† 1 Mozart Avenue

Old White Oak Meeting House

The “Old White Oak” — built of that wood, harvested from nearby hillsides when one still could harvest lumber at the Cape end — was Provincetown’s second church. It was constructed in 1773 and dedicated on 20 February 1774. At the time, just before the Revolution, the Orthodox Christianity of the Puritans and Pilgrims was the established religion of the colony, and as such, the construction of the meeting house was a municipal endeavor. The call to the Rev. Samuel Parker was made, in fact, at a Town Meeting in December 1773. Parker was promised an annual salary of £67.13s.4d “to settel in sed town, and preach ye gospel to ye inhabitants.”

3 Mozart Avenue

Built in the mid-19th century, according to the Historic District Survey, this was home as recently as the 1990s to Donald R. Edwards (b 1948) and Barbara K. Edwards (b 1946), and their son Donald R. Edwards (b 1970). Edwards had purchased the property in 1974 and sold it in 1985 to the abutting Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter the Apostle (technically, to the Bishop of Fall River), but remained as a tenant. After the church was destroyed by fire in 2005, parochial leaders and their architects used the unwelcome opportunity to plan a reorganization of the St. Peter campus.

4 Mozart Avenue

Joshua’s Condominium

A “hyphen” house from the mid- to late 19th century, 4 Mozart Avenue was converted into a four-unit condo in 1986. Its current owners live in Salem; Quincy; Madison, Conn.; and Pittsford, N.Y. • Historic District Survey • Assessor’s Online Database, Unit 1 • Assessor’s Online Database, Unit 2 • Assessor’s Online Database, Unit 3 • Assessor’s Online Database, Unit 4 ¶ Posted 2013-05-12

6 Mozart Avenue

 
And such are the contrasts of modern Provincetown: next door to a condominium whose nearest owners live 105 miles away from Mozart Street stands a house that has been home to the Morris family for more than 50 years. Not only that, but Donald L. Morris (b 1933) is a grandson of Captain Jack — yes, that Captain Jack (73A Commercial Street). Capt. Jackson R. Williams and Amelia (Lucas) Williams had a daughter, Margaret Williams, who married John V. Morris. They were Donald’s parents. And Donald’s late wife, Rose Marie (Joseph) Morris (1935-2012), who’s pictured at the upper left, also came from a family with broad Provincetown roots. The couple wed in 1957 and bought this house four years later. Morris graduated from Provincetown High School in 1953, served in the Marine Corps, worked as a fisherman and was active in the town’s Civil Defense program in the 1960s. For a time, he was the chief radiological officer. • Historic District Survey • Assessor’s Online Database ¶ Posted 2013-05-13