The William Clapp House (1806) is a historic house

Historic house

A historic house can be a stately home, the birthplace of a famous person, or a house with an interesting history or architecture.- Background :...

 located at 195 Boston Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...

. It is the headquarters of the Dorchester Historical Society and contains many items from the society's collections, including 19th century furnishings and local historical items.

The house was built in 1806 for the marriage of William Clapp (March 3, 1779 - February 29, 1860), son of Capt. Lemuel and Rebecca (Dexter) Clap who built the nearby Captain Lemuel Clap House

Captain Lemuel Clap House

The Captain Lemuel Clap House is a historic house located at 199 Boston Street, Dorchester, Massachusetts. It is now owned by the Dorchester Historical Society, which opens the house for tours two afternoons per month....

. The younger Clapp followed his father's business with the largest tannery in Dorchester.

Later in life, Clapp devoted his time to his farm and the development of many varieties of pear

Pear

The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....

s. The most notable was Clapp’s Favorite, developed in 1820 and marketed by 1860. It remains in wide commercial use today.

External links

• William Clapp House - Dorchester Historical Society