Hardwick House
Why it's listed
Located at 59-61 Spear Street in Quincy, this clapboard house was probably built in the 1850s by Franklin Hardwick, who owned it from 1857 until 1897, apart from a spell in the 1870s when his brother Charles Henry Hardwick held it. The brothers ran C.H. Hardwick and Company, granite contractors with a wharf on Canal Street and offices in Boston. The house was built as a single-family home and is now a two-family dwelling. It is considered one of the largest and finest Greek Revival houses in Quincy. Its long, low massing resembles a Federal house, but it has a banded cornice board wrapped around the building, closed-end gables, corner pilasters, stylized pediments over the ground-floor windows, and a flat-entablature entrance with full-length sidelights. It rests on a granite foundation. A granite retaining wall with granite posts fronts the property, and a 1920s frame garage stands at the rear. The house was listed for its architecture and its tie to the granite industry.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it one of Quincy's best-preserved and largest Greek Revival residences, with integrity of location, design, materials, feeling and association. It is also linked to Quincy's 19th-century granite industry through its builder-owner, a granite contractor. It is argued to meet Criteria A and C at the local level.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 89001376, listed September 20, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 59--61 Spear St., Quincy |
|---|---|
| County | Norfolk County |
| Listed | September 20, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001376 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Probably built by Franklin Hardwick; architect unknown |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is described as good; present use is a two-family dwelling, with a 1920s non-contributing frame garage at the rear. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.25173, -71.00048 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 89001376.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5656465
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.