The Nichols Block (1892) is a prominent Romanesque Revival style commercial building in downtown Bangor, Maine. Designed by local architect Wilfred E. Mansur, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District. The building is one of few in the Exchange St. district of Bangor to have escaped both the Great Fire of 1911 and the so-called urban renewal programme of the late 1960s.
Bangor is a city in the U.S. state of Maine, and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 33,039, making it the state's 3rd largest settlement behind Portland (66,882) and Lewiston (36,221).
Wilfred E. Mansur (1855–1921) was the most prominent architect in late 19th and early 20th Century Bangor, Maine. He designed many private and municipal buildings, including the Penobscot County Courthouse and at least seven schools. His masterpieces are probably the Nichols Block and Columbia Building, in which he used a Romanesque Revival style with exuberant patterned brickwork, and the Graham Building of 1911, among the most prominent landmarks in downtown Bangor. Mansur's largest number of commissions came following the Great Fire of 1911, which destroyed half of the city's commercial district. At least eleven Mansur-designed buildings are preserved on the National Register of Historic Places, many in Bangor's Great Fire of 1911 Historic District.
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.
The building was commissioned by Eugene C. Nichols (better known as E.C. Nichols) who owned one of the largest dry & fancy goods stores in 19th century Bangor. The E.C. Nichols Co. store was on Main Street, across the Kenduskeag Stream from the site of the 1892 Nichols Block. Nichols' new building was apparently an investment, and was initially occupied by Meyer M. Levy's Bangor Clothing Store and, on the upper stories, a "Social Hall" rented for functions. [1] The opening function was a dance, just before Christmas in 1892, hosted by Miss June Nichols, the owner's daughter. [2] Exchange St. was at that time a center of social life in Bangor, with numerous hotels and bars. The central train station was at the end of the street.
Wilfred E. Mansur was Bangor's most prominent turn-of-the-century architect. In 1895 he also designed E.C. Nichol's house, a wooden mansion with a prominent round tower, still standing on Union St. at the corner with High St. [3]
Louis Henry Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of skyscrapers" and "father of modernism". He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago group of architects who have come to be known as the Prairie School. Along with Wright and Henry Hobson Richardson, Sullivan is one of "the recognized trinity of American architecture". The phrase "Form follows function" is attributed to him, although he credited the origin of the concept to an ancient Roman architect. In 1944, Sullivan was the second architect to posthumously receive the AIA Gold Medal.
Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns, Jr. (1843–1917). The firm worked on in a variety of designs but is closely associated with shingle style.
The Rosson House serves as a historic house museum located in Phoenix's Heritage Square. It was built between 1894 and 1895 and still sits in its original foundation in downtown Phoenix. Named for Dr. Roland Lee Rosson and his wife Flora Murray Rosson, the house changed hands numerous times before being purchased by the City of Phoenix and restored to its original condition.
Located in Bangor, Maine, and Portland, Maine, Bangor Theological Seminary was an ecumenical seminary, founded in 1814, in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. It was the only accredited graduate school of religion in Northern New England
Charles Stetson was a United States Representative from Maine, and the eldest member of a powerful Bangor political family. He was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire on November 2, 1801, but moved with his parents to Hampden, Maine in 1802. His father Simeon Stetson kept a store and a sawmill, and built vessels for the West India Trade. His uncle Amasa Stetson was proprietor of the nearby town of Stetson, Maine, where Simeon had briefly settled before moving to Hampden.
The Great Fire of 1911 took place in Bangor, Maine, on April 30 and May 1, 1911. A small fire that started in a downtown shed went out of control and destroyed hundreds of commercial and residential buildings.
The Adams-Pickering Block is a historic commercial building at Main and Middle Streets in Bangor, Maine. Built in 1873, it is one of the major surviving works of local architect George W. Orff in the city, and one of the few of the period to survive Bangor's Great Fire of 1911.
The Bangor Fire Engine House No. 6 is a historic former fire station at 284 Center Street in Bangor, Maine. Built in 1902, it is a high quality local example of Beaux Arts architecture, and is one of a series of important public commissions by local architect Wilfred E. Mansur. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 7, 1988.
Bangor Hose House No. 5, is an historic fire station at 247 State Street in Bangor, Maine. Built in 1897, it served as a fire house for about a century. It now houses the Hose 5 Fire Museum, a city-operated museum devoted to its fire history. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Aroostook County Courthouse and Jail is located on Court Street in the center of Houlton, Maine. The building was built in 1859 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 26, 1990. Its oldest portion dates to 1859, built to a design by Gridley J. F. Bryant, and was the county's first purpose-built court facility. Later additions in 1895 and 1928 added wings that give the building its present shape. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Great Fire of 1911 Historic District is located in downtown Bangor, Maine, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. It preserves Maine's most significant collection of early 20th century public and commercial buildings, and commemorates an urban re-building campaign matched only by Portland's following its own destruction by fire in 1866. The Great Fire of 1911 was Maine's last large-scale urban conflagrations, but resulted in the creation of an early 20th-century urban space relatively unique in Maine or northern New England.
Edward Austin Kent was a prominent architect in Buffalo, New York. Kent died on April 15, 1912 when the RMS Titanic sank and was seen helping women and children into the lifeboats.
The Graham Building is a yellow-brick Romanesque Revival style commercial building in downtown Bangor, Maine, at the corner of Harlow and Central Streets. It is one of the most prominent buildings in the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Milton Earle Beebe was an American architect who designed numerous buildings in Buffalo, New York, in Fargo, North Dakota, and elsewhere. He designed courthouses "at Warren, Smethport, Cambria, and Huntingdon in Pennsylvania, costing $100,000 each." Several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. He also designed Early Commercial architecture buildings, residences, churches and public buildings.
Howard Hoppin (1856–1940) was an American architect from Providence, Rhode Island.
The William M. Shaw House is a historic house at 40 Norris Street in Greenville, Maine, which now houses the Greenville Inn. Built in 1895, it is a handsome and elaborate example of Queen Anne architecture in a rural small-town setting. The house was designed by Edwin E. Lewis of Gardiner, with alterations by Wilfred E. Mansur of Bangor. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013 for its architecture, and for its association with William Shaw, a leading lumber businessman active in Greenville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose business interests also included ownership of the steamer Katahdin.
The Market Square Historic District of Houlton, Maine encompasses that town's historic late-19th century central business district. Centered on the junction of Market Square, Court Street, Water Street, and Main Street, it includes a relatively cohesive assortment of brick and masonry commercial buildings, designed by architects and built between 1885 and 1910, following the arrival of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Wheelwright Block is a historic commercial building at 34 Hammond Street in Bangor, Maine. Built in 1859, it occupies a central position in the city's West Market Square at the junction of Main, Broad, and Hammond Streets. It was the state's first commercial Second Empire building, and notably survived both Bangor's devastating 1911 fire, and its major urban renewal programs of the late 1960s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Frederick Augustus Tompson (1857-1919), often misspelled Thompson, was an American architect from Portland, Maine.