Norwood's Triple Decked Out History

In the July/August edition of ‘YANKEE’ magazine is an article on triple-deckers entitled “Three's Company.” It is a wonderful article on how the triple-decker took New England "by storm" in the late 1800s. They were built to house more people in the working-class neighborhoods of Boston, Worcester, Cambridge and Fall River in Massachusetts, but also in Providence, Rhode Island; New Haven, Connecticut; and Portland, Maine. This happened in other cities and towns in New England, like Norwood, all due to the rise of industrialization. Queen Anne and Colonial Revival were the most popular styles of these architectural gems and could have been trimmed quite simply or with great elaboration.

Many owners lived on the first floor with renters living on the second and third floors in order to help pay the mortgage. For renters, a large triple-decker apartment included a parlor, dining room, kitchen, and a couple of bedrooms, all with hardwood floors. Many also included front and back porches to provide outdoor space.

Right here in Norwood, two-decker and triple-deckers are located primarily in the South Norwood neighborhood, but most other districts in Norwood have them as well. Norwood's industrial past included printing presses, the tannery, and mills all running at high speed and needed housing for their workers. It is interesting to note that in the early 1900s, the Founders of Norwood not only built their businesses here, but also built their homes and raised their families here.

YANKEE magazine also offers to the reader many photos of these beautiful triple-decker homes in Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, and Somerville.

Norwood should strut because what we have is not only a social value that has endured the test of time, but also, it has provided the solution to what once was a problem. Norwood has it all.

Advertisement

Judith Howard, Chair
Norwood Historical Commission