William G. Preston

William G. (Gibbons) Preston was an American architect. He was active in Boston and Georgia, where he designed the De Soto Hotel and the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory. Many of his buildings were pictured as prints in American Architect and Building News.

He designed Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Rogers Building in 1864, located on Boylston Street near Boston's Copley Square, which housed the school's architecture department. Floor plans for the building show a large, centrally located space devoted to an architectural library and museum. Drawings from the Study Collection were hung on the studio walls and numerous casts and other artifacts also lined the walls and picture rails.^[1]

Projects

Rogers Building of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1864, on Boylston Street near Copley Square, Boston
De Soto Hotel in Savannah Georgia, (razed, now the site of the Hilton DeSoto Hotel)^[2]
Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory, 1893
Armory of the First Corps of Cadets of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, pictured in August 20, 1892, American Architect and Building News
Central Station of West End Street Railway Company, Boston
Chadwick Lead Works, Boston
Armory of the First Corps of Cadets of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Boston
Mason Building, Liberty Square, Boston
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association building, Huntington Avenue and West Newton Streets, Boston
Quincy Market Cold Storage Warehouse
John Hancock Building (Devonshire) on Devonshire Street, Boston
The Aubry on Dartmouth and Newbury Streets (W.G. Preston & A.C.)
Boston Terra Cotta Company's "New Building"
Claflin Building (1873), originally the Boston University School of Religious Education and Social Service building built by one of Boston University's founders. Alexander Graham Bell taught in the building. It has also held retail businesses and then became a residential apartment building.^[3]
Jacob Sleeper Hall, Boston University
Boston Transit Commission Building, 15 Beacon Street, Boston
Walter E. Fernald State School, 200 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts
Templeton Farm Colony, 126 Royalston Road, Templeton, Massachusetts
Thomas Webster Estate 238 Webster Street, Marshfield, Massachusetts

References

^ Architecture at MIT, accessed August 12, 2010, includes photos
^ Multiple print spread including main entrance, dining room, and exterior May 2, 1896, American Architect and Building News
^ Boston Real Estate Observer: Claflin Building at 20 Beacon Street, accessed August 12, 2010

Persondata
Name	Preston, William G.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death