41 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 one house lot east of present-day Galen 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.

The city had laid out Tomlin Street as a public way through from Dale Street to Summit Street just prior to this (MLR 3801/414), and took major parts of the Lawrence Lots No. 76 to 78. Butman’s original subdivision plan (Plan Book 221, Plan 1) called for six lots along the north side of Summit Street (numbered A through F), but he then revised his plan and converted the two lots at the western end (E and F) into three lots (numbered 1 through 3). The house at 41 Summit Street was built on what became Lot No. 1; the house at 58 Tomlin Street was built on Lot No. 2; and the house at 50 Tomlin Street was built on Lot No. 3. Originally, Lot No. 1 extended further north, but when Butman sold off 41 Summit Street, he shortened the lot and added the back end of it to the back end of the lot for 50 Tonlin Street.

1914 In 1914, Fred Butman sold Lot E in his subdivision plans (Plan Book 221, Plan 1) to John Durkin (MLR 3861/358). Although nothing was said in the deed about buildings, this was the lot on which 41 Summit Street was built. The first record of someone living at 41 Summit Street was an Ernest Griswold there in the 1916 annual listing of voters, but with an indication he may have been there the year before. Therefore, the house at 41 Summit Street was certainly built by 1916, and perhaps a year or more earlier. Who built it is not clear. John Durkin was a mason living on Caughey Street at the time. Fred Butman, was a real estate developer living on Irving Street at the time, and was responsible for having many of the houses in the immediate area built between around 1890 and 1930. It is possible that Durkin had it built, but more likely that it was Butman. Although Griswold, who was an accountant, was the first person to live in the house, he did not own it and must have been a renter.

1917 Fred Butman bought the house and lot back from Durkin in 1917 (MLR 4132/304). This time, the deed did say “with buildings”. In the annual listing of voters for 1918, both Griswold and Butman are listed for 41 Summit Street, but only Butman in 1919 and 1920. Therefore, it appears that Fred Butman and his wife, Hattie, lived here for at least a couple of years. For many of the houses they had built, the Butmans would live there a year or two and then sell them off.

1920 In 1920, Fred Butman sold the house to Roland W. Averell (MLR 4353/316). It should be noted that, in earlier deeds, the lot of the house is referred to as being bounded on the west by a proposed extension of Irving Street, but it appears that the city had reconfigured the streets and Tomlin Street was extended through, instead. Perhaps this is why Butman revised his subdivision plan, and the lot for 41 Summit Street was now called part of Lot No. 1. This is also when Butman shortened the lot. It does not appear that Averell lived here, since no one was listed here in the 1921 voting list.

1921 Roland Averell sold the house to Laura M. Penn in 1921 (MLR 4423/77). Laura was the daughter of George and Zella Penn, who appeared in the annual listings at 41 Summit Street in 1922. In 1924, Laura deeded the house to her mother (MLR 4736/361). George Penn was a carpenter and had worked at the Bleachery, but retired after moving to Summit Street.

1939 In 1939, George Penn and the administrator of the estate of Zella (Druzilla) Penn sold the house to Catherine Steede (MLR 6270/496). Catherine’s husband, John, was a Waltham fireman, eventually becoming the fire chief while living here. The Steed family continued to live in the house, at least, into the 1970s.