Downtown Architecture

Liberty Tree Block // 1850

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The Liberty Tree Block is located at one of Boston’s oldest and most important intersections, Boylston and Essex streets. It is said that near this site, the Liberty Tree stood, and where in 1765, Patriots in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government under its branches, The Stamp Act protests. The tree became a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of Britain over the American colonies. The Liberty Tree was cut down by British Loyalists in 1775, but the tree’s symbolism lives on in the building constructed on the site 75 years later. Nineteenth-century real estate developer David Sears had this commercial block built in 1850, which housed stores at the street with ballrooms on the upper floors. The Liberty Tree Block is best-known and named so due to the wooden relief plaque of the Liberty Tree on the Washington Street elevation. The motif stands 8′ high and 5′ wide and was carved by ship carvers. The bas relief is inscribed with “Liberty–1765” across the top, “Law and Order” at its roots, and at the bottom, “Sons of Liberty, 1765. Independence of their Country, 1776.” The building (and its carving) are protected Landmarks in Boston.

South Street Building // 1899

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One of the larger mercantile buildings in the Leather District of Boston is this turn-of-the-century block, historically known as the South Street Building. Bounded by three streets, this eight-story building was constructed in 1899 from plans by Winslow, Wetherill & Bigelow and is a great example of a Classical Revival style commercial block with Beaux Arts motifs to further decorate the facades. In 1901, as expected, the city directories list many leather and soft goods-related occupants in the building, including: The American Calfskin Leather Company, John F. Moore Co., leather dealer, and Charles D. French, leather remnants dealer. The building was renovated in 1990 and rebranded as Lincoln Plaza, becoming a major space for non-profit offices.

Lincoln Building // 1894

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Designed by a prominent architect, Willard T. Sears, the Lincoln Building at Lincoln and Essex streets, is a handsome example of a late 19th century mercantile structure consisting of stores, office & loft space, serving as an important visual anchor the almost uninterrupted neighborhood of the Leather District of Boston. The building is the second of its name, with the first Lincoln Building succumbing to the Lincoln Street Fire of 1893, which started as a small fire in a restroom of a toy wholesaler, eventually spreading to a storage room full of fireworks, which exploded, eventually killing at least five, and forced many others to jump from buildings to seek safety. The replacement building is Renaissance Revival in style with a stone base and classically decorated facades. The recessed entrances set within arches and the series of columned bays at the ground floor are truly special. The building was long-occupied by leather dealers and companies, but was converted to residential use in 2006 with condos on the upper floors and retail spaces on the street.

Tontine Hotel // 1824-1913

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Historically, inns and taverns offered short-term stays for visitors to New Haven, Connecticut. As the town developed and Yale College grew, land-owners began to realize the potential for larger, centrally located hotels. Established in 1824 and fronting the Town Green, the Tontine Hotel stood for less than 100 years, but was a prominent establishment in the city. The hotel was designed by architect David Hoadley and it hosted many well-known individuals including Native American chief and orator Red Jacket, who gave a speech here in 1829, and Daniel Webster, who came here in 1832. When more modern hotels were built in the early 20th century, the Tontine saw declining and less fancy clientele. The site was slated for redevelopment and the block was demolished in 1913 for the new Federal Courthouse and Post Office (last post).

Printer’s Exchange Building // 1866

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Why is commercial architecture from the second half of the 19th century so perfect? This structure in Downtown Portland is known as the Printer’s Exchange Building and was built in 1866, amongst the ashes of the buildings lost in the Great Fire of 1866. Charles Quincy Clapp is credited as the designer of the structure, which is Italianate in style with the paired round arched windows set into larger openings. The rounded corners are a really subtle but splendid touch in the design. The building got its name as it was home to the Eastern Argus and the Portland Daily Press, among other newspapers who rented the space from owner, Horatio Nelson Jose. I really like this one!

Woodman Block // 1867

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Located next-door to the Rackleff Block, this high-style Second Empire commercial block in Downtown Portland, Maine really turns heads. The Woodman Block (like its neighbor) was built in 1867 from plans by architect George M. Harding, who designed the building for George W. Woodman, a drygoods dealer. This stunning commercial block originally housed Woodman’s dry goods firm, Woodman, True, and Company. It later held a druggist and medicine company. The building retains much of its original architectural character minus the iron cresting which once capped the mansard roof. They don’t make them like they used to!

Beneficent House // 1967

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Located on the same block as the Arnold-Palmer House (last post) in Downtown Providence, this apartment building is the work of one of the most prolific Modernist architects of the 20th century, Paul Rudolph. During Downtown Providence’s period of urban renewal, which saw the demolition of much of Cathedral Square (much of which remains surface parking lots), planners sought a high-rise apartment building to house displaced elderly residents and others who hoped to reside close to downtown shopping and amenities. Architect Paul Rudolph, who was at the time Dean of Yale’s Architecture School, designed the brick building which employs horizontal bands in concrete which marks off floor levels and provides some breaks in the materiality. The building was originally designed in 1963, but after years of delays and budget cuts from rising construction costs, the balconies and other design features were removed from the final product, leading to its present simplicity. While simple, the building retains intrigue, especially with the projecting window bays and offset openings, a departure from the block apartment buildings at the time.

125 Summer Street // 1989

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The late 1980s were a time of financial success for developers and banking companies all over the country. It seems that more skyscrapers were constructed in Boston this decade than any other of the 20th century, but working within the confines of the historic downtown of the city, left architects and developers to come up with creative ways to build here. The architectural firm of Kohn Pederson Fox was hired to construct a 20+ story office tower at the southern edge of the Financial District in Boston, while preserving the small-scale commercial buildings there. A row of four-story commercial blocks constructed after the Great Boston Fire of 1872 were retained with the tower seemingly growing out of them. The process here is known as “facadism” which is a valuable preservation tool to balance preservation with density in historic downtowns, though not always done right. This KPF design with its Post-Modern tower in concrete and granite fits well within the streetscape and maintains a walkable block downtown.

What do you think of this design?

Boylston Building // 1887

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2019 image courtesy of Brandon Bartoszek.

Built by the Boylston Market Association, replacing the former Boylston Market (1810-1887) in Downtown Boston, the Boylston Building is a great example of late 19th-century commercial design in Boston. The Association hired German-born architect Carl Fehmer (who also designed the amazing Beaconsfield Terrace housing in Brookline) to design a structure that would stand up to the architectural landmarks along Boylston and Washington Streets nearby. Fehmer’s design exhibits many features of the emerging Commercial style (also known as Chicago school style) of architecture which promoted new technologies of steel-frame construction in commercial buildings with masonry cladding, while clearly showcasing the Romanesque round arch windows. In the mid-20th century, this area of Downtown Boston became known as the ‘Combat Zone‘, Boston’s Red Light District, flooded with prostitution, drugs, and adult video stores. The Boylston Building was occupied by an adult video store and dive pizza shop. The building and area surrounding are different today, but you can always find some characters nearby!

Richards Building // 1859

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One of my favorite buildings in Downtown Boston is the Richards Building on State Street for its rare and lavish cast-iron facade. Built in about 1859, the building was developed by Quincy A. Shaw and Gardiner H. Shaw (uncles of Robert Gould Shaw, who led the famed African American regiment that is the subject of St. Gaudens’ and Charles McKim’s Boston Common monument), merchants who then leased out commercial space in the building. The architect of the building is unknown; however, the sheet metal was supplied by E.B. Badger & Sons. The original design was a five-story, eight-bay cast iron front structure, in the Northern Italian mode of the Renaissance Revival style. The facade is only a screen attached to the front of the building. It is made of pieces of cast iron that were fabricated in Italy and bolted together in Boston. In 1889, the building was sold to Calvin A. Richards, a wealthy street railway tycoon and it is presumed that the two upper stories and corner oriels were added at that time. The building features one of a handful of extant cast-iron facades in Boston, which was restored in the 1980s.