253 High Street

History

The properties now known as 253 and 251 High Street occupy land long associated with the Atkins and Tyng families. The parcel originally formed part of a larger estate inherited through Dr. Anita Tyng’s maternal line. It was conveyed out of the family in 1880.

That conveyance—executed by Anna (Atkins) Tyng and her daughter, Dr. Anita Tyng, following the death of Captain Charles Tyng—transferred the two High Street dwellings and approximately six acres of surrounding land. Portions of that acreage were subsequently subdivided to create Arlington Street and additional house lots, including the parcel later developed as 257 High Street.

The earliest documented owners connected to the site were Dudley Atkins (1730–1767) and his wife, Sarah Kent Atkins (1729–1810). After Dudley’s early death, Sarah raised six children at High Street under challenging financial circumstances. Their son, Dudley Atkins (1760–1829), later adopted the surname “Tyng” to secure an inheritance that enabled him to support his widowed mother and siblings; his success is commemorated in the naming of Tyng Street. Sarah’s daughter, Rebecca Atkins (1767–1842), remained unmarried and continued to reside with her mother on High Street. After Sarah’s death, Rebecca remained in the same dwelling, which her prosperous brother purchased for her use. Contemporary accounts describe her household and grounds as a favored gathering place for local youth, who knew her affectionately as “Aunt Becky.”

Rebecca’s closest heir was her nephew, Captain Charles Tyng, to whom she left the house and its grounds. Deed research confirms that Captain Tyng ultimately held title to both structures now numbered 253 and 251 High Street. Mid-nineteenth-century sources provide further clarity: the 1851 map identifies two related structures on the site; the 1855 City Directory and Census list the Tyng family at what was then 251 (now 253) High Street; and contemporary records place Joanna Jones in the adjacent dwelling, then numbered 249 (now 251) High Street. These sources confirm that both buildings remained within the extended Atkins–Tyng family throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. However, it is not possible to determine conclusively whether Sarah and Rebecca occupied the present 251 or 253 High Street.

Following Captain Tyng’s death, Anna and Dr. Anita Tyng sold 253 High Street—the present turquoise-painted house—to Edward Shaw, who appears to have used it as a rental property. They sold the adjoining house at 251 High Street to Jonathan Douglass, who acquired the remaining acreage and oversaw its subdivision. Douglass resided at 251 High Street until 1912 and appears on the 1884 map alongside Shaw. The chain of ownership, reinforced by documentary and cartographic evidence, establishes the long association of the properties with the prominent Atkins and Tyng families and the estate’s subsequent role in shaping the development of the surrounding High Street neighborhood.