Bancroft Hotel

Last updated
Bancroft Hotel
Bancroft Hotel Worcester MA.jpg
View from Portland and Franklin Streets
Location50 Franklin Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°15′41″N71°48′6″W / 42.26139°N 71.80167°W / 42.26139; -71.80167
Built1912 (1912)
Architect Esenwein & Johnson
Architectural style Beaux Arts
Part of Main and Franklin Streets Historic District (ID100007732)
MPS Worcester MRA
NRHP reference No. 80000614 [1]
Significant dates
Expanded1925 (1925)
Closed1964 (1964)
Added to NRHPMarch 5, 1980 (1980-03-05)
Designated CPMay 27, 2022

The Bancroft Hotel is a historic hotel building at 50 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1912 and expanded in 1925, it is one of the city's finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture, and was for many years its finest and most opulent hotel. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1] It has since been converted into luxury residences, and is called Bancroft on the Grid.

Contents

Description

The former Bancroft Hotel is located in downtown Worcester, on the south side of Franklin Street, facing the Worcester Common and City Hall to the north. It is a ten-story structure, with a steel frame faced in brick, terracotta, and stone. The ground floor presents an arcade of arches to both Franklin and Portland Streets, finished in marble. The second floor is a band of sash windows with elaborate terra cotta surrounds. The next five floors are uniform, with sash windows in rectangular openings. The bays at the corners are finished in light-colored stone, a contrast to the darker brick of the other bays. The eighth floor once again has more elaborate window treatments, and a detailed cornice separates it from the ninth, which is also crowned by a projecting cornice. [2]

History

Franklin Street Facade (Period Postcard) Bancroft Hotel.jpg
Franklin Street Façade (Period Postcard)

The Bancroft Hotel was built by Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley and operated by the United Hotels Company. [3] It was designed by Buffalo, New York architects Esenwein & Johnson in the Beaux Arts style and was completed in 1912 at a cost of over $1.2 million (equivalent to $37,887,000in 2023). The hotel was named for Worcester historian and politician George Bancroft.

The Bancroft hosted a women's tea in April of John F. Kennedy's 1952 senatorial campaign against Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (who was also there that day). [4] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 [1] and is currently tied as the 11th tallest building in Worcester. The building was operated as a hotel until 1964. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bank Building (Uxbridge, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Bank Building was a historic commercial building located at 40-44 South Street, in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Until its destruction by fire in 2013, it was the best-preserved of Uxbridge's 19th century commercial buildings. It was built in 1895–96, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alamo Plaza Historic District</span> Historic district in Texas, United States

The Alamo Plaza Historic District is an historic district of downtown San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It includes the Alamo, which is a separately listed Registered Historic Place and a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Building (Springfield, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Walker Building is a historic commercial building at 1228-1244 Main Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1898, it is one of the best examples of Richardsonian Romanesque design in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kennedy-Worthington Blocks</span> United States historic place

The Kennedy-Worthington Blocks are three historic commercial and industrial buildings at 1585-1623 Main Street and 166-190 Worthington Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in the 1870s and 1880s, with a major restyling to two of them in 1912, the buildings were a major factor in the urban development of the area north of the city's traditional core. They were listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block</span> United States historic place

The Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block is a historic commercial block at 1645-1659 Main Street in the north end of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The building is actually three separate 19th-century buildings that were conjoined by internal connections in 1929, making a good example of adaptive reuse of commercial architecture in the city. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish National Home (Chicopee, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Polish National Home, also known as Dom Polski Narodowy, is a historic social club at 136-144 Cabot Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was built in 1914 for $55,000. It functioned as a community center for the large Polish immigrant community, providing a variety of community services, and served as transient housing for Polish migrants. In 1924 a second building was added immediately adjacent, which included recreational facilities, including a bowling alley and billiards hall. This building was remodeled in 1949. The facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its upper floors have been converted into housing, with retail spaces on the ground floor of the 1914 building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Babcock Block</span> United States historic place

The Babcock Block is a historic commercial building at 596 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in the 1860s, it is a rare example of granite construction in the period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bancroft Trust Building</span> United States historic place

The Bancroft Trust Building, formerly the Dodge Block and Sawyer Buildings, is an historic commercial building at 60 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the result of combining the 1883 Sawyer Building with the 1869 Dodge Block, one of the few surviving buildings of Worcester's early industrial age. Both buildings were designed by Fuller & Delano of Worcester, and were combined into the Bancroft Building in 1920. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enterprise Building (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The Enterprise Building is an historic commercial building at 540 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. When it was built in 1900, this five story brick building achieved notice for its elaborate Beaux Arts decorations. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IOOF Building (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> United States historic place

The IOOF Building is a historic building at 674 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larchmont (Worcester, Massachusetts)</span> Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Larchmont is a historic house at 36 Butler Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1858 as a country house, it is one of the city's finest surviving examples of Italianate architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Providence Street Firehouse</span> United States historic place

The Providence Street Firehouse is a historic former firestation at 98 Providence Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1899, it is unusual among the city's firehouses for its Beaux Arts stylings. The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, now houses Worcester Emergency Medical Services (WEMS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High Street Historic District (Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The High Street Historic District of Hartford, Connecticut is a 1.1-acre (0.45 ha) historic district that includes three buildings typifying the architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. The buildings are located at 402-418 Asylum Street, 28 High Street, and 175-189 Allyn Street, and includes the Batterson Block and Judd and Root Building, each individually listed for their architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yarbrough Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Yarbrough Hotel is a historic building in Huntsville, Alabama. The four-story structure was built of brick and reinforced concrete in 1922–25. The top three floors contain 75 rooms, while the ground floor features the hotel lobby and storefronts; as it did not have a ballroom or party rooms, it catered to businessmen. It faced competition from the Twickenham Hotel one block away, and the Russel Erskine Hotel. Yarbrough operated as a residential hotel until the late 1950s, and was renovated in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Bennington High School</span> United States historic place

The Former Bennington High School is a historic school building at 650 Main Street in Bennington, Vermont. Built in 1913 and enlarged several times, it is architecturally significant as an excellent example of Beaux-Arts architecture, and is historically important for its role in local education. The building, closed in 2004, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Bennington's high school educational services are now provided by Mount Anthony Union High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First National Bank Building (Hartford, Connecticut)</span> United States historic place

The First National Bank Building is a historic commercial building at 50-58 State House Square in the heart of downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Built in 1899, it is a fine local example of Beaux Arts architecture, and was one of the first of Hartford's commercial buildings to have a steel frame. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Magill House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Henry Magill House is a historic house at 390 Palisado Avenue in Windsor, Connecticut. Built in 1861, it is a well-preserved and locally rare example of Second Empire architecture executed in brick. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osgood Bradley Building</span> United States historic place

The Osgood Bradley Building is an historic industrial building at 18 Grafton Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Completed in 1916, the eight-story brick building is notable for its association with the Osgood Bradley Car Company, an early manufacturer of both railroad cars and automobiles. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robinson and Swan Blocks</span> Historic buildings in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

The Robinson and Swan Blocks are a pair of mixed commercial-residential buildings at 104-108 Pleasant Street and 1-3 Irving Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built about 1884 to nearly identical designs by Fuller & Delano, the buildings are well-preserved examples of Victorian Gothic architecture executed in brick. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, but due to administrative lapses, are not listed in its NRIS database.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duprey Building</span> United States historic place

The Duprey Building is a historic commercial building at 16 Norwich Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1926, it is a good example of a commercial Classical Revival building, built by a prominent local developer. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It is now mostly occupied by residences.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Bancroft Hotel". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-27.
  3. "Receivers Name for Hotel Firm" (PDF). The New York Times. November 18, 1933. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. "Polly Fitzgerald Interview" (Transcript). jfklibrary.org. Columbia Point, Boston, MA, USA: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. 19 August 1967. pp. 10–11. Retrieved 9 February 2018.