Donald McKay House | |
 Partial view of the McKay House facade. | |
  | |
| Location | 78–80 White St. East Boston, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°22′50.5″N71°2′11.5″W / 42.380694°N 71.036528°W /42.380694; -71.036528 |
| Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
| Built | 1844 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Part of | Eagle Hill Historic District (ID98000149) |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004450[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 2, 1982 |
| Designated CP | February 26, 1998 |
TheDonald McKay House is a privately ownedhistoric house at 78–80 White Street inEast Boston,Massachusetts. It was the residence ofDonald McKay, a builder ofclipper ships.
The house was built in 1844 in theGreek Revival architectural style, which is distinguished by itspitched roof and front-facinggable resembling aGreekpediment. Donald McKay (1810 – 1880) moved into the house in 1845, and during his residence there he designed and built some of the most successfulclippers in history. These ships include theFlying Cloud (1851), which made two 89-day passages from New York to San Francisco;[2] theSovereign of the Seas (1852), which posted the fastest speed ever by a sailing ship (22 knots) in 1854; theLightning (1854), which set multiple records, including sailing 436 miles in a 24-hour period and sailing fromMelbourne,Australia, toLiverpool,England, in 64 days; and theJames Baines (1854), which logged a speed of 21 knots on June 18, 1856.
While living in East Boston, McKay also built five largepacket ships for Enoch Train's White Diamond Line, which specialized in the Atlantic emigrant route fromEurope toNorth America, between 1845 and 1850. These ships were theWashington Irving, theAnglo Saxon, theAnglo American, theDaniel Webster, and theOcean Monarch.[3] TheOcean Monarch was lost to fire on August 28, 1848, soon after leaving Liverpool and within sight of Wales; over 170 of the passengers and crew perished. During theAmerican Civil War, theU.S. Navy contracted McKay to build theUSSNausett, one of the fewCasco-class monitors to be commissioned.
On January 25, 1977, a publichearing was held atBoston City Hall to consider designation. The house was designated as aBoston Landmark on May 10, 1977,[4] it was also added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1982.
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