In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded one-half by the Sippican Historical Society and one-half by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Due to the limits of funding, not all of the historic buildings were surveyed, but over 100 were catalogued and photographed. The results of the survey are in digital form on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website and in four binders in the Sippican Historical Society’s office (and at the Marion Town Clerk’s office).
Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. The Sippican Historical Society will preview one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture.
This installment features 306 Front Street.The dwelling at 306 Front Street is a one-and-one-half-story, cottage-scale Greek Revival residence with Classical elements.Built in the 1840s, this was the residence of the Joseph Blankinship family until 1875.Blankinship was a master mariner and past master of the Pythagorean Lodge.Blankinships had lived in Marion since at least the mid-18th century, intermarrying with the Nyes and living at Charles Neck, later called Converse Point.From the late 1870s until 1910, this house was owned by Charles D. Hall, a carpenter and constable of Marion.Hall’s widow, Henrietta, lived here until 1920.
