25 Summit Street

1913 Ella S. Sherman and other Lawrence heirs sold Lots 72 through 75 and parts of Lots 76 through 78 of the Lawrence Estates to Fred L. Butman in 1913 (MLR 3853/430). These were all the lots along the north side of Summit Street from (and including) the lot for 25 Summit Street all the way to present day Tomlin Street. No buildings were mentioned in the deed, and none were shown on the 1911 Waltham Engineer's map. The deed mentioned that Tomlin Street was recently laid out by the city, and that there was a stone wall along the northern border of this deeded land. This stone wall marked the southernmost Squadron Line of the 1636 Great Dividend land grants, the original colonial land grants to individuals within what became Waltham. This stone wall is shown on maps of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and a remnant of it can still be seen from Galen Street at the back of the lot of 35 Summit Street. Another remnant stone wall marking this boundary line can be seen crossing the Ridge Trail in Prospect Hill Park between Big Prospect and Little Prospect peaks. On maps, these two remnants line up along the same straight line.

1914 Fred L. Butman subdivided his land in 1914 (Plan Book 221, Plan 1) and then, in May of that year, sold off Lot A, the lot for 25 Summit Street, to Rufus W. and Linnie Rogers (MLR 3885/295). The deed did not say there were already buildings on the property, but it did specify that no building could be built within 30 feet of the street. From city directories and annual listings of voters, it appears that Rufus Rogers was a carpenter who lived on Irving Street from 1912 to at least 1917. In October of 1914, the Rogers sold the lot "with buildings" to Nellie Lefevre (MLR 3923/266), and Jude E. LeFevre was listed in the city directory at 25 Summit Street for the first time in 1915. Therefore, it appears that the house at 25 Summit Street was built by Rufus Rogers in 1914 and first lived in by the Jude and Nellie LeFevre the same year. Jude LeFevre worked at the watch factory.

1919 In 1919, Nellie LeFevre sold the house to Annie I. Hersey (MLR 4298/546). Annie's husband, George W. Hersey, was a professional photographer. The Herseys and their daughter and son-in-law, Ethel and Fredrick Furbish, lived there into the 1940s. Fred Furbish was an automobile engineer.

1948 Ethel Furbish, having inherited the house from Annie I. Hersey, sold it to Francis P. and Jean Carmel in 1948 (MLR 7348/275). Francis Carmel was an auto body repairman, and the Carmels lived here until 1957.

1957 In 1957, the Carmels sold the house to Joseph F. Russo, and the Russo family lived here and owned the house into the 2000s Joseph Russo was also an auto body repairman.