Address | 321 Main St. |
---|---|
Location | Worcester, MA |
Public transit | Union Station |
Construction | |
Built | 1855 |
Renovated | 1977 |
Website | |
www | |
Mechanics Hall | |
Coordinates | 42°15′56.79″N71°48′7.03″W / 42.2657750°N 71.8019528°W |
Architect | Boyden & Ball |
Architectural style | Renaissance |
Part of | Mechanics' Hall District (ID80000577) |
NRHP reference No. | 72000152 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 9, 1972 |
Designated CP | March 5, 1980 |
Mechanics Hall is a concert hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1857 in the Renaissance Revival style and restored in 1977. [2] Built as part of the early nineteenth-century worker's improvement movement, it is now a concert and performing arts venue ranked as one of the top four concert halls in North America and in the top twelve between Europe and the Americas. [3] It also houses a recording studio. [4]
Workers in Worcester formed the Mechanics Association in 1842 to help members develop the knowledge and skills to manufacture and run machinery in the mills. In 1857 they built Mechanics Hall to house educational and cultural activities. Mechanics Hall featured a large concert hall on the third floor. Its acoustics enabled audiences to hear speakers' voices and music distinctly without benefit of the as-yet-not-invented electronic amplifier. A pipe organ was subsequently installed in 1864. Featuring meeting rooms, a library, and two halls, the building became a hub of activity, drawing speakers from Charles Dickens to Susan B. Anthony. The superb acoustics of Mechanics Hall would attract orchestras, bands, and renowned performers from Enrico Caruso to Ella Fitzgerald, Yo Yo Ma to Mel Tormé. [5] [6]
On April 3, 1910, President William Howard Taft visited Mechanics Hall to speak about labor issues to a meeting of Brotherhoods in Train Service, following a visit to his great aunt in Millbury, Massachusetts. He was greeted by a parade and "several thousand New Englanders." [7]
By the mid-20th century, downtown Worcester had declined, and the aging building fell into disfavor as a meeting place. Mechanics Hall was rented out for sporting events such as boxing, wrestling, basketball, and roller-skating. The building continued its decline, and trustees of the dwindling Mechanics Association sought to sell the property. When urban renewal threatened the hall with destruction, the Worcester Heritage Society stepped in. The community rallied around Mechanics Hall once again, raising $5 million for its restoration in 1977. Boston based architecture firm Anderson Notter Finegold completed the restoration. In reversing the decline of Mechanics Hall, Worcester halted the decline of its downtown, and the city experienced a renaissance. [8]
Built in 1864 by E. & G.G. Hook, the Hook Organ is the name for the pipe organ in the Main Hall of Mechanics Hall. It has 52 stops and 3,504 pipes, and is the oldest unaltered four-keyboard organ in the Western Hemisphere. [9] It was restored in 1982.
Worcester is the 2nd most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the 114th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, also making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north-northwest of Providence. Due to its location near the geographic center of Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth"; a heart is the official symbol of the city. Worcester is the historical seat of Worcester County in central Massachusetts.
Uxbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States, first colonized in 1662 and incorporated in 1727. It was originally part of the town of Mendon, and named for the Earl of Uxbridge. The town is located 36 mi (58 km) southwest of Boston and 15 mi (24 km) south-southeast of Worcester, at the midpoint of the Blackstone Valley National Historic Park. The historical society notes that Uxbridge is the "Heart of The Blackstone Valley" and is also known as "the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution". Uxbridge was a prominent Textile center in the American Industrial Revolution. Two Quakers served as national leaders in the American anti-slavery movement. Uxbridge "weaves a tapestry of early America".
Symphony Hall is a concert hall that is home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, located at 301 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, Massachusetts. BSO founder Henry Lee Higginson commissioned architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to create a new, permanent home for the orchestra. Symphony Hall can accommodate an audience of 2,625. The hall was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1999 and is a pending Boston Landmark. It was then noted that "Symphony Hall remains, acoustically, among the top three concert halls in the world, and is considered the finest in the United States." Symphony Hall, located one block from Berklee College of Music to the north and one block from the New England Conservatory to the south, also serves as home to the Boston Pops as well as the site of many concerts of the Handel and Haydn Society.
The Wiener Musikverein, commonly shortened to Musikverein, is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra.
The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at 240 S. Broad Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite its name, the Academy has never contained a music school. It is located between Locust and Manning Streets in the Avenue of the Arts area of Center City.
E. and G.G. Hook was a pipe organ designing and manufacturing company, located in Boston, Massachusetts, which operated from 1827 to 1935. It was started, and originally run, by brothers Elias and George Greenleaf Hook.
Hammond Castle is located on the Atlantic coast in the Magnolia area of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The castle, which was constructed between 1926 and 1929, was the home, laboratory, and museum of John Hays Hammond Jr., an inventor and pioneer in the study of remote control who held over four hundred patents. The building is composed of modern and 15th-, 16th-, and 18th-century architectural elements and sits on a rocky cliff overlooking Gloucester Harbor.
North Uxbridge is a village and a post office in the town (township) of Uxbridge in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The postal zip code is 01538. It is classified as a community or populated place located at latitude 42.088 and longitude -71.641 and the elevation is 266 feet (81 m). North Uxbridge appears on the Uxbridge U.S. Geological Survey Map. Worcester County is in the Eastern time zone and observes DST. North Uxbridge is located approximately 36 miles west-southwest of Boston, and 15 miles southeast of Worcester. The town meeting in 1885 set aside North Uxbridge as a "special district", since its population had exceeded 1000 people. North Uxbridge appeared as a separate Census tract in the 1960 census, with a population of 1882. In 2013, an Uxbridge DIY show, The Garage, with Steve Butler, went worldwide from Steve's garage in North Uxbridge.
The Bazaleel Taft Jr. House and Law Office are a historic house and law office building at 195 South Main Street in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. On November 7, 1983, they were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The House and Law office reflect the Georgian Architecture Style.
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral for the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis. Christ Church parish was formally organized in 1837. The present-day church building was erected in 1857 on Monument Circle at the center of downtown Indianapolis to replace the parish's first church built on the same site. Designed by architect William Tinsley, the English Gothic Revival-style structure is the oldest church building in Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, that has remained in continuous use. It is also the oldest building on Monument Circle. Christ Church is known for its music, especially its pipe organs, one of which was donated by Ruth Lilly, and its professional Choir of Men and Boys and Girls' Choir. The parish is also known for its community service, including an annual strawberry festival fundraiser and other charitable work. Christ Church Cathedral was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1973. It is located in the Washington Street-Monument Circle Historic District.
The Masonic Temple is an historic former Masonic building at 339–341 State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. The four story Neo-Classical building was built in 1923 to serve as the headquarters of the local Masonic lodge. It occupies a prominent position opposite the Springfield Armory, just outside the downtown area. The building, which is no longer owned by the Masons, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Notre Dame Catholic Church is a historic church in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It is one of two churches serving the Parish of Saint John Paul II; Saint Mary Church, located at the corner of Marcy and Hamilton Street, also serves as the location of the Parish Center and Rectory.
The First Congregational Church of Zumbrota is an historic congregational church in Zumbrota, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1862 in the form of a colonial meeting house. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for being one of Southeast Minnesota's oldest standing churches and a reflection of New Englander settlement in many of its towns.
The Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank is a historic bank building at 316 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The six story Romanesque Revival building was constructed in 1891 to a design by Stephen Earle. The building is unusual in downtown Worcester for its use of limestone and buff brick, and for its rounded corner bay. The building originally had plate glass and iron store fronts on its ground floor, but this was redone in matching limestone sometime after 1949.
The Worcester City Hall and Common, the civic heart of the city, are a historic city hall and town common at 455 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The city hall and common were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The Mechanics' Hall District is a historic district encompassing a city block of downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, United States that preserves its late 19th-century appearance. It is located on Main Street between Exchange and Foster Streets, and includes the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank building and Mechanics Hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
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