We are thrilled to share some exciting news from Barrett Planning Group! With the recent addition of Jennifer Doherty, Preservation Planner to our team, we have begun offering a range of Historic Preservation services. What better way to kick things off than by partnering with the Town of Lee, Massachusetts, on an historic resources survey project. Thanks to Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds, this project will focus on Lee’s Little Italy neighborhood. Located south of Lee’s historic downtown, Little Italy was settled in the early twentieth century by Italian immigrants coming to work at a nearby marble quarry.
Southern Berkshire County had several active quarries during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Marble quarries in Lee contributed stone to prominent buildings around the country, including the Washington Monument, the U.S. Capitol, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The quarries attracted Italian immigrants who had worked with stone in their native land.
As in many Massachusetts communities, the Lee Historical Commission began documenting the Town’s historic resources on Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) inventory forms in the 1960s. Lee’s initial survey efforts were “wide but shallow” – major historic resources such as public buildings and the Town’s oldest and best-preserved buildings were documented, but often with very little information about the role of the historic resource in the community. Early researchers also lacked the easy access to documentary records that the Internet provides researchers today.
More recently, the Lee Historical Commission has been revisiting its previous survey. Barrett Planning Group’s work in the Little Italy neighborhood represents a second phase of this effort. Currently, the area has almost no inventory forms on record. The neighborhood features a mix of single- and multi-family houses, many of which have undergone maintenance-related changes such as replacement siding and windows. However, due to minimal infill development, the area reflects its historic early-twentieth-century character. Conversations with residents also revealed the loss of at least two small neighborhood stores, further highlighting the importance of documenting the area’s history.
Barrett Planning Group will prepare new Massachusetts Historical Commission inventory forms for the Little Italy area, with a focus on the residents who made the neighborhood a community. We will also review resources for potential listing in the National Register of Historic Places so the Lee Historical Commission can make well-informed decisions about protection options in the future. This project is an exciting step toward preserving the unique character of Lee and we are delighted to be part of it.
If your community could benefit from our expertise in preservation planning, please contact Jenn Doherty, jenn@barrettplanningllc.com.