70 ELM ST
architectural description
NRIND NRMRA
Andover vestibule with blind arch above side windows
basement; earth floor
altered 1790's - 2 vestibules, 20th century change
historical narrative
present owner Ernest and Eleanor Castle Young (1945). Land of Deacon William Lovejoy. Themes - Architectural, Community Development and Transportation.
Although no records are available to show exactly when the house was built, we know Issac Abbot had this house large enough to convert into his inn, 1776. The house was probably built c.a. 1680 (says Goldsmith), on land of Deacon William Lovejoy, whose granddaughter, Phebe Lovejoy Chandler was married to Issac Abbot. Architect LeBoutillier dates the house 1740, stylistically.
Issac Abbot was a school master in 1728, after graduation from Harvard, he served as 2nd Lieutenant in Capt. Benjamin Ames' Company. Col. Frye's regiment was wounded at Bunker Hill. He was also a storekeeper. In 1776 Abbot petitioned General Court "to keep a house of General Entertainment…"complaining of "extraordinary travel which is rendered necessary by means of the Army before Boston" as his house is "near the old stage road. The house near having been closed, I have been subjected to no small inconvenience for the application of passengers for refreshment." So Issac became innkeeper and The Abbot Tavern found its place in history and local legend when George Washington stopped Nov. 5, 1789. Daughter Priscilla Abbot got a kiss on the cheek for mending the First President's riding glove. In 1795, The Issac Abbot Tavern became Andover's first post office. The innkeeper served as postmaster, 1795-1825. After 1788 he was also Selectman, Town Clerk and Clerk of Markets. He was a Deacon at South Church 1794-1825. In 1795, he sold 25 acres of land and his inn to Jonathan Patten Hall of Boston, subject to two mortgages held by Samuel Abbot. 1799, Jonathan Patten Hall deeded property to John Cornish, "tailer" of Boston, who in 1811, estate went Nathaniel West of Lynn. A relative, Capt. Edward West from Salem resided here. In 1848, Nat'l West sold his to his son-in-law, Amos Abbot. After four transfers, Abbot deeded to Samuel Locke of Charlestown in 1861. Land he bought from Abbot stretched from Elm St. to Walnut Ave. and included Wolcott and Carmel Roads. Lockway Road is named for Squire Locke. Since 1941, it has been the residence of Locke's great-grand daughter, Eleanor Castle (Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Young). The building has been altered some over the years, but retains its unusual paneling in the dining room, broad floor boards and overhead beams, which testify to its early age construction. The great central chimney of its Colonial past was torn out to make room for bathrooms on each floor. Its past history as a tavern is evident in chambers on the West side with their panelled partitions held in place by brass bolts which can be removed to make a long ballroom. The tap-room was back of the east parlor. The vestibules on the west and southern exterior are later additions, the small, highly arched windows typical of a local craftsman, who probably executed the arches at The Jonathan Swift House (23 Central St. ) and Rose Cottage, around 1795. Priscilla Abbot married Squire John Kneeland just before she turned 50, and such family connections between the houses would logically lead them to choosing the Andover craftsman to ornament their dwellings.
1988 Pat and George Edmonds
1994 presented certificate of appreciation at Annual Preservation Awards.
bibliography/references
Bailey, Sarah Loring. Historical Sketches of Andover, Mass. , Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1880, p. 401,405.
Downs, Annie S. , "Washington's Kiss" - Congregationalist, Feb. 21, 1895
Fuess, Claude M. , Andover:Symbol of New England, 1959, p. 200-201
Goldsmith, Bessie . "Locke Residence, Formerly Abbot Tavern", Fair and Warner, Oct. 1926
Townsman's Andover. Andover Historical Society 1964
LeBoutillier, Addison. Early Wooden Architecture in Andover, Mass., 1917.
Goldsmith, Bessie. Historical Houses in Andover, Mass. 1946.
Taylor, Rev. John L. Memoir of Judge Samuel Phillips, 1856, pp. 175-79.
Washington, George. Diary, October, 1789 - March 1790.
inventory data
| Place: | Andover Center |
| Historic District: | Individual National Register Listing |
| Address: | 70 elm st |
| Historic Name: | Abbot Tavern; Deacon Isaac Abbot's Tavern |
| Present Use: | residence |
| Original Use: | residence, post office 1795, tavern-inn 1776-95 |
| Date of Construction: | 1680-1776 (ca. 1740 acc. To LeBoutillier) |
| Source: | Goldsmith, Hist. Houses |
| Style/Form: | Federal |
| Architect/Builder: | |
| Foundation: | |
| Wall/Trim: | clapboards |
| Roof: | |
| Outbuildings / Secondary Structures | Fed. Stable at rear |
| Major Alterations: | |
| Condition: | |
| Moved: | |
| Demolished: | |
| Acreage: | less than one acre; 20,580 sq ft.; approximate frontage 133 ft. |
| Setting: | |
| MHC inventory number: | ANV.181 |
| Recorded by: | Stack/Mofford |
| Organization: | Andover Historical Commission |
| Date: | August 1977 |
other historic buildings
- on elm st
- in Individual National Register Listing
- with architectural style Federal
Bancroft Hall moving
