East Saugus Painters — East Saugus

According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission's 1985 town survey, some of Saugus's earliest settlement clustered here near the Great Bridge over the Saugus River. A shoe shop built in 1802 and enlarged in 1807 and 1810 became, in the survey's words, the largest shoe factory in the Saugus/Lynn area. By 1830 the village ran in a line along Chestnut Street, from the mills at the river up to the schoolhouse and the 1827 Methodist church on Winter Street, and it was the densest residential strip in town.

Between 1830 and 1870, side streets such as Wendell, Riverside and Vincent were cut and divided into house lots, and Ballard Street opened in 1850. Horsecars from Lynn arrived by 1882. By the end of the century the survey calls East Saugus a residential expansion of industrial Lynn, with much of its housing multifamily and a small civic center at Franklin Square, where Chestnut meets Winter. Building then spread north to the brickyard, across the river and down Ballard Street. After 1915, more subdivisions filled in between Walnut and Central Streets.

Current census figures show a different mix than that history might suggest. In the block group that includes 100 Chestnut Street and the Methodist church on Winter Street, 325 of 395 units are single-family detached houses, and the median build year is 1954. A little under half (173 units) date from 1939 or earlier, and the estimate counts 98 from the 1980s.

Houses from several eras on one street

The block group mixes 173 pre-1940 units with 61 from the 1950s and 98 from the 1980s. A street can have old clapboard with heavy paint buildup next to newer siding that only needs cleaning and a fresh coat. Each house deserves its own assessment instead of an assumption based on the neighbor's.

Close to the river

The survey traces the old village up Chestnut Street from the Saugus River. On lots near the water or on low ground, walls can stay damp longer, so moisture readings and mildew washing should come before primer on those sides.

Pre-1940 surfaces need a lead plan

With 173 units in this block group built in 1939 or earlier, every one of those houses got its first coats decades before the 1978 federal ban on lead in residential paint. Scraping and sanding on those houses need containment and cleanup. Our lead-safe painting page covers the method.

Some multi-unit buildings remain

The survey describes much of the late-1800s housing in East Saugus as multifamily, and the current estimate still counts 70 units in two- to four-unit buildings. On an older building with added porches, stairs or entries, those parts can carry a different wood and paint history from the main walls, so prep should be checked area by area.