WARWICK — For 77-year-old Ed Lemon, historic buildings proved to be something that gradually captured his interest. When he lived in Northfield, he admired homes in the Historic District, but also found no shortage of historic buildings to like when he moved to Warwick.
“Warwick, through luck or chance, has quite a number of houses that were built in the 1700s,” Lemon said, sitting before a computer screen filled with noteworthy buildings he has photographed.
So, while working to modernize the Historical Society Museum’s inventory as the society’s curator, Lemon thought, “We have a certain number of houses in Warwick that need to be documented.” The thought birthed a 7-year project, a booklet he plans to call “Historic Houses of Warwick.”
Lemon said that when finished, the booklet will contain photos of and historical information about 30 buildings, all but a few of which are among the 44 buildings included in the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS). The booklet may later have a sequel, he said, as not to leave out the remaining buildings.
Over the past several years, Lemon said he photographed the exterior of all the buildings and the interior of some with permission from current owners. Since Lemon is unable to drive due to his eyesight, he received help from fellow Warwick Historical Society member Calvin Fellows.
“He knew which houses were important and how to get there,” Lemon said of Fellows. “We amassed this enormous number of pictures.”
With help from the society’s Archival Committee — which includes Helen “Liz” Whipple, Fredericka and Calvin Fellows, Martha Morse, Martha Kitchen and Barbara Thurston — Lemon set to compiling brief histories of each building, conducting interviews with current owners and drawing from books like “Warwick, Massachusetts: Biography of a Town” and “Warwick, Massachusetts and its People.” He also found information about the buildings’ architecture, owners and histories of deeds on MACRIS.
By the committee’s next meeting scheduled for Monday, Lemon said a draft of the booklet will be complete, with writing responsibilities having been split among Lemon and other members. After editing, Lemon said he plans to print 100 copies with a goal of selling them at Warwick’s Old Home Days in late August. A $750 grant from the Warwick Cultural Council the Historical Society received in January should cover the printing costs, he said, with all money from booklet sales supporting the Historical Society.
Lemon said part of his motivation for compiling the booklet was to make people aware of the historic buildings in Warwick, and encourage they be preserved and cherished, finding it fascinating that the town still has 200- to 250-year-old structures. Some of the buildings he chose to focus on have faced decay, neglect or have been destroyed by fires, such as the 1779 Stevens House off of Old Winchester Road that burned down in 2012.
But also, he continued, the buildings are unique characters in their own right, with their own interesting stories. For example, the William Lawrence House on Old Winchester Road was built in 1860 by a Civil War soldier, shortly before he died in the First Battle of Bull Run, Lemon said.
With the booklet being so close to print, Lemon said he feels the most difficult part was just getting started.
“It’s a daunting task when you first look at it,” he said. “It’s a lot of information to be collected and put into a readable form … Eventually, you just do it.”
Perhaps it doesn’t hurt, either, that it’s not the Archival Committee’s first experience preparing a booklet. In 2013, the committee printed 100 copies of “A History of Warwick in 15 Objects,” inspired by “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” All physical copies sold out, as Lemon expects “Historic Houses of Warwick” will, too, given an active community.
“The people here are interested in their town,” he said. “They’re interested in its history, its beauty.”
Reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com