West Street District

Last updated
West Street District
West Street District Boston MA.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
LocationWest St., Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′17.04″N71°3′44.88″W / 42.3547333°N 71.0624667°W / 42.3547333; -71.0624667 Coordinates: 42°21′17.04″N71°3′44.88″W / 42.3547333°N 71.0624667°W / 42.3547333; -71.0624667
Area0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
ArchitectLeland, Joseph D., & Co.; Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott
Architectural styleChicago, Classical Revival, Renaissance
MPS Boston Theatre MRA
NRHP reference No. 80000455 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 09, 1980

The West Street District is a historic district on West Street in Boston, Massachusetts, one of the city's "ladder districts" that runs between Tremont Street and Washington Street in the Downtown Crossing commercial/retail area. The district includes four buildings located near the corner of Tremont and West Streets, all built in the early 20th century. The two buildings at 148-150 Tremont Street were once occupied by Chandler and Company, an exclusive department store. Number 148 is a Renaissance Revival structure built as an office building in 1912, and number 150 was built in 1903 to house the Oliver Ditson Company, a music publisher. The Fabyan building at 26-30 West Street was designed by Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott, and built in 1926. The Schraffts Building at 16-24 West Street was built in 1922, and housed a flagship candy store and restaurant for more than fifty years. [2]

Contents

The West Street District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

Beacon Hill, Boston Historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts

Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, and the hill upon which the Massachusetts State House resides. The term "Beacon Hill" is used locally as a metonym to refer to the state government or the legislature itself, much like Washington, D.C.'s "Capitol Hill" does at the federal level.

Tremont Street subway Boston subway tunnel

The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction, opening on September 1, 1897. It was originally built, under the supervision of Howard A. Carson as chief engineer, to get streetcar lines off the traffic-clogged streets, instead of as a true rapid transit line. It now forms the central part of the Green Line, connecting Boylston Street to Park Street and Government Center stations.

Park Street, Boston Road in Boston, Massachusetts

Park Street is a small but historic road in the center of Boston, Massachusetts. It begins at the top of Beacon Hill, at the intersection of Beacon Street, where it is lined up with the front of the Massachusetts State House. It then spills down the hill toward Tremont Street, with Boston Common to its west.

Tremont Street Road in Boston Massachusetts

Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.

Piano Row District United States historic place

The Piano Row District is a historic district encompassing two blocks of buildings facing Boston Common at the corner of Tremont Street and Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The district extends along Boylston from Park Square to Tremont, and along Tremont to Avery Street. The district also includes two buildings on Tremont just south of Boylston: the Cutler Majestic Theater, and the 1925 Union Savings Bank building at 216-218 Tremont. This area was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and became known as "Piano Row" because of the concentration of music-related businesses, including several piano showrooms. The flagship store for M. Steinert and Sons, Boston's longtime Steinway dealer, has been located here since 1896, and features a fine underground performance hall, which has unfortunately been virtually abandoned due to fire codes.

Suffolk County Courthouse United States historic place

The Suffolk County Courthouse, now formally the John Adams Courthouse, is a historic courthouse building in Pemberton Square in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court. Built in 1893, it was the major work of Boston's first city architect, George Clough, and is one of the city's few surviving late 19th-century monumental civic buildings. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Park Street District Historic district in Boston, Massachusetts

The Park Street District is a historic district encompassing a small cluster of historic properties on or near Park Street in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. The district covers an entire city block delineated by Park Street, Beacon Street, School Street, and Tremont Street, just east of the Boston Common. The district reflects an early design of the area by architect Charles Bulfinch, although only a few buildings from his period survive.

Custom House District 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.

Frederick Douglass Square Historic District Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Frederick Douglass Square Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Hammond Street, Cabot Street, Windsor Street, and Westminster Street, in the Lower Roxbury area of Boston, Massachusetts. It covers a 5-acre (2.0 ha) that is a remarkably well-preserved and cohesive residential development created as the result of one of Boston's many land-reclamation projects in the 19th century. This area, originally salt marshes that flooded at high tide, was at first gradually filled in as the Boston Neck was widened with the construction of Tremont Street and railroad lines. The Tremont Improvement Company acquired a remnant portion of the salt marshes by the early 1860s, and built a series of single-family row houses on the land that resulted from filling it in. The district includes most of the residential properties on Warwick, Greenwich, and Sussex Streets, as well as clusters of properties on adjacent streets.

Lower Roxbury Historic District Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Lower Roxbury Historic District is a historic district encompassing an isolated pocket of 1890s mixed residential-commercial property in the lower Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Bounded by Tremont, Columbus, and Burke Streets and St. Cyprian's Place, the area contains a well-kept collection of architect designed buildings that survived late 20th-century urban redevelopment. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Shubert Theatre (Boston) Former theater in Boston, Massachusetts

The Shubert Theatre is a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, at 263-265 Tremont Street in the Boston Theater District. It opened on January 24, 1910, with a production of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew starring E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe. Architect Thomas M. James designed the building, which seats approximately 1,600 people. Originally conceived as The Lyric Theatre by developer Charles H. Bond, it was taken over by The Shubert Organization in 1908 after Bond's death.

R. H. Stearns Building United States historic place

The R. H. Stearns Building is an 11-story residence building at 140 Tremont Street in Boston. It was built in 1909 for the businessman R. H. Stearns and his company and was the home of the R. H. Stearns and Company department store until the company's demise in 1978.

Wilbur Theatre

The Wilbur Theatre is a historic performing arts theater at 244–250 Tremont Street in Boston, Massachusetts. The Wilbur Theatre originally opened in 1914, but underwent renovations in 2008. The Wilbur Theatre sits in the heart of Boston's historic theater district and is known for hosting live comedy and music.

J. Harleston Parker was an American architect active in Boston, Massachusetts.

Cummings and Sears

Cummings and Sears was an architecture firm in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts, established by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears.

Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell

Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell (1872-1888) was an architecture firm in Boston, Massachusetts. Its principals were Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee (1829-1888), Walter Thacher Winslow (1843-1909) and George Homans Wetherell (1854-1930). Most of the firm's work was local to Boston and New England, with a few commissions as far afield as Seattle and Kansas City.

Parker, Thomas & Rice

Parker, Thomas and Rice and Parker & Thomas were architectural firms formed in the early 20th century by partners J. Harleston Parker, Douglas H. Thomas, and Arthur W. Rice.

Boston Theater District United States historic place

The Boston Theater District is the center of Boston's theater scene. Many of its theaters are on Washington Street, Tremont Street, Boylston Street, and Huntington Avenue.

Fort Hill, Boston United States historic place

Fort Hill is a 0.4 square mile neighborhood and historic district of Roxbury, in Boston, Massachusetts. The approximate boundaries of Fort Hill are Malcolm X Boulevard on the north, Washington Street on the southeast, and Columbus Avenue on the southwest.

Old Town Hall Historic District (Duxbury, Massachusetts) Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Old Town Hall Historic District is a historic district on Tremont Street in Duxbury, Massachusetts. The district includes the town's Greek Revival town hall, the Greek Revival First Parish Church, and the 18th-century Mayflower Cemetery. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021 for its architecture and local historical significance.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "NRHP nomination for West Street District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-06-09.