In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded half by the Sippican Historical Society and 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 317 Front Street. The building at 317 Front Street is an early example of the Greek Revival style in Marion, probably built in the 1830s. The 1855 Marion map shows that this home belonged to Peleg Blankinship and, by 1879, to Pardon Tripp, a master mariner. By 1903, this house was the summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin F. Besse of New York. The Besses lived here until 1910.
