Logee House - Woonsocket, Rhode Island - Pre-Victorian Historic Homes on Waymarking.com

"The Logee house is an early eighteen-century [c.1729] house which has been altered and added to over the years. Its two-story main block, 16-by-34 feet, with gable roof and a massive, central brick chimney is fronted by a two-story early twentieth-century porch. The house is clad in banded shingling of about the same date. At the back of the main block is a single-story ell measuring 18-by-19 feet originally, but extended 6 feet in the twentieth century; a glassed-in back porch has also been added to the ell...

The Logees, a Huguenot family who settled here in 1729, built this house: it is the only well preserved early building in Woonsocket. The family was granted what is still known as Logee Hill from the Massachusetts Bay Colony township of Mendon. Mendon and the Rhode Island town of Providence both claimed territory here on the frontier between the two colonies. The dispute, lasting almost fifty year, became so heated at one point that the towns sent armed bands into the area in hopes of scaring off settlers allied to the opposite camp. When an accord was finally reached, the Logee property was on the Rhode Island side of the border. The house, then, is a direct indicator of the territorial disputes which divided New England colonies well into the eighteenth century.

Architecturally, this is very much a Massachusetts house; the two-room, center-chimney plan is diagnostic. This is an essentially intact example of a rare early building type--an example which has some very intriguing idiosyncrasies. Only recently discovered to be such an early building, the Logee House has never been fully analyzed. It deserves in-depth scholarly investigation.

Other facets of the history of this property give it added interest. In the mid-nineteenth century the house was the center of an extensive farm operated by the Woonsocket Company, owner of the enarby Beron Mills. This agricultural adjunct provided the textile firm with a place to keep its livestock, especially draft animals, and furnished food stuffs sold to millhands through the company store. Locally, the greatest acclaim associated with the Logee House is its status as the birthplace of J. Howard McGrath, a key figure in early twentieth-century Rhode Island politics. McGrath went on to serve as state attorney general, governor, and United States congressman. He became the nation's attorney general during the Truman Administration." ~ Woonsocket Multiple Resource Area documentation   pgs. 84-85

Earliest Recorded Date of Construction: 01/01/1729 Additional Dates of Construction: Addition dates throughout its history Architectural Period/Style: Colonial Type of Building e.g. Country House, Stately Home, Manor: Farm house Interesting Historical Facts or Connections: Early colonial house in area. Listed Building Status (if applicable): National Register of Historic Places Main Material of Construction: Wood frame Private/Public Access: Private Related Website: [Web Link] Rating: Architect (if known): Not listed Landscape Designer (if known): Not listed Admission Fee (if applicable): Not Listed Opening Hours (if applicable): Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/16/2011 Roscoe45 visited it