The Phineas Upham House is a Colonial-era Saltbox-style home built in 1703 in Melrose, Massachusetts. It was built by Phineas Upham, a descendant of Massachusetts Bay colonist John Upham. John was born in England in 1597 and journeyed to the colonies from the town of Weymouth with his wife and three children, landing in Boston on May 6, 1635. He and the passengers of the ship he traveled on founded the town of Weymouth, Massachusetts, named for their town of origin in England. John’s son Phineas, grandfather of the Phineas who constructed this house, was born in 1635. John eventually moved his family to the town of Malden in 1648. John died on February 24, 1681 at the age of 84.

Phineas served as an officer in King Phillip’s War.

His grandson, also Phineas, received a land grant in North Malden, now known as Melrose, in 1700. He built the Phineas Upham House in 1703 and moved in with his new wife Tamzen. He was a selectman, an assessor, and moderated town meetings. The younger Phineas passed away in 1735.

Successive generations of Uphams inhabited the house until 1869, when the house was left unoccupied. Its condition worsened until it was repaired and reinhabited in 1888 by the Orne Upham family. The house was again vacant from 1907 to 1913, when it was purchased by the Melrose Historical Society, which renovated the home in 1915. The Upham Family Society, descendants of the colonist John Upham, has owned the Phineas Upham House since 1940. It was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

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