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 314 Front Street. The Captain Henry Delano House at 314 Front Street presides over a front yard enclosed by a simple mid-19th-century cast-iron fence in the heart of the Old Landing area. This house was built for Captain Henry Delano in 1837. The distinctive attic window also appears on the Reverend Leander Cobb House at 28 South Street and represents the only other residence with this Greek Revival-style window in Marion. This house was owned by Laura J. Gibbs from 1900 until her death on August 12, 1925.
