31 Chaplin Street, Chaplin (1830)

The building at 31 Chaplin Street in Chaplin is an interesting composite structure, made up of what were once three separate buildings. They were brought together to form the current house in 1936. The earliest section was a mercantile store, erected between 1830 and 1832 by Edward Eaton. The next section was a tin shop, erected in the 1840s. It was operated by Alexander Dorrance, who most likely used the store building as his residence. The largest part of the current building was built as a school house, c. 1850. When these three buildings were joined, the school section was raised to be two stories, thus giving the completed structure a classic saltbox profile. The building is described under the heading “Rindge-Dorrance Tin Shop, c. 1840” on p. 15 of the pamphlet Historic Homes of Chaplin Village, by Johanne Philbrick. It is listed in the Chaplin Historic District as “Eaton’s Store” with a date of 1850.