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Rocks Village Historic District

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This house is known as the Major Zebulon Ingersoll House, circa 1782-83 and part of the Rocks Village Historic District. Zebulon Ingersoll was an officer during the American Revolution as well as a successful merchant and businessman. Constructed in two separate phases, the house is reflective of typical architectural practices of the Federal style.

The first phase of the home, the half which is closest to the river, was built sometime before 1782. The second phase of the home was completed in 1814 and was undertaken by the Colonel and his son John. The home used to have a central staircase, but that was removed in the 1930’s along with some interior walls to create a large living room; the original back stairs remain.

What is noteworthy about most of the houses and buildings of the neighborhood, including this one, is the fact that they are not oriented towards the river, but rather face the road or towards the center of the village. 

No matter how one looks at the house, if you were to cut it right down the middle, it is symmetrical; this is true if you look at the front (north) façade which faces East Main Street and the side (west) façade which faces Wharf Lane. On the north façade there is a centrally located door and two windows to each side. The door on the west façade is also centrally located, but there are only two windows on this façade owing to the fact that the structure is five bays wide and three bays deep. A bay is an opening in the wall of the structure i.e. a window or a door.

Krenzer, Samantha. Rocks Village Historic District Architectural Walking Tour. Haverhill, Massachusetts. Buttonwoods Museum.

Rocks Village in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Accessed June 9th 2020. http://www.rocksvillage.org/.

Rocks Village Historic District. National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form. Published December 12th 1976.

Senter Digital Archive, Haverhill Public Library. Accessed June 9th 2020. https://haverhill.pastperfectonline.com/.