Name/Title
Hinckley Hill Historic District, Calais, MaineDescription
From the Hinckley Hill Historic District Nomination Form:
The Hinckley Hill Historic District is a linear area of approximately twelve (12) acres located astride the eastern end of Main Street in Calais. It is comprised primarily of a group of frame residential buildings erected in the third quarter of the nineteenth century, as well as several twentieth century dwellings. There are eight (8) contributing resources and two (2) non-contributing properties.
The district contains a significant proportion of the community's most notable and well preserved mid-nineteenth century residential architecture. Its earliest house is a c. 1820 one-and-a-half story cape (4) which exhibits typical characteristics of Federal period Maine dwellings including its symmetrically composed five-bay facade with its central entry surmounted by a louvered fan. Nearly a generation passed before the Greek Revival style King house (1) was built. While it preserves the side gable orientation of its predecessor, it introduced important new features including its long first story windows and "back hall" plan.
Between about 1850 and 1855, a group of three Gothic Revival style houses (8, 9, 10) were built on adjoining lots on the north side of Main Street. This noteworthy trio exhibits many of the important characteristics of the style including steeply pitched gable roof and dormers, and a variety of sawn decorative woodwork on porches and eaves. The exxiberant Gothic Revival style was out of fashion by the time of the construction of two extant Italianate houses (2, 3) in the early 1870s. Both utilize a low hipped roof on a nearly square main block and brackets under their wide eaves. The Newton house (3) is particularly distinguished by its use of quoins, two-story bow windows, and flush sheathing.
The last historic building erected in the district is a gambrel roofed Colonial Revival style dwelling (6) that accurately represents a popular early twentieth century house form. More recently additions to the district include a modest one-story house (5) and a newly built two-story structure (7) .
In addition to the buildings, the district's physical appearance is shaped by the large lots and deep setbacks which are relatively uniform throughout. The topography further defines the district's character by virtue of the fact that the elevation rises from west to east by about twenty feet and slopes downward south to north by nearly seventy feet. Thus, where the houses on the south side of Main Street have terraced lots, those on the north side are on leveled lots below the street elevation (these lots have steep slopes down to the St. Croix River). Landscaping varies widely throughout the district with bushes and low foundation plantings being the most consistent feature. There is a mix of mature evergreen and deciduous trees.Web Links and URLs
Hinckley Hill Historic District National Register Nomination Form, 1. Gilman D. King House,, 2. George H. Eaton House, 3. Charles H. Newton House, 4. Pettigrove-Grove House, 5. Emmett House, 6. Mundie-Burns House, 7. David and Paula Lumbert House, 8. Charles F. Washburn House, 9. George Washburn House, 10. Alexander Gilmore House