Wakefield in the 1880s
James Garfield was assassinated in 1881 and Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison followed in turn. Immigration from southern and eastern Europe rose sharply and the railroads adopted standard time zones in 1883. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and Chicago put up the first tall building framed in metal in 1885. What Wakefield kept from the decade leans to Queen Anne style, the label the records put on 7 of these stops.
Every stop carries a construction date in the 1880s. The route covers 10 of them and runs 1.9 miles end to end.
Distances are straight lines between the coordinates in the National Park Service Register data, so the walk on the street will be longer. Nobody has walked or checked this as a route, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. Stops last changed Sep 18, 2026.
All walking tours in Wakefield → · Every listing in Wakefield →
Map
Coordinates come from the National Park Service National Register spatial data. The solid line joins the stops in walking order and is not a street route. Listings with a restricted address in the Register are never mapped and never become stops. Data refreshed September 19, 2026.
Walking order
- 1House at 39 Converse Street39 Converse St.Building · built 1880 · listed 1989start
- 2Wakefield Upper Depot27--29 Tuttle St.Building · built 1889 · listed 19890.5 mi from stop 1
- 3House at 15 Chestnut Street15 Chestnut St.Building · built 1885 · listed 19890.2 mi from stop 2
- 4House at 25 Avon Street25 Avon St.Building · built 1880 · listed 1989327 ft from stop 3
- 5Center Depot57 Water St.Building · built 1887 · listed 19890.4 mi from stop 4
- 6Wakefield Rattan Co.134 Water St.Building · built 1889 · listed 1989487 ft from stop 5
- 7House at 20 Lawrence Street20 Lawrence St.Building · built 1880 · listed 19890.5 mi from stop 6
- 8House at 15 Wave Avenue15 Wave Ave.Building · built 1883 · listed 1989454 ft from stop 7
- 9House at 11 Wave Avenue11 Wave Ave.Building · built 1888 · listed 1989101 ft from stop 8
- 10House at 18a and 20 Aborn Street18A and 20 Aborn St.Building · built 1888 · listed 19890.1 mi from stop 9
1.9 straight-line miles over 9 legs. Printed from registeratlas.com/tours/ma/wakefield/era-1880s/
Taking it along
- Download the route as GPXFor a handheld GPS or a phone app
- Open all 10 stops in Google MapsSet the mode to walking once it opens
- Open the first stop in Apple MapsThe Apple Maps web link carries one destination, so this is stop 1 only
Other walks in Wakefield
- Federal houses in Wakefield11 stops · 2.1 milesFederal architecture is a restrained classical manner with flat wall surfaces, fanlights over the door and delicate ornament around openings and mantels. The Wakefield examples on this route went up between 1750 and 1840.
- Houses and mansions in Wakefield15 stops · 1.1 milesThe route links houses built between 1795 and 1922. Many are private homes and the stops are meant to be seen from the sidewalk.
- Wakefield in the 1910s10 stops · 2.0 milesEvery stop carries a construction date in the 1910s. American Craftsman is the style recorded on more of them than any other.