Bedford Block

Bedford Block
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Built: 1875
Architect: Charles Amos Cummings; Willard T. Sears
Architectural style: Venetian Gothic
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#:

79000368

[1]
Added to NRHP: August 21, 1979

The Bedford Block is an historic commercial building at 99 Bedford Street Boston, Massachusetts in an area called Church Green. Built in 1875 in a style promoted by John Ruskin called Venetian Gothic. The style may also be referred to as Ruskinian Gothic. [2]

It was designed by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears for Henry and Francis Lee [3] as a retail shoe center in an area that had been destroyed by the Great Boston Fire of 1872. [4] The building was added to the National Historic Register in 1979. Building was renovated in 1983 in conjunction with the Bay-Bedford Company.[5]

The Bedford Block's exterior is constructed of polychromatic bands of New Brunswick red granite, Tuckahoen marble, and pressed terra-cotta panels manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[6][7]. It was the first building after the Great Fire to use New Brunswick red granite as a material. [8]

The first floor features rough rustic blocks. Upper floor details include arched bay windows, Viollet-le-Duc inspired iron balconets[9] and flat column pilasters[10]. Each roof gable is topped with a finial crown. [11] There is a glazed tile clock is located in a 5-story tower at the corner of Bedford and Summer streets.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
  2. ^ Susan Southworth, Michael Southwort (2008). AIA Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. pp. 115. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 
  3. ^ Morgan, Keith N., editor, Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, et al. (2009). Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston.. University of Virginia Press. pp. 71. ISBN 978-0-8139-2709-1. 
  4. ^ Mary Melvin Petronella, Edward W. Gordon (2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. pp. 58. ISBN 978-1-5555-3605-3. 
  5. ^ Susan Southworth, Michael Southwort (2008). AIA Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. pp. 115. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 
  6. ^ Morgan, Keith N., editor, Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, et al. (2009). Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston.. University of Virginia Press. pp. 72. ISBN 978-0-8139-2709-1. 
  7. ^ Susan Southworth, Michael Southwort (2008). AIA Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. pp. 115. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 
  8. ^ Mary Melvin Petronella, Edward W. Gordon (2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. pp. 58. ISBN 978-1-5555-3605-3. 
  9. ^ Mary Melvin Petronella, Edward W. Gordon (2004). Victorian Boston today: twelve walking tours. UPNE. pp. 58. ISBN 978-1-5555-3605-3. 
  10. ^ Susan Southworth, Michael Southworth (2008). AIA Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. pp. 115. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 
  11. ^ Susan Southworth, Michael Southworth (2008). AIA Guide to Boston. Globe Pequot. pp. 115. ISBN 978-0-7627-4337-7. 

References

  • Morgan, Keith N., editor, Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, et al. Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston. University of Virginia Press: 2009. ISBN 978-0-8139-2709-1.
  • Placzek, Adolf K. Macmillan. Encyclopedia of Architects. 4 vols. Free Press: 1982. ISBN 0-02-925000-5.
  • Shand-Tucci, Douglas. Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800–2000. The University of Massachusetts Press: 1999. ISBN 1-55849-201-1.
  • Withey, Henry F. Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Hennessey & Ingalls: 1970.
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