(2008)
Former 104 Commercial Street Condominium.
The site on which 104 Commercial now stands — with its invitingly deep front porch commanding a spectator’s gallery at the Turn — was created in 1923 by resolution at Town Meeting. The selectmen were instructed to “sell, convey, and execute a deed in behalf of the Town of any land or buildings not necessary to carry out the plan of the widening and relocation of that portion of Commercial Street known as ‘Lancy’s Corner.'”¹ The buyer of this parcel was Georgianna “Georgie” Cook, who was then in her mid-30s. She lived in this house many years. The structure itself once stood a few yards farther south, when it was the residence of Newell C. Brooks, proprietor of the carriage and stable business across the street. (Under the old street numbering system, the house was denominated 95 Commercial Street. When it was first moved, it took the number 102.)
The Cook family owned the property until 1984, when it was purchased by Dennis Echevarria of Norton. His family created the 104 Commercial Street condo in 1985, effectively dividing the two-story house into upstairs and downstairs units. Lisa A. Cook and Joan S. Smart of Chelsea, Mich., wound up buying both units, reuniting the property, and extinguishing the condominium in 2005. They sold it to Judith W. Hydeman of Sarasota, who transferred it to Jennifer P. Crooks.
¶ Last updated on 6 September 2018.
Denise Avallon wrote on 30 September 2012: In the 1886 directory, Thomas W. Dyer’s store was listed at 97 Commercial Street, N. C. Brooks at No. 95, Jeremiah Quinn at No. 93, and Addison Nickerson at No. 91. The 1888 Sanborn map shows the house at the bend, No. 97, as a grocery. The 1912 and 1919 Sanborn maps show it is still there, renumbered as No. 104. So is Brooks’s old house, renumbered as No. 102 and moved forward. Then comes Quinn’s old house, renumbered as No. 100, situated as it is now. The 1929 map shows that the bend in the road has been widened and the house at No. 104 (originally No. 97) is gone.
¹ Town of Provincetown to Cook, 26 September 1923, Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, Book 401, Page 277.