Munroe Building

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Munroe Building
Munroe Building.jpg
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Location 1227--1259 Hancock St., Quincy, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°15′7″N71°0′15″W / 42.25194°N 71.00417°W / 42.25194; -71.00417 Coordinates: 42°15′7″N71°0′15″W / 42.25194°N 71.00417°W / 42.25194; -71.00417
Area 1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built 1929
Architect Shepard & Stearns
Architectural style Colonial Revival
MPS Quincy MRA
NRHP reference # 89001349 [1]
Added to NRHP September 20, 1989

The Munroe Building is a historic commercial building at 1227-1259 Hancock Street in Quincy, Massachusetts. Built in 1929 to a design by Shepard & Stearns, it is the best-preserved of two adjacent Colonial Revival two-story commercial blocks built on Hancock Street in the 1920s. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1]

Quincy, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Quincy is the largest city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Metropolitan Boston and one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2014 was 93,397, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. Known as the "City of Presidents," Quincy is the birthplace of two U.S. presidents—John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams—as well as John Hancock, a President of the Continental Congress and the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Shepard & Stearns was an architecture partnership that operated in Boston and greater New England.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

Description and history

The Munroe Building is set on the southwest side of Hancock Street in downtown Quincy, between the street and the Quincy Center MBTA station. To its southeast is a public park, with Quincy City Hall at the far end. It is a rectangular two-story structure, faced in brick with stone trim. The street and park-facing facades are similar, with commercial storefronts on the ground floor that are predominantly 1980s vintage glass and aluminum. The upper level is characterized by a series of gables, each of which has a central window topped by a blind round arch, and flanking sash windows, in a variant of the Palladian window concept. The central window is surrounded by a garland. Between the gable sections are smaller sections with single sash windows that have blind segmented-arch tops. [2]

Quincy City Hall

Quincy City Hall is the seat of government for the City of Quincy, Massachusetts. The historic town hall building at 1305 Hancock Street in Quincy Center was built in 1844. It is a somewhat monumental example of Greek Revival architecture, featuring a temple front with two-story Ionic pilasters and a triangular pediment. Elements of the main facade were significantly altered when the town was converted to a city in 1888. It has been the seat of local government since its construction.

The Colonial Revival building was designed by Shepard and Stearns and built in 1929. Then, as now, it housed retail stores on the ground floor and professional offices above. It was built by Henry Faxon, a major real estate owner of the period. The Dimmock Building, a block down Hancock Street, is another Colonial Revival building from 1929; it has been substantially altered. [2]

See also

List of Registered Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Munroe Building". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-06-04.