Oakland Painters — Worcester Street & the Three Mile River

Land grants in 1688 opened large tracts of farmland in western Taunton along the Three Mile River, drawn by bog iron and a road known as the Bristol Path, according to the National Register nomination for Taunton. An iron works started on the river around 1733, and a mill district formed there in 1828. The nomination adds that the original buildings at the outlying mill sites have, in most cases, burned or been torn down.

Two Worcester Street houses anchor the early story. Number 28, an asymmetrical lean-to house dated to 1688, is described as possibly typical of the central-chimney lean-tos once built across Oakland. Number 41, listed on the National Register as the Hodges House, is the city's most intact Classic Cottage, the rural house type that was most popular in the Greek Revival years.

Most of the housing, though, is far newer. Census Tract 6133, which takes in 41 and 100 Worcester Street, has 3,009 units with a median build year of 1979. Units from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s together make up 61.8% of the stock, while 17.5% predate 1940. Detached single-family homes account for 77.2%, the tract has no buildings of five or more units, and 95.2% of homes are owner-occupied. The tract also counts 290 mobile homes. We could not confirm that the whole tract is considered Oakland, so read these as tract figures.

Roughly half built before 1980

With 52.7% of the tract's units built before 1980 and the rest after, two houses on the same road can need very different prep. A house finished before 1978 may have lead in its first coats; one built in the 1990s generally falls outside the federal lead rule. When the build year is unclear, a test tells you which rules apply.

Mid-century and later siding materials

Houses from the 1970s through the 1990s may carry wood clapboard, cedar shingles, hardboard or vinyl. Hardboard swells at cut edges when paint fails, and vinyl can be painted only with colors rated for it. Identifying the material comes before choosing the product.

Rare First Period and Greek Revival survivors

A lean-to from 1688 or a Classic Cottage from the 1800s has hand-planed boards and old window sash that call for gentle scraping and careful priming rather than aggressive sanding. Repairs on either house type should keep original material where it can be saved.

Owner-occupied homes and one decision-maker

With 95.2% of the tract's occupied homes lived in by their owners, interior and exterior work is usually a single household's call, which keeps scheduling and color choices simple compared with the multi-family sections of the city.