May 27, 2021 Planning the Future of the Donald McKay House
Historic Boston is working with the East Boston Museum and Historical Society and the East Boston Community Development Corporation on a re-use feasibility study for the 1844 Donald McKay House. Thanks to the City of Boston’s CPA program, the CDC and Museum were granted funds to acquire the house from its long-time owner, Ralph Vertuccio.
Donald McKay (1810-1880) is a legend in maritime history as builder of the fastest clipper ships on the world’s oceans in the 19th century, but no place is prouder of his achievements than the neighborhood of East Boston, where McKay lived and on whose harbor’s edge he built his great ships.
McKay built his Greek Revival period house at the top of East Boston’s Eagle Hill in 1844 and lived there until he retired to Hamilton, Massachusetts in 1869. McKay’s shipyard on the East Boston waterfront produced more than 60 boats of various types, including the Flying Cloud and the Sovereign of the Seas, the latter of which was clocked as the fastest sailing ship ever built.
Much of the first floor’s interior is authentic to the 19th century, and while the exterior of the house has experienced some changes in form and detail, it retains much of its original character. Over the years, a wrap-around porch has been removed and the building’s wood clapboards covered with asphalt shingles. The site also includes a barn structure.
The house also reflects East Boston’s strong associations with immigration. Owned by the Vertuccio family for nearly 80 years, it is a place from which to interpret the story of the 20th century Italian immigration through to today’s fast-growing Central and South American communities. McKay, also an immigrant, was born and brought up in Nova Scotia.
To learn more about the McKay House, read the Boston Landmarks Commission’s 1977 study report for the site’s designation as one of Boston’s first Landmarks in 1977. Stay tuned for more on the future of the historic East Boston house.