Westwood Road Historic District

Westwood Road and a short stretch of Benton Road in Somerville form a compact residential enclave of about four acres. The land, once used for dairy farming on Spring Hill, was replatted in 1894 by hardware dealer Charles Bradshaw, who built eight of the houses himself and added sewer, water and gas connections. In 1895 he moved mature elms and maples to the street line, a procedure described in 1897 as the first tree-moving in Massachusetts. The district holds 30 buildings, including 21 houses, nine garages and the brick Somerville Historical Society museum, built from 1925 to 1929 to a design by William Dykeman. Most houses are Shingle Style, Queen Anne or Colonial Revival, with original shingles, fieldstone, leaded glass and wrought iron still visible. Early owners were Somerville lawyers, pharmacists and manufacturers. The district was listed for its intact development history and its architecture.