Page 210 - Microsoft Word - Annual Report 2016

BOXFORD HISTORICAL COMMISSION

The Boxford Historical Commission is responsible for overseeing community-wide preservation
planning and the overall care of the town's historic assets. This past year we have been involved
in the following projects:

Little Red School House
Nancy Merrill, a member of the Historical Commission, and a group of enthusiastic
volunteers have graciously offered to plan for the renovation and restoration of the
Little Red Schoolhouse. They are looking for funds, grants and hands-on volunteers to
help complete the project. They met with the Community Preservation Committee in
2015 and are looking forward to working with the Permanent Building Committee in
2017

It is the hope of the Commission that Little Red Schoolhouse will become a “window”
into school life in the 1860s. It is their mission to have the school be used in the way the
Haynes family envisioned when they gave Boxford's last remaining one-room school
house for the use of the children of the town.

Anyone who is interested in working on this project should get ahold of Lisa DiLuna or
any of the members of the Historical Commission.

Community Preservation Committee.
Virginia Havey represents the Commission on the Community Preservation Committee
(CPC). Hopefully, two projects will on the Historical Commission agenda to present to
the CPC in 2017 or 2018: the restoration of the Little Red Schoolhouse and the full
inventory of the historic assets and dwellings in the town.

Inventory of Historic Properties
In 2017 the Commission will send out another Request for Proposal for a Preservation
Specialist to inventory our historic properties. In order for homeowners, that do not
reside in either of the historic districts, to be listed in the National Register of Historic
Places, the property must be listed in a current Massachusetts Historical Commission
inventory. Since Boxford's inventory is outdated, homeowners are prevented from being
listed in the register and, more importantly, are restricted from applying for restoration
grants and placement on the National Registry of Historic Places. It is the hope of the
Commission to obtain CPC funds for this long overdue project.

Cleaveland Farm
The Boxford Historic Districts Commission and the Boxford Historical Commission
hold the preservation restriction on the Cleaveland Farm as set up by the Essex County
Greenbelt Association. The property is being carefully restored by the new homeowner
and we look forward to each new phase in the process.