Fort Point Channel Historic District

Last updated

Fort Point Channel Historic District
Fort Point Channel Historic District South Boston MA 01.jpg
Map of Boston and Cambridge.png
Red pog.svg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationNecco Court, Thomson Place, A, Binford, Congress, Farnsworth, Melcher, Midway, Sleeper, Stillings, Summer Sts., Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′4″N71°3′2″W / 42.35111°N 71.05056°W / 42.35111; -71.05056
Area55 acres (22 ha)
Built1836
ArchitectSafford, Morton; et al.
Architectural styleItalianate, Romanesque
NRHP reference No. 04000959 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 10, 2004

The Fort Point Channel Historic District is an historic district located along Congress, Summer and A streets in South Boston on the south side of Fort Point Channel.

Contents

The district includes the Boston Children's Museum (pictured, right), located in a renovated 19th-century brick industrial building, and the Boston Fire Museum, housed in the 1891 Congress Street Fire Station.

History

Consisting of about 55 acres (22 ha) of land across the Fort Point Channel from Boston's Financial District, the area was developed by the Boston Wharf Company from 1836 to 1882, mainly for warehousing and manufacturing. The Boston Wharf Company parceled out all of the lots and laid out all of the streets from scratch, naming the streets after officers in the company and principal tenants in the buildings: Binford, Farnsworth, Melcher, Midway, Sleeper and Stillings streets, Necco Court, Thomson Place.

The Boston Wharf Company constructed most of the buildings for the manufacture and storage of a wide variety of goods, beginning with sugar and molasses and branching out into the wool trade by the end of the 19th century.

Concurrently, the company enlarged its operations to become a chief developer of warehouse and industrial facilities for local railroads and shipping companies. This district made Boston the main production and marketing center for wool for clothing and fabrics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [2]

After the wool trade declined, the district's buildings were abandoned. Artists gradually moved into the large, well-lit warehouse loft spaces, thus creating New England's largest enclave of artists, the Fort Point Arts Community. [3]

Architecture

The Fort Point Channel district mainly consists of a visually uniform collection of side-by-side loft buildings constructed between the 1880s and 1920s by the Boston Wharf Company, most bearing the company's trademark logo as a circular copper crest relief attached to each building.

According to the Boston Landmarks Commission, these buildings represent "an unusually coherent and well-preserved collection of late 19th and early 20th century lofts that reflect a critical period of social, economic, and physical development in the City and the region. The loft buildings are generally masonry, with simple volumes and flat roofs. Buildings are elegantly proportioned, with classically inspired details concentrated at entrances and cornices." [2]

Landmark designation

The Fort Point Channel Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. [1]

In 2001, the Fort Point District was petitioned [4] as a Landmark District with the Boston Landmarks Commission. [5] In 2008, a Mayoral-appointed Study Committee began drafting District guidelines. In December 2008, Mayor Menino and the Boston Landmarks Commission voted in favor of the guidelines which were officially approved on January 28, 2009 by the Boston City Council. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NoHo, Manhattan</span> Neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City

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

The Strand Historic District, also known as the Strand District, in downtown Galveston, Texas (USA), is a National Historic Landmark District of mainly Victorian era buildings that now house restaurants, antique stores, and curio shops. The area is a major tourist attraction for the island city and also plays host to two very popular seasonal festivals. It is widely considered the island's shopping and entertainment center. The district includes properties along the south side of Harborside Drive and both sides of The Strand and Mechanic Street from 20th Street westward to 26th Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Worth Stockyards</span> United States historic place

The Fort Worth Stockyards is a historic district that is located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, north of the central business district. A 98-acre (40 ha) portion encompassing much of the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District in 1976. It holds a former livestock market which operated under various owners from 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Avenue Historic District (St. Louis, Missouri)</span> Historic district in Missouri, United States

The Washington Avenue Historic District is located in Downtown West, St. Louis, Missouri along Washington Avenue, and bounded by Delmar Boulevard to the north, Locust Street to the south, 8th Street on the east, and 18th Street on the west. The buildings date from the late 19th century to the early 1920s. They exhibit a variety of popular architectural styles of those years, but most are revival styles or in the commercial style that would later come to be known as the Chicago School of architecture. Most are large multi-story buildings of brick and stone construction, built as warehouses for the St. Louis garment district. Many have terra cotta accents on their facades. After World War II, the decline in domestic garment production and the preference for single-story industrial space led to many of the buildings being vacant or underused due to functional obsolescence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Wharf (Boston)</span> United States historic place

Long Wharf is a historic American pier in Boston, Massachusetts, built between 1710 and 1721. It once extended from State Street nearly a half-mile into Boston Harbor; today, the much-shortened wharf functions as a dock for passenger ferries and sightseeing boats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Port of Portland, Maine</span> Historic district in the U.S.

The Old Port is a district of Portland, Maine, known for its cobblestone streets, 19th-century brick buildings and fishing piers. The district contains boutiques, restaurants and bars. Because of its reputation for nightlife, the Old Port is a popular destination for tourists and locals alike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Point, Boston</span>

Fort Point is a neighborhood or district of Boston, Massachusetts, and where a fort stood which guarded the city in colonial times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District</span> Historic district in Nebraska, United States

The Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District, roughly bounded by Jackson, 15th, and 8th Streets, as well as the Union Pacific main line, is located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Today this historic district includes several buildings listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Union Pacific Depot and the Burlington Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Custom House District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

Custom House District is a historic district in Boston, Massachusetts, located between the Fitzgerald Expressway and Kilby Street and South Market and High and Batterymarch Streets. Named after the 1849 Boston Custom House located on State Street, the historic district contains about seventy buildings on nearly sixteen acres in Downtown Boston, consisting of 19th-century mercantile buildings along with many early 20th-century skyscrapers, including the 1915 Custom House Tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk Street, Boston</span>

Milk Street is a street in the financial district of Boston, Massachusetts, which was one of Boston's earliest highways. The name "Milk Street" was most likely given to the street in 1708 due to a milk market at the location, although Grace Croft's 1952 work "History and Genealogy of Milk Family" instead proposes that Milk Street may have been named for John Milk, an early shipwright in Boston. The land was originally conveyed to his father, also John Milk, in October 1666.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Avenue</span> Thoroughfare in Chicago, United States

Prairie Avenue is a north–south street on the South Side of Chicago, which historically extended from 16th Street in the Near South Side to the city's southern limits and beyond. The street has a rich history from its origins as a major trail for horseback riders and carriages. During the last three decades of the 19th century, a six-block section of the street served as the residence of many of Chicago's elite families and an additional four-block section was also known for grand homes. The upper six-block section includes part of the historic Prairie Avenue District, which was declared a Chicago Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Street (Boston)</span>

Summer Street in Boston, Massachusetts, extends from Downtown Crossing in the Financial District, over Fort Point Channel, and into the Seaport District to the southeast. In the mid-19th century it was also called Seven Star Lane.

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

The Renwick Building is a historic building located in downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties since 2000. In 2020 it was included as a contributing property in the Davenport Downtown Commercial Historic District. It is known locally for the large painted sign on the north side of the building depicting the Bix 7 Road Race.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Decatur Hatch</span> American architect

Stephen Decatur Hatch (1839–1894) was a prominent late-19th century architect who was responsible for a number of historically or architecturally significant buildings in Manhattan, New York City and elsewhere. He primarily designed commercial buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake McFall Company Building</span> Historic building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Blake McFall Company Building, also known as the Emmett Building, in southeast Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon, is a five-story commercial warehouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by McNaughton & Raymond of Portland and built in 1915, it was added to the register in 1990. The 100-by-200-foot structure is representative of a group of timber-framed loft warehouses built in the early 20th century on the east side of the Willamette River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Avenue Historic District (Philadelphia)</span> Historic district in Pennsylvania, United States

Washington Avenue Historic District, or Washington Avenue Factory District, is a national historic district located in the Hawthorne and Bella Vista neighborhoods of South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It comprises the remaining four blocks of one of the last industrial neighborhoods in Philadelphia, and encompasses eight contributing buildings built between 1889 and 1927:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Wharf (Boston)</span> United States historic place

Central Wharf is a historic pier in Boston, Massachusetts. Built in 1815–1816 between Long Wharf and India Wharf, it originally extended from India Street nearly a quarter-mile into Boston Harbor. Today, the much-shortened wharf serves as the home of the New England Aquarium.

The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation in 1975.

John Street is a street running north to south through the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is one of the oldest streets in the city. Long associated with maritime activity, the street ran along Burling Slip. The slip was filled in around 1840, and the street widened. Besides a wharf, warehouse, and chandlery, the city's first permanent theatre, and the first Methodist congregation in North America were located on John Street. It was also the site of a well-known pre-Revolutionary clash between the Sons of Liberty and British soldiers, pre-dating the Boston Massacre by six weeks.

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

Corktown Lofts, previously known as the Edson, Moore and Company Building, is a former warehouse building, constructed for Edson, Moore & Company in 1913. It is located at 1700 West Fort Street in Detroit, Michigan, and as of 2017 is being redeveloped into a mixed use space. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Fort Point Channel Landmark District". July 13, 2016.
  3. "Home". fortpointarts.org.
  4. "SAND News!". Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  5. Fort Point Channel Landmark District - City of Boston
  6. Hillman, Michelle (January 2009). "Fort Point designated as landmark". Boston Business Journal.