Developer demolishes Black Heritage site
Yawu Miller
In its past life, the two-story federal style brick building in
a dark courtyard off Phillips Street served as the home of a prominent
black abolitionist and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Last month, the roof and the second floor of the building were demolished
as a developer began the process of turning the early 1880s home
of John P. Coburn into high-priced housing. The demolition came
as a shock to preservationists who have long heralded the stop as
one of 14 on Beacon Hill’s Black Heritage Trail.
Coburn, who was born in Boston, helped found the country’s
first all-black military company, the Massasoit Guard.
“The John P. Coburn House is an essential site on the Black
Heritage Trail,” said Beverly Morgan-Welch, executive director
of the Museum of Afro-American History. “There are few places
in the entire country where such a coherent and powerful story unfolds
in the historic structures built, owned and lived in by African
Americans.”
Developer Eric Stevens told reporters last week that the building
was not salvageable. Although he reportedly applied for a permit
for renovations to the building, Stevens says he began the demolition
after he found that the building was structurally unsound.
Because Stevens obtained a permit for renovations, and not demolition,
the city’s Inspectional Services Division ordered him to stop
the demolition. But because the building — which is accessible
through a narrow alley — is not visible from a public way,
Steven’s renovation is not subject to review from the Beacon
Hill Architectural Commission.
That means Stevens is under no legal obligation to preserve the
Coburn House or re-build the structure to historical specifications.
Erin Kelly, a preservation advocate with Preservation Massachusetts,
said the building was nominated one of the ten most endangered sites
in Boston.
“The significance we saw was two-fold,” Kelly said.
“John Coburn was a very significant figure on Beacon Hill
during the 19th century. And the building was one of the few that
was representative of architecture in the early 19th century. It
was a surviving example of early federal style on Beacon Hill.”
A worker at the site of the Coburn house said the building was likely
erected by ship builders in the early 19th century. The worker said
an elderly woman had lived in the building until approximately two
years ago.
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