Mt. Vernon Street Historic District

Mt. Vernon Street in East Somerville holds a compact group of seven buildings, most built by 1855, that together form Somerville's most intact collection of modest Greek Revival houses. The street was platted in 1845 near the Charlestown line and a Boston and Maine Railroad passenger station built in 1835. The railroad brought businessmen and artisans from Boston and Charlestown into the area then called the Neck. Four of the houses are Greek Revival cottages with side-hall plans, three-bay facades and full-length porches on Doric-like columns. Early residents included a Boston marine inspector and a bleachery worker. The group also includes a Federal house that predates the Greek Revival buildings, an Italianate house, and a Second Empire double house with a mansard roof from about 1880, which reflects the later shift toward apartment housing. A 1940s garage is the only non-contributing resource. The buildings have kept their form with little alteration, preserving the feel of the original streetscape.