Colburn School-High Street Historic District

Along more than a mile of High Street in Westwood, Massachusetts, a string of houses, schools and civic buildings records the growth of a village once part of Dedham. The district has 41 contributing resources, ranging from the ca. 1710 Kingsbury House to Dutch Colonial and Bungalow houses of 1927. Most are modest two-and-a-half-story dwellings with center entrances or Greek Revival gable fronts, many with attached barns. Institutional landmarks include the 1847 Greek Revival Village School, the 1874 Colburn School with its mansard roof and tower, and the 1910 Classical Revival Town Hall. Elaborate Queen Anne and Shingle Style houses built by the Fisher and French families stand among older farmhouses. One house, the Timothy Smith House, contains murals by itinerant painter Rufus Porter from 1835. The area is tied to families of farmers, merchants, wood dealers and craftsmen, and it may hold archaeological remains of earlier taverns, shops and houses.