New England

Gregg Free Library // 1907

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The Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library is the public library for the town of Wilton, New Hampshire and is among the town’s most grand architectural designs. The library was the gift of David Almus Gregg (1841-1928), a native of Wilton who owned a successful building parts business in Nashua manufacturing doors, window blinds, and window sashes with his father, David Sr., who lived in the home featured previously. Gregg was significantly involved in the design and construction of the building, providing the highest quality building materials and contractors to the project, which was estimated to cost $100,000 when completed in 1907. The architectural firm of McLean and Wright was commissioned to design the building, who completed it in the Classical Revival style, like many of their other library designs in New England.

Gregg House // 1869

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Located in the western part of the East Village of Wilton, New Hampshire, this stunning Italianate manse stands out as one of the most architecturally grand in the area. The home was built for David Gregg (1816-1880), a merchant who was engaged in lumber dealing in Michigan as an investment. His company was based out of Nashua and manufactured wooden blinds, doors, window sashes and was co-owned by David and his son, David Jr. David was likely retiring from business by the late 1860s and built this large home on a hill outside the village. At about this time, he became involved with local politics, which he was involved with until his death in 1880. The Italianate style home features round arched windows, brackets, a belvedere at the roof, and what appears to be an attached, converted carriage house. The home was eventually turned into a bed and breakfast, but it has since been converted back to a private home.

Wilton Train Depot // 1892

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The coming of the railroad to Wilton, New Hampshire was largely due to the rapid increase in the number of mills and factories built in and around the East Village along the river beginning in the early 19th century. This increase was the impetus to Wilton business leaders of the time to petition the state for a charter to form the Wilton Railroad Company which was granted in 1844. The first official run of a wood-burning steam engine from Nashua City Station to the newly constructed Wilton Station occurred on Dec. 1, 1851. The small, wood-frame station was deemed obsolete, and replaced by 1860 with a more substantial structure. In this time, the town prospered, and the local mills cranked out everything from worsted yarn to wooden boxes and furniture. After thirty years of use, however, this second station began to show its age; the tin roof was rusting and it leaked. In 1888, a derrick on a wrecker train caught the side of the building and heavily damaged it, requiring the demolition of the station. By 1892, it was replaced by this new brick station. Between the World Wars, automobile use dominated the American transportation landscape, shifting demands from rail to road. In the late 40’s, a restaurant opened in part of the building, operating until the early-to-mid 50’s. The station was closed when passenger service finally ended and the building, undergoing “adaptive re-use”, into a medical center. It operated for some time as a scenic, heritage railroad stop from 2003-2006.

Wilton Town Hall and Theater // 1885

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Welcome to Wilton, New Hampshire! With a population less than 4,000, the tiny New England town sure packs a lot of old buildings into its borders. The town was first part of a township chartered as “Salem-Canada” in 1735, by Colonial Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, which then claimed this area. The land here was granted to soldiers from Salem, Massachusetts, who had served in 1690 under Sir William Phips in the war against Canada. “Salem-Canada” was one of the towns on the state’s border intended to provide protection against attack from native tribes. In 1762, residents of the town petitioned New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth to incorporate the town as Wilton, likely named after Wilton, England. The town prospered as a sleepy farming town, largely concentrated around Wilton Center. By the 1860s, the village of East Wilton developed around the Souhegan River, with mills and businesses centered there. The town decided to relocate their town hall “closer to the action”. Land was acquired on a triangular piece of land in the center of the village, which was recently cleared by the destruction of Whiting House, a hotel that formerly occupied the site. The architectural firm of Merrill & Cutler of Lowell, MA, were hired to design the building, which blends Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne styles perfectly on the difficult site, opening in 1885. Silent movies were first shown in the auditorium in 1912 and by the 1930s, the auditorium was used most often as a movie theater. A large part of the building has since been occupied as a theater for the community.

Leavitt Peanut Butter Company Factory // 1958

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One of the most iconic buildings in Everett, Massachusetts is the “Teddie Peanut Butter” building, in the brewery/distillery district of the city (home to Night Shift Brewery, Bone Up Brewing Company, and Short Path Distillery). The building is best-defined for its massive Mid-Century rooftop sign with the cute teddy bear. The building was constructed by the Leavitt Peanut Butter Company in 1958, but the company had its beginnings nearly a half-century earlier. The Leavitt Corporation had its beginnings in 1897 when Sarkis Shaghalian, a European immigrant, started manufacturing candy and roasted nuts in Boston. In 1916, Michael Hintlian took over the company and in 1925, established a separate corporate entity specializing in peanut and nut products, the John W. Leavitt Company. The company did extremely well in its Boston location, eventually outgrowing their State Street buildings. In 1959, the company hired an industrial realtor, who found the Everett facility – a recently constructed building with Modern finishes and design. In 1959, Leavitt Corp. signed a lease and moved in by 1960, adding the rooftop sign at that time. The sign used to have neon strips, but was eventually removed.

St. Anthony’s Church Campus // 1951

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In the 1920s Italian-speaking residents in Everett, Massachusetts appealed to Archbishop of Boston, William O’Connell for an Italian parish. Everett had seen a large influx of Italian immigrants who settled in town and the surrounding communities for work. The Archdiocese saw the demand, and rented the former Broadway Theater to be used as a church for the short term. In 1951, land was acquired a few blocks away for a new church, school and rectory. The church was designed to resemble historic Romanesque-style churches seen in Italy, with the school and renovated rectory following the Modern tradition. The brick and limestone church appears to have been built more in the historical tradition, with hand-carved stone trim and a beautiful rose window. It’s amazing that this church was built in the 1950s!

Woodlawn Cemetery Lodge // 1897

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Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, MA was established in 1850 as a rural, private cemetery in the tradition of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. The story of Woodlawn Cemetery began in 1850 when a group of ten prominent Bostonians petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to organize a corporation “for the purpose of procuring, establishing and preparing a cemetery or burial place for the dead in Malden” (present-day Everett was established in 1870 from Malden). Adjacent to the Cemetery Gate and Tower (last post), the Woodlawn Cemetery Lodge replaced an 1850s lodge and office constructed of wood, in the Gothic-style, that was deemed unsatisfactory for later boards managing the cemetery. The group hired Boston architect William Hart Taylor to design the gate and lodge, the latter in the Classical Revival style. The buff brick building features terra-cotta trim and a red tile roof with dentil cornices and copper cresting along the ridges and eaves. The square entry tower has a columned belfry and incorporates additional Classically-inspired features including Ionic columns, moldings, swags, and wreaths, which looks like a Greek Temple plopped onto the top. Gorgeous!

Woodlawn Cemetery – Entrance Gate // 1897

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Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett, MA was established in 1850 as a rural, private cemetery in the tradition of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. The story of Woodlawn Cemetery began in 1850 when a group of ten prominent Bostonians petitioned the Massachusetts General Court to organize a corporation “for the purpose of procuring, establishing and preparing a cemetery or burial place for the dead in Malden” (present-day Everett was established in 1870 from Malden). When you approach the main entrance of the cemetery, you are greeted by the entrance gate and tower. Completed in 1897 to replace an earlier wooden gate, the Entrance Gate consists of a central stone tower and two side entrances. The gate, tower, and adjacent lodge (next post) were designed by Boston architect William Hart Taylor, who was buried at the cemetery upon his death in 1928. The tower has decorative sculpted terra cotta which includes winged angels at the corners with outstretched arms that once hold trumpets. Below the medallion which is centered on each side, there is the bust of a winged child, supposedly a carved likeness of the architect’s young son who died at the age of six and is buried at Woodlawn.

Everett Savings Bank // 1930

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Located next door to the First Congregational Church of Everett, you can find one of the finest eclectic commercial buildings in the region, and it is one that is often overlooked. The Everett Savings Bank was built in 1930 from plans by architect Thomas Marriott James for the Everett Savings Bank, which was established in 1889. This building was constructed just at the beginning of the Great Depression, at a time when banks and American citizens were penny pinching. The budget was likely set before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 as the relatively high-style bank building would have been a big expense at the time. The bank blends Art Deco and Spanish Renaissance Revival styles elegantly. The structure is constructed with sandstone walls that are decorated with figured panels and semi-circular multi-pane windows are outlined by rope molding. Crowning the building is a bold arcaded frieze with Moorish inspired cornice. Swoon!

Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library // 1894

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The Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library is arguably the most architecturally significant building in the City of Everett, Massachusetts. Constructed of buff brick, sandstone and terracotta, it displays characteristics of the Richardsonian Romanesque style including the main entrance set within a recessed arch at the base of a square tower with arched openings. In 1892, Albert Norton Parlin, a local businessman, donated to the City of Everett the Pickering Estate, his birthplace and familial home, to be torn down and a library erected on the parcel in memory of his son, Frederick E. Parlin, who died in 1890 at the age of eighteen. Albert Parlin gave to the City an additional $5,000 to aid in the building of the Frederick E. Parlin Memorial Library. The original 1894 library as well as a 1911-1912 addition were designed by local architect John Calvin Spofford who positioned the building to face a small triangular park. By the 1940’s, the building was outgrown, but it wasn’t until 1982 that a plan was set in motion to renovate the original building and to construct an addition. Childs, Bertman, Tseckares was chosen to draw up the architectural plans, and ground was finally broken in the spring of 1990. With construction of the new addition, the building is almost three times its original size and handicapped accessible, all with an appropriate, Post-Modern design.