Norcross Brothers Houses | |
Location | 16, 18 Claremont St., Worcester, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°15′18″N71°49′7″W / 42.25500°N 71.81861°W |
Built | 1878 |
Architectural style | Queen Anne |
MPS | Worcester MRA |
NRHP reference No. | 80000624 [1] |
Added to NRHP | March 5, 1980 |
The Norcross Brothers Houses are historic houses at 16 and 18 Claremont Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. They are named after their builders and first occupants, James and Orlando Norcross, principals of the Norcross Brothers construction company. [2]
The houses, which are located on the corner of Claremont Street and Woodland Street in the Main South area of Worcester, have been regarded as some of the earliest and finest examples of Queen Anne architecture in the city. [3] They were built in 1878 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 16 Claremont Street is home to the George Perkins Marsh Institute of Clark University. The Marsh Institute studies the human dimensions of environmental change and coupled natural and human systems.
The two homes are nearly identical in design, featuring rock-faced sandstone exteriors and asymmetrical facades. They are richly ornamented with wood paneling and unique interior details, with slight differences between the two houses. Over the years, the homes went through various modifications as they served different purposes, including a nursing home, convent, commune, dormitory, and more. Efforts have been made to restore some of the original spaces, but changes made by previous occupants and academic program requirements have been accommodated. [4]
Becker College was a private college in Worcester and Leicester, Massachusetts. Becker College traced its history from the union of two Massachusetts educational institutions—one founded in 1784 and the other in 1887. The college closed at the end of the 2020–21 academic year.
Norcross Brothers, Contractors and Builders was a nineteenth-century American construction company, especially noted for its work, mostly in stone, for the architectural firms of H.H. Richardson and McKim, Mead & White. The company was founded in 1864 by brothers James Atkinson Norcross (1831-1903) and Orlando Whitney Norcross (1839-1920). It won its first major contract in 1869, and is credited with having completed over 650 building projects.
Otis C. Norcross served as the nineteenth Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, from January 7, 1867 to January 6, 1868 during the Reconstruction era of the United States. Norcross was a candidate (1861) for the Massachusetts State House of Representatives; served as a member of the Boston Board of Aldermen from January 6, 1862 to January 2, 1865; chairman of the Boston Board of Aldermen from January 4, 1864 to January 2, 1865; and served as a trustee of the City Hospital, 1865 & 1866; and a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Council, under Gov. William Claflin (1869).
Framingham station is a historic Boston and Albany Railroad station located in downtown Framingham, Massachusetts. Designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson, it was one of the last of the railroad stations he designed in the northeastern United States to be built. The station, built in 1884–85, served as a major stop on the B&A Main Line as well as a hub for branch lines to Milford, Mansfield, Fitchburg, and Lowell. After years of deterioration, the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as the Framingham Railroad Station, and restored a decade later.
The South Unitarian Church is an historic church building at 888 Main Street in the Main South neighborhood of Worcester, Massachusetts. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by Earle & Fisher and was built by the Norcross Brothers in 1894 for the South Unitarian Society, established in 1890. The building is made of sandstone blocks, laid in courses alternating in width. The front (eastern) facade features a high pitched gable, with two rows of three windows, then a pair of windows topped by a large half-round window To the right is the church entrance, a smaller projecting gable section with a doorway recessed in a round archway, topped by three smaller windows. To the rear behind the entrance is a square tower with a partial half-round side tower.
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church is an historic stone Episcopal church building located at 693 Southbridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Designed by Stephen Earle of Earle and Fisher in the Gothic Revival style of architecture with some Romanesque details, it was built in 1894 by the Norcross Brothers. Construction of the church was funded in part by Matthew Whittall, proprietor of the Whittall Mills. It was the first Episcopal church in Worcester.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal church building at Zero Freeland Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Romanesque Revival stone building was designed by local architect Stephen C. Earle, and built in 1888 for a congregation established the preceding year. On March 5, 1980, the church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as St. Marks. The current priest is the Rev. Robert Carroll Walters.
The Alexander Marsh House is an historic house located in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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 Woodland Street Historic District is a historic housing district in the Main South area of Worcester, Massachusetts. It consists of 19 Victorian houses that either face or abut on Woodland Street, between Charlotte and Oberlin Streets. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Located directly adjacent to the campus of Clark University, some of the buildings are used by Clark for housing and administration.
The Beaver Street Historic District is a residential historic district in the Main South part of Worcester, Massachusetts. It encompasses a collection of five well preserved Colonial Revival triple-deckers located at 31-39 Beaver Street, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The former Downing Street School, now the Traina Center for the Arts of Clark University, is a historic school building at 92 Downing Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1891 to a design by Boston-based architect William Forbush, it is a high-quality local example of Romanesque Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Norcross Factory is a historic building at 10 E. Worcester Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in stages beginning 1863, this structure includes one of the city's oldest school buildings, the East Worcester Grammar School, and represents an adaptive reuse of the building, serving from 1893 to 1918 as the main facility of the Norcross Brothers, a firm best known for its construction of H. H. Richardson designs. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Fairlawn is a historic mansion at 189 May Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is now part of the main building of the Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. The mansion were the property of James Norcross, a nationally prominent builder whose Norcross Brothers firm was engaged in construction projects involving famous architects, including H. H. Richardson and McKim, Mead & White. The Norcross brothers were also locally prominent, building a number of Worcester landmarks and operating a factory in the city which produced architectural parts.
The John Legg House is a historic house at 5 Claremont Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Queen Anne style house was built in 1892 to a design by noted local architect Stephen Earle for John Legg, owner of the Worcester Woolens Company, one of the city's largest textile businesses. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame with an asymmetrical plan. One unusual feature is a first floor bay on the right side which is topped by a parapet. The center and left side of the house are sheltered by a porch, with a decorated gable end over the stairs.
The Salisbury Mansion and Store is an historic house museum at 40 Highland Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Slater Building is an historic commercial building at 390 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The ten story building, built in 1907 by the Norcross Brothers, was the second skyscraper in the city. Framed in steel, the building is clad in granite stone on its first two floors, while the upper floors are faced in limestone. The upper two floors are set off from those below by a trim line, and have a recessed loggia framed by Corinthian columns.
The Edward Stark House is a historic house at 21 Oread Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The S. D. Newton House is a historic house at 8 Sycamore Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1846, it is an excellent local instance of Greek Revival styling, and one of the few houses surviving from that period in the neighborhood. which once had many more of such houses. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 5, 1980. Unfortunately the current keeper of the home has let it go. Not much original left. Garbage everywhere on the inside. Lead paint, peeling paint. An eyesore it has become. It once was a great piece of local history.
Stephen Carpenter Earle was an architect who designed a number of buildings in Massachusetts and Connecticut that were built in the late 19th century, with many in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in the office of Calvert Vaux in New York City. He worked for a time in partnership with James E. Fuller, under the firm "Earle & Fuller". In 1891, he formed a partnership with Vermont architect Clellan W. Fisher under the name "Earle & Fisher".