The Dole House (74 Niagara St.) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [1]
Description
The Dole House (74 Niagara Street) is located west of the city's central business district on the south side of Niagara Street. The surrounding residential neighborhood contains early to late nineteenth-century houses. Although most houses are wood-frame construction, several other stone houses are located within the surrounding block.
The Dole House is located on a level 66 foot wide by 119 foot deep lot. Like many of Lockport's early houses, the Dole House is set back a short distance from the public sidewalk. An asphalt driveway is located at the west side of the house. The driveway leads to an early twentieth-century, front-gable, one-and-one-half story garage. The garage is clad with stained wood shingles. Sectional wood-overhead doors have been installed in the twin openings facing the driveway. A large six-light sash window is centered in the wall above the garage doors.
Exterior
The Dole House is a front-gable, two-and-one-half story, Gasport Limestone, Greek Revival style house. A one-and-one-half-story wing projects from the rear of the main block and a three-bay porch extends across the street facade.
The primary facade of the house is clad with a regular, narrow-course ashlar. All other exterior walls are faced with uncoursed rubble. The corners of the Dole House are reinforced by large dressed Gasport Limestone quoins. Dressed Gasport Limestone lintels and sills are used on all facades of the building. Like many houses in Lockport, the Dole House's dressed stone watertable, now largely concealed by the porch, occurs only at the front facade.
The Dole House is Lockport's best remaining example of tuckpointed stone masonry. Tuckpointing was a popular nineteenth-century masonry surface finish intended to simulate the appearance of tooled ashlar. At the north-facing front facade of the Dole House, gray quarry-face blocks of Gasport Limestone are laid in regular coursed ashlar with three courses aligning with one quoin. Stopping covers the perimeter of each stone block, giving it the appearance of pitched face masonry with a tooled perimeter. The stopping is tuckpointed with a thick, prominent bead of mortar. A different tuckpointing finish occurs at the side and rear facades of the house. At these walls, the rubble stone surface is almost completely covered with brownish-red tinted stopping. A narrow bead of mortar is applied to the stopping in a random coursed ashlar pattern, independent of the wall's actual coursing. Although some stopping has been removed by weathering at the rear and west walls of the house, the tuckpointing is remarkably well preserved.
The front facade of the house incorporates three second-story windows aligned above the first-floor openings. The window openings retain wood one-over-one double-hung installed when the house was remodeled in 1898. At the entrance is a Colonial Revival paneled door with a three-quarter light and leaded sidelights. The full facade porch was also constructed as part of the house's 1898 remodeling. The porch incorporates a concrete floor inlaid with a mosaic tile border and a brick closed handrail capped by a limestone coping. The classically proportioned denticulated cornice of the porch is supported by three-quarter height unfluted Ionic columns.
The main block of the house has a finely molded Federal era cornice with gable returns while the rear wing has simple broadly projecting eaves representative of mid nineteenth century construction. The single-flue square brick chimney, constructed against the south wall of the main block, dates from the mid twentieth century. At the east facade of the house, is a tripartite stair window. The window features an elaborate frame incorporating mullions detailed as fluted pilasters, a denticulated cornice, and wreath and floral reliefs located at transom panels above each sash. The two side sash contain leaded opalescent glass depicting an ornamental plant motif.
Interior
The Dole House is organized by a simple two-bay side interior plan. On the east side of the house are the stair and smaller rooms while the larger parlor and dining room are located on the west. Although the original general layout survives, the interior of the house, including plaster finishes, base moldings, casings, and four-panel doors, reflects the 1898 renovation. The most significant interior feature is the fine Colonial Revival open stair with square paneled newel and turned spindles.
Significance
The Dole House (74 Niagara Street) is significant as an important example of Lockport's nineteenth-century domestic stone architecture. The house is associated with the historic context "The History of Stone Architecture in Lockport: 1821-1909" which is fully described in The Stone Buildings of Lockport, New York Multiple Property Documentation Form. Constructed about 1840, the Dole House was remodeled at the end of the nineteenth century. The entrance porch, interior, and exterior decorative elements added to the house represent the classically influenced design that gained popularity at the end of nineteenth century.
The house is one of approximately seventy-five stone residences remaining within the city of Lockport. The Dole House is an example of the "Gasport Limestone — Rock-face, ashlar primary facade/uncoursed rubble secondary facades" type of domestic stone architecture.
History
Isaac Dole moved to Lockport in 1833 from his native New Hampshire with his wife Hannah and son Daniel. In 1835, the property located at 74 Niagara Street was purchased by Dole, starting a century of occupancy by his family. The current house was constructed between 1835 and 1845.
Upon his arrival in Lockport, Dole began a business operating a line of stages providing service from Lockport to Buffalo and Rochester. Dole's acquisition of property in various areas of the City is documented by the Enlarged and Complete Map of the Village of Lockport drawn by Jesse Haines in 1851. Some of these properties he developed and later sold. Isaac died at the age of 63 on December 10, 1851. Dole's newspaper obituary refers to him as "one of our most active businessmen, and the village is indebted to him for many public improvements. He was, at different periods, one of the Trustees of the village and President of the Board. ...a sad affliction had withdrawn him for several years from active life, which has finally terminated his earthly career..."
After Isaac Dole's death, the stage line was continued by his son, Daniel E. Dole, until competition from railroads made stage lines unprofitable. In 1852, the Dole House was conveyed by Isaac's widow, Hannah, and his son, Daniel E. and Mary, his wife, to Sophia Dole Tucker, the daughter of Isaac and Hannah. Sophia married William C. Tucker, a partner in Tucker, James and Brim Cabinet Makers and Dealers. The Tuckers do not appear to have lived in the house, but City Directories show Hannah Dole living at this address through the late 1860s. Hannah died on August 1, 1873 at the age of 83. She is buried with her husband, Isaac, in Cold Springs Cemetery.
In 1881 Sophia transferred the family home to her two daughters, Sara A. and Mary F. Tucker. By 1898 the sisters, who had married (Sarah A. Tucker Wilson and Mary F. Tucker Hoard) sold the property to Allen M. Moore, their cousin and a grandson of Daniel E. Dole and his wife Mary. Moore made several improvements to the house including the addition of the front porch. Allen Moore lived in the house until his death in June 1929. His widow, Grace, continued to occupy the house. In 1932, Grace's financial difficulties resulted in foreclosure of the property. The house was soon sold to Clarence A. and Elizabeth G. Reynolds.
Architectural Design
The Dole House is one of Lockport's early stone residences. Although remodeled in the late nineteenth century, the house retains much of its original architectural character including its three-bay front-gable massing, narrow-course quarry-face ashlar facade, and finely molded Federal cornice. These characteristics are typical of stone houses constructed in Lockport during the 1830s and 1840s.
The renovation of the house in the late 1890s added several significant Neoclassical features including the Ionic order porch, the tripartite leaded stair window, and the Colonial Revival interior trim. The tuckpointing covering the house's exterior also appears to have been applied as part of the renovations. The alterations made to the house are characterized by a high level of craftsmanship and detail and represent popular domestic taste at the close of the nineteenth century.
The Dole House is an important example of Lockport's nineteenth-century stone domestic architecture. The tuckpointing added to the house in the 1890s exhibits a high level of craftsmanship. The value of the tuckpointing is enhanced by its well-preserved condition. Due to its fine stone masonry workmanship, significant decorative detail, and high level of architectural integrity, the Dole House is a prominent local landmark and an important example of Lockport's legacy of stone architecture.
References
(See Stone Buildings of Lockport, NY Multiple Property Documentation Form.)
Newspaper clipping and obituary&mdsh;Niagara County Historian's Office.
McDonough, Kevin. City of Lockport Planning Department.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Niagara Street