John Hawes House - View this location on map About 1805, gentleman farmer John Hawes (1740-1829) and his wife Sarah Clapp retired from their prosperous Dorchester farm to this fashionable 5-bay mansion. Perhaps the oldest extant house in South Boston, it shows how brick residential architecture spread all across the city in the Federal era. When John Hawes was born in South Boston in 1740, the narrow peninsula had been part of Dorchester. In 1804, the district was annexed to the city, streets laid out and a bridge built. Hawes was a major benefactor to the new community. His gifts included a church and a trust to establish public school (including an early school for girls). 568 E. 5th St., Boston, MA Historical

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