in the 1880s and 1890s.

From the mid-1850s until the 1870s, building was concentrated along Cedar Street, east of West Street, where houses such as William A. William's early second Empire style house (26 Cedar Street) represent the most advanced taste of the period. Although many of the buildings of the period were replaced with larger houses in the early twentieth century, important examples of Second Empire and Italiante styles remain at 15 and 20 Cedar Street and at 54 West Street.

After 1869, lots west of West Street were divided between Levi Lincoln's sons, William S., Daniel W., and Edward W. of whom William and Edward took the most active role in the area's development. At Daniel's death in the early 1880s, his property was inherited by his daughter, Frances Merrick Lincoln, who built a large number of architect-designed houses around Fruit Street in the 1880s and around Sever Street in the 1890s. Although Frances Lincoln made use of out-of-town architects (E.C. Gardner of Springfield and W>R> Emerson of Boston), the largest number of of houses in the area were designed by local firms, particularly by Stephen Earle, Barker and Nourse, and Fuller & Delano.

In addition to houses built on speculation by the Lincoln family, building lots continued to be sold to increasingly wealthier businessmen and manufacturers. Of the houses built on these lots, the most distinguished are the john Putnam House (23 Fruit Street), a superb example of stick style architecture; The Charles Davis House (30 Fruit Street) and the Ann Cotton House (41 Cedar Street). In the mid-1880s lower Cedar Street (between Russell and Sever Streets) was opened and quickly built up on its north side with an impressive group of Shingle style and Queen Anne style houses (54 - 62 Cedar Street).

In the late 1880s and early 1890s, all remaining lots on Cedar Street were developed. Among the most impressive of the period is "Burns Folly" (65 Cedar Street), a "chateauesque" and Queen Anne style house, which reputedly cost $30,000 to build in 1893. According to local tradition, the expense of building 65 Cedar Street nearly ruined its owner (William Burns, an underwear manufacturer) who was forced to sell it soon after completion. In apparent contradiction to this tradition, Burns built 57 Cedar Street, an elaborate Colonial Revival style house in 1895.

By the mid-1890s, nearly all lots in the district contained houses, leaving only the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds undeveloped. Bounded by Russell, highland and Sever Streets, and by the back lots of Cedar Street, the Fair Grounds had been bought by the Worcester Agricultural Society. The speed with which lots had been sold on lower Cedar Street encouraged the society to sell its land to a real estate development company which laid out lower William Street around 1899 - 1900. However, concurrent expansion of the city's street railway mad rural areas accessible and undercut the demand for lots in more densely built areas. As a result, the north side of lower William Street was not fully build up until 1912, while the south side of the street retained vacant lots until 1927 - 1929.

Exhibiting the same high architectural quality found elsewhere in the district, lower William Street contains excellent examples of eclectic tastes of the early twentieth century. Particularly distinguished are the Harrower House (#98), the Southgate House (#80) and the Forbes House (#81). While lower William Street was being laid out, extensive rebuilding was carried out at the district's east end, on Cedar and Oak Streets, where three Victorian houses were removed and replaced by the elaborate Colonial Revival style houses of William Inman (7 Oak Street) and Ranson F. Taylor (6 Oak Street) and by the Tudor "period" house of Paul B. Morgan (21 Cedar Street). Since World War II, the Lincoln Estate - Elm Park District has become increasingly institutional in use, particularly east of Sever Street where many buildings now serve as dormitories and classrooms. Despite this change in use, the district retains a residential appearance with few intrusions.

Cedar Street: #15, 19, 20, 21, 26, 28-32, 34, 35, 36, 38-40, 39, 41, 44, 45, 47-49, 48, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56-59, 57, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67

Fruit Street: #23, 30, 37, 38, 40

Oak Street: #2, 6, 7

Sever Street: #30, 36, 38, 41

West Street: #39, 44, 47, 49, 53, 54

William Street: #56, 60, 61, 62-64, 66, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 84, 85, 87, 91, 93, 96,