The Hatch Homestead and Mill Historic District encompasses two properties associated with the locally prominent Hatch family on Union Street in
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Marshfield is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on Massachusetts's South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore. The population was 25,825 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
It includes the census-designated places ...
. It includes an early Georgian colonial house (dating to the first half of the 18th century), and a 19th-century
water-powered mill, both located on sites that had seen similar use since the 17th century. The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 2009.
Description and history
The Hatch Homestead and Mill are located in northern Marshfield, on the west side of Union Street opposite its junction with Pine Street. Both buildings are set well back from the street. The mill is located down a gravel drive directly opposite Pine Street, while the house is located nearly 1/3 of a mile west of the Union Street, and is now accessed via a drive to the south. To the south of the mill is the site of the mill pond, which was created by damming a stream flowing west to the
North River. The house is located on the south side of the stream, at a distance below the dam.
The mill is a roughly T-shaped wood frame structure, with a heavy timber frame on a fieldstone foundation. It houses an original water-powered driveshaft, which was used to drive an up-and-down saw blade. The building has undergone a number of restorative actions,
[ and is (as of 2016) in another phase of restoration by the town.
The house is a 2-1/2 story timber-frame structure, with a gabled roof and central chimney. Single-story wings extend to either side of the main block. Although this house was traditionally given a construction date of c. 1647, architectural analysis indicates the use of 18th-century construction methods in building it.][ The property was acquired in 1647 by Walter Hatch, who built a house on this property, and was probably responsible for damming the stream and establishing a mill, although none of his buildings are now believed to survive. The house was probably built by Hatch's son or grandson. The Hatch family owned both properties until the 1960s.][ Author ]Sarah Messer
Sarah Messer (born 1966) is an American poet and author. She was raised in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in the Hatch Homestead, a house built in the 17th century that was the subject of her book ''Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New ...
grew up in the house, and featured the house in her book, ''Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England's Oldest Continuously Lived-In House.''
See also
*List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
This article lists the oldest buildings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Massachusetts and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate (indicated with a "") and b ...
*
References
External links
Hatch Mill Restoration
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Georgian architecture in Massachusetts
Houses in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Marshfield, Massachusetts
Historic districts in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts