467 Commercial St

Historic District Survey information for 467 Commercial St

Architectural Description: Connected to 465 Commercial Street; 467 Commercial St. is a 2-1/2-story, 3-bay Greek Revival-style commercial building; gable-front roof is sheathed in asphalt shingles, partial cornice returns, interior brick chimney on rear roof slope; exterior is clad in clapboard siding with wood trim; building sits on a brick foundation; fenestration includes 2/1 and 6/6 wood DHS, storefront windows are modern single-pane vinyl; recessed entrance is accessed by paired pane-and-panel wood doors with a single-pane transom; 3-bay-wide shed addition to the side facade has a false-front parapet clad in clapboard siding; 1st-floor eave; flat-roof open porch on east facade is supported by square posts; side entrance is accessed by a multi-pane modern door with single-pane transom flanked by plate glass windows.

Historical Narrative: As per Mary Avellar (1976): "The building was owned by Parker and Cook for 150 years. If was a chandlers shop serving the whaling fleet. The sills are made of cedar and one sill is 52 feet long. It was also the {p-] of the old salt works. The house contains a salt work pipe. The upper floor was a bakery at the turn of the century. The marble slat is still in place. In 1837 the stove was documented. In 1876 it was the oldest fishing and whaling business in Provincetown. There is a Federal document to collaborate this fact. In 1868, the Provincetown assessors list this store as a West Indies goods store. In 1860 the Cook family formed the Eastern Marine Railway Company. They built a wharf directly behind the store. The wharf was 1200 feet long. It contained a number of building containing warehouses. At the end of the wharf was an eight-sided building, which was a shop to the Marine Railway and vessels. The remains of the Railway are visible at extreme low tide including closely [ ] and cut granite chunks. period 1860-1880 when the fishing business was at an all time high. As per Tom Boland (1995): " Numbers 463 and 465 Commercial are listed in the 1858 atlas as being the E. & E.F. Cook Store and S. Bangs Sail loft respectively. It is also shown that, at that time, a wharf was attached to the property although it may have existed earlier. In 1880, the entire property was owned by S. Bangs but the grocery store here was known as the S.G. Cook Store. By 1907, the property was under the ownership of Messrs. David C. Stull, M. Silva and W.C. Snow who called it the Consolidated Weir Company (later know as the Atlantic Coast Fisheries). Mr. Stull, as noted in the 1901 Directory, specialized in fine lubricating oils made with whale oil as he was a well known trader in ambergris; while Mr. Snow was known as a shipsmith. #463 later became what is reputed as the first nightclub in town in the 1920s known as the Flagship (still the Flagship restaurant). 463A, the rear portion of the building bridging 463 and 465, was moved to its current location from the original wharf in CONT.

Bibliography and/or References: Barnstable County Atlas. Atlas, 1880. Barnstable County Atlas. Atlas, 1907. Cape Cod Directory, 1901. The Extremity of Cape Cod. Map, 1836. H.F. Wallings Co. Map of Provincetown Village. Atlas, 1858. Provincetown Advocate. November 11, 1984. Resident Directory. W.F. Richardson & Co., 1886. Resident Directory. W.H. Hopkins, 1889. Vorse, Mary Heaton. Time and the Town.

Text

Commercial Street (Provincetown, Mass.), Dwellings, and Historic Districts--Massachusetts--Provincetown

 (Mass. Historical Commission Form B)