Architecture Blog

Boston & Albany Depot // 1881-1958

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Courtesy of Digital Commonwealth

When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, New York City’s advantageous water connection through the Hudson River threatened Boston’s dominance as a historic trade center. Since the topography of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts made construction of a canal infeasible, Boston turned to the emerging railroad technology for a share of the freight to and from the Midwestern United States. The Boston and Worcester Railroad was chartered in 1831 and construction began the next year. Stations and rail lines were built westward of Boston and would eventually reach the Berkshires and the Hudson Valley with three existing lines merging in 1867 as the Boston and Albany Railroad, becoming the longest and most expensive point-to-point railroad yet constructed in the United States. The B&A undertook a significant program of improvement and beautification in the 1880s and 1890s, when the railroad hired architect Alexander Rice Esty to design this building, the Boston passenger station which was completed in 1881, the year of Esty’s death. That same year, the B&A hired architect Henry Hobson Richardson to design a series of passenger stations, connecting suburban villages west of Boston to the city. This station was located on Kneeland Street and serviced passenger service from Boston until the new South Station, a consolidated train station of various lines, was completed in 1899. This station later became a freight and storage warehouse for the railroad until the 1950s when the building was razed for the Central Artery, signaling the death of train travel as we knew it for decades to come. The site of the former station has remained undeveloped since then.

South Street Diner // c.1947

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One of the hidden gems of Boston can be found tucked away in the Leather District, one of the last remaining diner cars in the city, this is South Street Diner. At this site, at the corner of South and Kneeland streets, a diner car has existed since about 1935. In 1947 the present diner car was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and moved on this site as the Blue Diner opened, possibly named after its patrons, largely blue-collar workers. The diner would be renamed the South Street diner in 1992, a name that has stuck ever-since. The diner attracts tourists, nearby workers, and drunken college students, serving as a much-needed melting pot for people of different backgrounds to grab a good bite to eat.

Faxon Block // 1886

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This impressive commercial block is prominently sited at the corner of Beach and South streets in Boston’s Leather District, a wonderful enclave of late 19th and early 20th century mercantile buildings, historically centered around the leather and shoe-making industries. Like many in this block, the building was developed by the Faxon Brothers, some of the major developers of this district and areas of Quincy. Also like many other buildings in the Leather District, the block was designed by 1886 in the Romanesque Revival style, constructed of brick and brownstone with a clipped corner and Syrian arches and an oculus window at the fifth floor. The building was designed by relatively unknown architect, John H. Besarick and today houses professional offices.

Beebe Building // 1886

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Located at 127-133 South Street in the under-appreciated Leather District of Boston, the 1886 Beebe Building is an excellent vestige of the leathergoods trade and commercial architecture of the late 19th century. This building was constructed by J. Franklin Faxon (1832-1912), a business owner who engaged in real estate development and built a number of commercial blocks in this part of Boston. Rand & Taylor, architects, designed the building in an effective blending of Classical and Romanesque styles with rock faced brownstone ashlar above the storefronts, oculus windows, and segmental arched openings on the top floor. The Classical detailing of the two-story brick pilasters and modillion cornice add to its complexity. The building was originally occupied by the Thomas E. Proctor Leather Company and was later purchased by leather goods company Lucius Beebe & Sons and the storefront was renovated by Hutchins & French in 1930. The building has since been known as the Beebe Building and has been well-maintained by subsequent owners.  

United States Leather Company Warehouse // 1901

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As far back as Colonial days, the boot and shoe industry was one of the State’s leading industries. Buyers came suburban towns to purchase supplies, and in the early 1800s, the larger manufacturers began to open offices and stores in Boston. Soon, most of the leading merchants had established places of business in Boston, by the late 19th century, many were located in the South Cove area, which became known as the Leather District. The Leather District is characterized today by large, brick structures with flat roofs and feature continuous floor levels, band courses, and cornice lines. This handsome brick building on Atlantic Avenue was built in 1901 for Charles G. Rice and the Heirs of Nehemiah W. Rice as a warehouse for the U.S. Leather Company. The building was designed by William Gibbons Rantoul, who studied architecture at Harvard, and apprenticed with Henry Hobson Richardson as a draftsman in the 1880’s before opening his own practice. In 1946, the subject property was purchased by Frank Einis, and the new tenants, Fur Merchants Cold Storage, Inc., used the building for the storage of skins and furs for manufacturing into soft goods. Architecturally, the building showcases the lasting influence of Richardson on architects and industrial buildings in Boston from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. The building can be classified as Romanesque Revival in style with its use of arches in the façade both structural and decorative, the Venetian arches at the 7th floor, as well as its arcaded corbelling over the 3rd level and at the cornice. I especially love the tall, engaged brick columns at the storefront, they are very unique!

John E. Calhoun House // c.1912

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This site, in the heart of Cornwall village, was once occupied by an early 19th century Federal style residence, built by the wealthy Pierce family in town. The Pierces’ large home was acquired by John E. Calhoun (1859-1940), a successful New York businessman, who retreated to his father’s hometown for summers away from the city. In 1911, a fire destroyed the home, which was wood-frame construction. This event mobilized Mr. Calhoun, who was untrained but interested in architecture, to begin planning a new summer residence, but of fireproof construction. Calhoun is said to have designed (and funded) the town’s library just years before, and modeled his home in line with the Colonial-era residences in the village, just larger and of brick. From the 1950s through the 1990s, the house was occupied by the headmaster and administration of the local Marvelwood School, but was re-established as a private home, a use that remains today.

Harriet Bennett House // c.1912

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While most houses I have featured in Cornwall date to the early-mid 19th century, there are some great examples of early 20th century Colonial Revival dwellings, built at the time the town became eyed as a wealthy retreat for city-folk. This Colonial Revival residence was built for Ms. Harriet Bennett (1841-1928), an ardent suffragist and an active member of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association. Harriet was married to William C. Bennett and after his death in 1898, she devoted the rest of her life to charitable causes and giving back to others. As a widow and in her seventies, Harriet oversaw construction of this house, which was completed by 1912, in that same year, established the Cornwall Equal Suffrage League, hosting many of its events and meetings from this house. The League’s activities mirrored the efforts of suffragists throughout the nation. The house remains a well-preserved example of a house in the Colonial Revival style in town.

John T. Andrew Carriage House – Cornwall Historical Society Building // c.1865

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This ornate carriage house on Pine Street in Cornwall, Connecticut was built by John T. Andrew around 1865 adjacent to his late 18th century home in the village. Andrews was born in Bethany, Connecticut in 1811, graduated from Yale College in 1839, becoming a minister and later a teacher. For health reasons he left both professions and turned to farming and stonework. After Andrews’s death the property was purchased in 1890 by Charles Marsh, a local undertaker, and his wife Inez. In 1954 the barn was converted to a home by their daughter, the town librarian Emily Elizabeth Marsh, a charter member of the Cornwall Historical Society. In 1966, the Society raised funds to buy the building from her estate, but could do little to adapt it for their specific exhibit and storage needs. The Society restored the exterior to its original appearance, down to the brackets, round arched windows and cupola.

Barnes-Kellogg House // 1809

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The main village in Cornwall, Connecticut, looks like a postcard. Mature trees and beautiful, historic homes line the bucolic streets with sweeping views of the Litchfield Hills in the distance; it is what many envision when they think of “New England charm”. This stately Federal style mansion is sited deep on its lot beyond a field and dates to the first decades of the 19th century, it is the village’s grandest early home. The house was built for Amos Barnes, but supposedly remained unfinished when he died suddenly. Barnes’ widow sold the property to the local Foreign Mission School as a dormitory for students. The school’s (in my opinion, problematic) mission was to educate students of non-Christian cultures, including Native Americans, East Asian, and Hawaiian pupils, for them to become missionaries, preachers, translators, teachers, and health workers in their native communities in the Christian faith. These types of programs furthered the erasure of other cultures and promoted Christianity in all corners of the world, but I digress. In 1826, this home was acquired by Frederick Kellogg, the long-time town clerk and Judge of Probate, who owned the property
until his death in 1891.

John Northrop House // c.1814

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Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School, which began operations in 1817, was virtually unique in the United States, educating both Native Americans and young men from around the globe, including Hawaiian, Bengali, and Japanese. The school was created for the purpose of educating youths of “heathen” nations, to convert them to Christianity, educate them, and train them to become preachers, translators, and teachers back in their native lands. The problematic nature of the school’s seemingly forced assimilation, causing the erasure of cultures, paired with the disdain for foreign students in town lead to much animosity towards the school in Cornwall. The tension reached a head when in 1824, John Ridge, a student at the Foreign Mission School and the son of a Cherokee leader, began a courtship with Sarah Northrop, the white daughter of the school’s steward. A year later they married. Additionally, in 1826, another Foreign Mission School student, Elias Boudinot (John Ridge’s cousin), fell in love with a young Cornwall girl named Harriet Gold, they married in 1826. These marriages were generally opposed to and racism caused support for the school to dissolve, closing by 1827. This c.1814 house was the home of John Northrop, the father of Sarah Northrop, and steward to the Foreign Mission School. The family home, seen here, was also used to house some students while they attended the school. The Northrop House remains one of the few extant buildings with direct ties to this school. The house is one of 65 National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut.