Nomination for Arlington Street Church

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

HB 2n19 = 32,420 N4690630 32 84 327690 N46903 N4990300 Form 10-300 (Rev. 6-72) SNOILOAYLSN UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 170026544 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE: Massachusetts COUNTY: Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) MUG 1 4 1973 NAME C OMMON: Back Bay Historic District AND/ OR HISTORIC Sâme as above LOCATION STREET AND NUMBER: Described under no. 7. CITY OR TOWN: Boston- STATE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 8th and 9th Cong.

District COUNTY: -Suffolk CODE 025 Massachusetts CLASSI FICATION CATEGORY (Check One) District Site Building Structure CODE 025 OWNERSHIP STATUS Object Public Private Both Public Acquisition: In Process Being Considered Occupied Unoccupied Preservation work in progresr ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC Yes: X Restricted Unrestricted No PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Agricultural Government .Commercial Industrial Educational Military X: Entertainment Museum OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNER'S NAME: Public and Private STREET AND NUMBER: Park Private Residence Religious Scientific Transporfation - Other (Specify) - Comments CITY OR TOWN: Boston STATE: Massachusetts LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF REEDS, ETC: Registry of Deeds, Suffolk County Courthouse STREET AND PeMiberton Square CODE 025 CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE Boston Massachusetts 025 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY: Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth DATE OF SURVEY: 1973 - Federal 3 * State /: DEPOSITORY FOR SURYEY RECORDS: RECEIVED - Copnty 011-20/ 1973 Massachusetts Historigal Commission STREET AND NUMBER: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN: Boston STATE: | Massachusetts NATIONAL REGISTER 97 FODE 025 STATE Mass- COUNTY: Suffolk ENTRY NUMBER 1975 467/5 FOR NPS USE ONLY DESCRIPTION (Check One) Fair -- Deteriorated X Excellent CONDITION X Good (Check One) Ruins X Altered XI Unaltered Moved DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

L Unexposed (Check One) Original Site p.I. For description of legal boundaries see Continuation page 33 The Back Bay is presently a densely built up area of fashionable apartments, office and business facilitles, schools and other institutions. Most of its original structures survive; and despite many variations in architectural style, they are dis- tinguished by a general consistency of character, form, and scale. Enclosed within well-defined bounds, the Back Bay com- prises, in effect, an easily discernable encive of superior nineteenth century architecture in the city proper. Since 1966 the residential portion of the Back Bay has been a legally es- tablished architectural conservation district under the juris- diction of the Back Bay Architectural Commission.

The streets of the Back Bay are arranged in a regular grid of rectangular blocks oriented longitudinally along five main axis avenues and intersected at equal intervals by less important transverse streets. The core of this system 1s Commonwealth Avenue. Laid out as a grand boulevard along the central axis grid, it includes a wide, elm-shaded, pedestrian mall within its 240 foot width and 1 1/8 mile length from the Public Garden to Charlesgate East. The other principle axis streets are Beacon, Marlborough, Newbury, and Boylston. The cross streets, named for English nobility and occuring in successive alphabetical order are: Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dart- mouth, Exeter, Fairfieldy Gloucester, Hereford, Iollowed by Massachusetts Avenue and Charlesgate East.

At Boylston Street, between Clarendon and Dartmouth Streets, the original grid was intersected by the diagonal swath of - Huntington Avenue. Copley Square, the result of this inter- ruption in the grid, remains the most important public space The Public Library (McKim, Mead ,and white, 1887), Irinity Church (i- H- Richarason, 1877), 0le soutr urch (Cummings and Sears, 1875), and the Copley Plaza Hotel (Henry Hardenburgh, 1912) define the square and characterize its public importance. Across the district from Copley Square, the Storrow Embankment was created as a park in 1931 along the southern bank of the Charles Biver Basin. It contains, in addition to an automobile parkway, a small man-made lagoon and the Hatch Memorial Shell, where free concerts and enter- tainments are given during summer months.

By far the largest number: of Back Bay structures were original- ly built as private houses in the second half of the nineteenth century. There are, however, significant numbers of churches, public buildings, apartment buildings, hotels, schools, club- houses, and commercial buildings also represented here. (See Continuation page 7b) Form 1 1 yJuly N 1969 C/VEU JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STATE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Massachusetts NAPIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES COUNTY Suffolk INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) AUG 1 41973 DATE (Dumber all entries) 7-Description (Cont.) Back Bay District p.2. Taken together these buildings comprise a vast number of building styles executed in the sixty formative years of architectural development in the Back Bay.

Represented are the Itallanate, French Academic, Gothic, Buskinian Gothic, Panel Brick, Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque styles-and the later Bevivals, the Italian Renaissance, German Benaissance, Beaux Arts, Chateau- esque, Georgian, Federal, and Adamesque- While pure examples of every style exist, variations combining elements from two or more styles are common. Beacon Street, Marlborough Street, Commonwealth Avenue, and most of the cross streets have maintained their residential character and are built up almost exclusively with townhouse and apartment buildings. Of these, the townhouses predominate. They are typically of attached rowhouse construction, eighteen to thirty, But occasionally as much as fifty, feet wide, and built of brick or masonry.

They generally consist of an ordered arrangement of entry (side or central), approached by a stone stoop, the prin- cipal floors set above a raised, rusticated basement and capped with a mansard roof, often with dormer windows and balustrade or iron cresting. The consistency with which all houses obey a mandatory setback from the street, the overall uniformity of cornice heights, and the constant repetition and reinterpretation of basic decorative elements, 1.e. bay windows, balconies, stairways, cornices, door and window entramements, create a homogeneity and continuity in Back Bay blocks that reenforces the broad, lineal avenue plan. Architectural conservatism and the common lack of aggressive design in Back Bay houses also contribute to the visual subordi- nation of individual buildings and the strongly pronounced asser- tion of the block front.

On Newbury and Boylston Streets, the original residential char- acter has changed. Newbury Street still retains many tine, original nineteenth century houses, but commercial inroads have introduced storefronts and other exterior alterations. It is now an area of small specialty shops and art galleries. Boylston Street has few original buildings remaining, but contains the area's most important comercial architecture. Though now part of the Back Bay through the sympathetic scale of its buildings and the strong unity of the Back Bay plan. GPO 921.724 9 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NATIONAL INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER AUG p. 3.

DATE 14 1973 (Number ell entries) 7-Desdription (Cont.) Back Bay District DESCRIPTION OF BOUNDS The Back Bay District includes the property bounded and defined in the following manner: Starting at the intersection of the midline of Arlington St. and the midline of Providence St,; Thence running northerly by the midline of Arlington St. to the midline of Beacon St.; Thence running westerly by the midline of Beacon St.

to the midline of Embankment Road; Thence running northerly along the midline of Embankment Road, crossing Storrow Drive, and extending to the southerly perimeter of the Hatch Shell grounds; Thence running northeasterly along the perimeter of the Hatch Shell grounds to the rear perimeter of the Hatch Shell; Thence running northwesterly along the rear perimeter of the Hatch Shell and extending to the southern shore of the Charles River Basin, (known at this point as the boat haven); Thence running westerly along the northern perimeter of the Storrow Embankment, and intersecting with the extension of the midline of Charlesgate East; Thence running southerly along said extension and the midline of Charlesgate East to the back lot lines of properties fronting on the south side of Newbury St; Thence running easterly along said back lot lines to the midline of Massachusetts Ave.; Thence running southerly along the midline of Massachusetts Ave.

to the midline of Boylston St. Thence running easterly along the midline of Boylston St. to the western lot line of no. 710 Boylston St., now called the Lenox Hotel; Thence running southerly along the said western lot line to the southern lot line of no. 710 Boylston St.; Thence running easterly along said southern lot line, extending to the midline of Exeter St.; Thence running southerly along the midline of Exeter St. to a point at the juncture of the midlines of Exeter St., Stuart St., and Huntington Ave.; Thence running easterly along the midline of Stuart St. to the midline of Trinity P1.; Thence running northerly along the midline of Trinity Pl. to the midline of St. James St.; Thence running easterly along the midline of St. James St.,to the midline of Clarendon St.; Thence running northerly along the midline of Clarendon St.

to the midline of Providence St.; Thence running easterly along the midline of Providence St. to the midline of Arlington St., the point of beginning. GP0 921-724

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) Pre-Columbian! 15th Century 16th Century 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century X 20th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal Education Prehistoric Engineering a Historic Industry Agriculture Invention Architecture Landscape Art Architecture Commerce Literature Communications Military Conservation Music Political Religion/Phi- -losophy Science -Sculpture Social/Human- itarian Theater Transportation * Urban Planning Other (Specify) ªIand reclamation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

-p.l . The Back Bay attains great historical importance in three areas: 1. as an example of ambitious and progressive city planning in the nineteenth century; 2. as a superb retrospective view of American architecture in the last half of the nineteenth century; 3. as a tangible reflection of the age when Boston was the cultural fountainhead of America. Cultural The Back Bay is the consummate physical manifestation of Boston in her intellectual and economic maturation. "In a word, it was in the Back Bay that Boston first established herself as one of the centers of world culture in the arts and sciences."1 The original Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Public Library, the Museum of Natural History, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and many of the city's famed clubs and private institutions settled here.

Writers and philosophers- Oliver Wendel1 Holmes, William Dean Howells, George Santayana, Henry and William James, and many more of international renown--liveds ändahe worked in the Back Bay; and artists like John Singer Sargent, William Morris Hunt, and Henry Hobson Richardson are inseparably associated. with it. Finally, the Back Bay was home for the rich and elite of the city. "old Order" families and those but recently "arrived" made the Back Bay the center of city fashion and shared in their patronage of the artists and architects who created it. "The abode ... of legendary brahmins and ambitious Silas Laphams, the Back Bay has a thousand associations with American thought and action of the later nineteenth century.

In brownstone and brick it symbolizes its epoch in a way that words and figures alone cannot."2 Back Bay Plan Lewis Mumford has said, "Apart from L'Enfant's plan for Washington, the transformation of Boston's Back Bay is the outstanding achievement in American urban planning for the nineteenth century."3 Originally a tidal backwash separating the Boston peninsula along its western border from the town of Brookline,the Back Bay was dammed and used intermit- tently but ineffectively through the first half of the nineteenth century for milling operations. The tidal flats were filled in a process that began in 1857 atArlington St. and continued west until 0.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 1. Adams and Opperman, Back Bay Development Plan, Camb., 1967. 2. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Back Bay Boston, The City as a Work of Art, Boston, 1969. 3. Bunting, B. , Houses of Boston's Back Bay, Belknap Press, Camb., 1967. 4. Cabot and Whitehill, Back Bay Churches and Public Buildings, Boston, 1967. 5. Firey, Walter, Land Use in Central Boston, Camb., 1946. 6. Kilham, Walter, Boston After Bulfinch, Harv. Univ. Press., Camb., 1946. 7. Pollan, Rosalind, Back Bay Residential District, Bost. Redev. Auth., Boston. 8. Whitehill, Walter, Boston, A Topographical History, Harv. U. Press, Camb., 9. Winsor, Justin, Memorial History of Boston, Vol.

iv, Osgood & Co., Boston, GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PHOPERTY CORNER R THAN TEN ÁCRES LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds NW 39%" Degrees Minutes 42 - . Degrees Minutes Seconds Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NE 42o 21.29 " 71°04:26- SE 42 -20,59% » 71 - 04- 12 - SW 42 º 20 -40 - 71 º 05- 25 " APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: 340 ILIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE: CODE COUNTY CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: STATE: CODE COUNTY: STATE: CODE COUNTY: 8119 110 RECEIVED JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER CODE CODE CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE: Alexander Cassie for Elizabeth R.

Amadon, Survey Director ORGANIZATION DATE Massachusetts Historical Commission April 17, 1973 STREET AND NUMBER: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN: STATE Boston 02108 :150 STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION Massachusetts NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION CODE 025 As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. The recommended level of significance of this nomination is: I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register. Rotertun Utley Director, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Date 8/14/23 Name Maw JOHN F.X.!

DAVOREN, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Chairman of the Title Massachusetts Historical Conmission ATTEST: Caafai Kee Date June 19, 1973 Date M GPO 931-894 9 110 Form10-3000 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969)) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TECEIVEINATONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES STATE COUNTY - Suffolk Massachusetts JUN 2 7 1973 INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM NATIONAL REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER DATE AUG 1 4 19/3 (Number all entries) 827 Signifidance (Cont.) Back Bay District p. 2. the late 1880's, when all the marsh once separating Boston and Brookline had been reclaimed. With the creation of over four hundred fifty acres of dry, usable land, it was one of the largest land reclamations ever under- taken in America. The new area was laid out as a fashionable residential district, the plan being executed by the architect Arthur Gilman in 1856.

He had travelled in Europe and was certainly acquainted with Baron Haussmann's accomplishments in replanning and rebuilding portions of Paris. Gilman's design for the Back Bay is a reflection of the burgeoning American interest in French architecture and city planning. With Commonwealth Avenue as its spine (called by Mumford, "The first American boulevard actually to be built")%, the Public Garden at its eastern boundary and Charlesgate at its western end, the Back Bay represents the first successful attempt in America at realizing the monumental effect of open spaces, grand boulevards, and imposing vistas, only possible in this kind of large scale city planning. The cohesiveness of the plan was insured by a number of farsighted zoning and building restrictions, including mandatory building setbacks(20-25 ft.

from the street curb), limiting of building heights, and confining of building materials to masonry and brick. In this way the often bewildering array of ecclectic styles is unified and subordinated to a composition that emphasizes the block front and accentuates the uncluttered sweep of the Back Bay boulevards. Other original planning considerations designed to safeguard the area's residential character were the conscious exclusion of almost all business and other commercial facilities, and the assigning and occasional donating of chosen building lots for parks or public institutions. Copley Square and the block of Boylston St. on the north side between Berkeley and Clarendon Streets were early reserved for this purpose.

Furthermore, the absolute definition of its boundaries, with parks at either extremity and a riverside esplanade bordering one side for its full length, insured a certain exclusiveness and safety from urban blight and commercial inroads that has certainly been a factor in the continuing importance of the Back Bay. Recreation and park facilities for the district were also a prime consider- ation; the Boston Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall still supply the same need as they did in the nineteenth century. In 1884 the Mall took on an added significance when it became the connecting link between the small downtown parks (the Common and the Garden) and the large rustic parks comprising the Fenway system, Olmstead's "Emerald Necklace". The almost intact survival of the Back Bay district can be attributed to the number of wise, protective planning measures first implemented there.

It has never lost its residential appeal nor suffered the urban blight that has marked comparable nineteenth century neighborhoods in other American cities. Today, Back Bay buildings, even as apartments, retain their original appearance; and the plan remains, essentially unaltered. GPO 921.724 Form V0-300a 110/ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CDY 19ECEIVED NATJONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES JUN 2 7 1973 INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM NATIONAL REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) (Number all entries) -Significance (Cont.) Back Bay District STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER AUG DATE 1 4 1973 p. 3.

Back Bay Architecture The Back Bay has been called "undoubtedly the finest zone of Victorian houses existing in America, "5 an .area whose buildings, "chart the course of architectural development for more than half a century."6 Though of great stylistic variety, the buildings of the Back Bay reflect the conser- vative nature of Boston patrons in the reserved compositions of their facades. Architectural restraint was valued, thus there are few "outlandish" buildings in the area. Yet, though not often daring in design, Back Bay buildings are uniformly of excellent architectural character. Almost all were designed by accredited architects, and many were the works of the foremost practicioners of the time, including: Arthur Gilman, Gridley Bryant, H. H. Richardson, McKim, Mead, and White, Peabody and Stearns, and Richard Morris Hunt.

The patronage of these architects by Back Bay clients is all the more significant when one "considers the leading position that Boston occupied as the educational and publication center for architecture in America during the period when the district was being built. The fashions established in the Back Bay were reflected, sooner or later, in other cities of the country."7 Iwo Back Bay landmarks, Richardson's Trinity Church (1875) and McKim's Boston Public Library (1889), face one another across Copley Sq. and are perhaps the two most important and stylistically influential buildings designed in America after the Civil War. Each changed the course of American architectural taste in its generation. Major Elements Arlington Street Church- (1859-1862, N.W.

corner Arlington and Boylston Sts.) Designed by Arthuz Gilman, the projector of the Back Bay plan, this Georgian-inspired Italianate church is one of the first harbingers of the Colonial Revival style in America. The parish, presided over for many years by the pioneer Unitarian and abolitionist William Ellery Channing, is considered the "Mother Church" of Unitarianism in America.' Emmanue1 Church (1862AND1899, 15 Newbury Street) The first Gothic Revival church in the district, it was designed by A. P. The use of rough-faced Roxbury puddingstone for its walls helped popularize this material and made it one of the most fashionable building stones in the East during the last half of the nineteenth century. First Parish Church (1867-1868, S.W.

corner Marlborough and Berkeley Sts.) Founded in 1630, the First Church (now incorporating the Second Church of Boston as well) is one of the country's oldest. Their Back Bay house was designed by Ware and VanBrunt in a highly picturesque English Gothic Revival style. It burned in 1967, but the new church retains the original church spire and is a highly successful modern interpretation of the complex Gothic forms of the original.

Designed by Paul Rudolph, the church is sympathetic in scale to surrounding nineteenth century buildings, and its reconstruction demonstrates the vitality of this district and the current concern with preserving the architectural character and skyline of the Back Bay- GPO 921.724 91110 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE A 1969 TEGEIVEJATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL N INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) umper all ontrieet 8-signifieance (Cont.) Back Bay District STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER AUG DATE 1 4 1973 p. 4. First Baptist Church (1871, S.W. corner Comm. Ave. and Clarendon St.) Designed by H. H. Richardson, this building is on the National Register. Trinity Church (1875-1877, Copley Square) Also designed by H. H. Richardson, this church is a National Historic Landmark.

Old South Church (1874-1875, N. W. corner Dartmouth and Boylston Sts.) Cummings and Sears designed this National Historic Landmark. Museum of Natural History Building (1862, 234 Berkeley St.) The Boston Society of Natural History, one of the earliest such societies in the country, was founded in 1830 and counted many eminent scientists, includ- ing the botanist and geoligist, Louis Agassiz, among its members. The building is three stories, tri-partite in plan, and includes a rusticated brownstone basement supporting pressed brick walls and monumental pilasters of the same material in the upper two stories. The whole is capped with a full entablature, balustrade, and pediment. Designed by Wm. G. Preston, it is the most important mature example of the French Academic style in the Back Bay.

When the society moved th the present Museum of Science, the building was happily converted to commercial use by Bonwit Teller's. Boston Art Club Building (1881-1884, S. W. corner Newbury and Dartmouth Sts.) Now a public high school, the Art Club building was designed by W. Ralph Emerson. It is one of the city's most outstanding examples of the Queen Anne style with its freely and assymetrically planned three story brick exterior, enlivened by picturesque window and gable treatments and decor- Algonquin Club (1887, 217 Comm. Ave.) The Algonquin is one of Boston's most famous private clubs and occupies the most opulent clubhouse in the Back Bay. It was designed by Stanford white and has a five story limestone front, in the Renaissance Revival style.

It is one of the earliest buildings in this stylistic mode, subsequently popu- larized throughout the country by the firm of Mckim, Mead, and White. A projecting central entrance supports a two-story superposed porch flanked by octagonal bays. The upper stories are treated successively with smooth surfaced and ornately carved and panelled limestone bands. Boston Public Library (1887-1895, Copley Square) The Library, designed by Mckim, Mead, and White, is on the National Register. Hotel Vendome (1871, 1881, corner Dartmouth St. and Comm. Ave.) The Vendome is the finest evocation of the Second Empire in the city. Designed by Wm. G. Preston, it is a large six-story structure faced with Tuckahoe and Italian white marble and is stylistically reminiscent of French Renaissance architecture, though much of the facade is incised with elaborate, contemporary Neo-Grec detail.

For decades the Vendome was Boston's premier hotel and hosted most of the notables who visited the city, includ- ing Ulysses Grant and Sarah Bernhardt. The electric lights installed here in 1882 were the first in the city. Despite a fire in 1972, the hotel GPO 921-724 8 /July 1969 Form 10-300LE CEIVED LLUNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL 2* IS%ATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REGISTER INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Continuation Sheet) AUG (Number al1 enteies) 8-Significance (Cont.) Back Bay District DATE 11 4 1973 p. 5. retains its original facades and is currently undergoing conversion to apartments.

Copley Plaza Hotel (1910-1912, Copley Square) Occupying the original site: of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Copley Plaza was the later fashionable rival of the Vendome and is today the last of the great early Back Bay hotels still operating. Its design, attributed to Henry Hardenburgh (architect of the Plaza Hotel and ithe Dakota Apts. in N.Y.C.) employs a quattrocento Renaissance Revival facade with a massive but graceful swell front and flanking wings manteristically detailed in rusticated limestone blocks. Berkeley Building (c. 1915, 420 Boylston St.) The Berkeley building in one of the most beautiful commercial buildings in the city. It is six stories high with decorated white terra-cotta facades facing Boylston and Berkeley Streets.

Though much of the detail is derived from fin de siecle Beaux Arts traditions, the influence of the Chicago School is evident in the facade's tripartite bay windows with large glass surfaces and in the emphasis of the vertical structural elements. Major Elements- Domestic Architecture No. 12 Arlington St. (1859-1860) Designed by Arthur Gilman, this is the finest surviving mansion of those originally fronting the Public Garden and is one of the first houses erected in the Back Bay. It is a large, five story structure faced with Nova Scotia sandstone and designed in a traditional Franco-Italianate style. The stark detail of the facade contrasts with the richly carved Corinthian portico. The house was joined with no. 1 Comm. Ave. in 1893 when Mrs. J. Montgomery Sears, a Boston "Grande Dame" and patroness of the arts, found she needed more room for her growing collections. Visitors to no.

12 Arlington Street included the musicians Paderewski and Kreisler, Prince Henry of Prussia, and the artist, John Singer Sargent, who painted Mrs. Sears and her daughter in the house. Nos. 326-328 Dartmouth St. and No. 165 Marlborough St. (1871) This ensemble epitomizes the tendency of early Back Bay architects to combine separate houses into visually impressive "blocks". New building codes in the early 1870's did much to deter this practice. The three houses are built in the Academic Brick style with pressed brick walls and sandstone window and door enframements and are capped with Mansard roofs. Designed by Snell and Gregerson, they form a tripartite composition whose cohesive- ness is further emphasized by the continuity of building materials and design e lements. No. 164 Marlborough Street (1870) The Benjamin Crowninshield House is on the National Register No.

233 Clarendon Street (1879) Trinity Church Rectory is a National Historic Landmark. + GPO 921-724 9 LO Fom 18300-RECEIVED UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES NATIONAL INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER DATE AUG 1 4 1973 (Number alfeptries) 8-Significance (Cont.) Back Bay District p. 6. No. 306 Dartmouth Street Known as the Webster-Ames Mansion, and designed in the Academic Brick style, this is probably the finest house in the Back Bay. Its interior is excep- tional, dating from an 1882 remodelling by the architect John Sturgis and containg lavishly decorated rooms with a palatial Great Hall measuring sixty- three feet long and eighteen feet high, panelled with highly carved oak woodwork.

Other interior embellishments include a LaFarge stained glass skylight and a cloistered dome decorated with murals by Benjamin Constant. The house was built for Congressman Frederick Ames and was for many years, until recently, the home of Mrs. Edwin Webster. No. 32 Hereford Street (1884) This house is probably the earliest example of the Late Italian Renaissance Revival in America. It was designed for John Andrew by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White and was their first Back Bay commission. Though the basic parti of the house shows strong Queen Anne influence, the facade is a calm composition of brown brick with limestone trim and simple but classically correct detail. Intricate French ironwork balconies appear on the windows of the piano nobile and above the Palladian window of the entrance. No.

355 Commonwealth Avenue (1882) The Ames Mansion, built for Governor Oliver Ames from designs of Carl Fehmer, occupies half the block of Mass. Ave. between Marlborough St. and Commonwealth Ave., and is the largest house in the Back Bay. It is designed in the Chateauesque style and the detailing of its brownstone facade incor- porates design elements from the concurrent Queen Anne style into the basic configuration of a sixteenth century French chateau. It is second only to the house at 306 Dartmouth St.. built by Oliver's brother, in the magnif- icence of its interiors. Today the National Casket Co. maintains the inter- iors in perfect condition. No. 314 Commonwealth Avenue (1899) Charles Brigham designed this elaborate massing of picturesque towers and gables in the Chateauesque manner for Col. Albert Burrage.

The limestone facade rises four and one half stories and is laden with deeply undercut French Gothic and early Renaissance ornament, most notably along the gabled and turreted cornice and at the Commonwealth Avenue entrance. The Burrage Mansion's exuberance of form and detail is unique in the Back Bay, where Boston patrons were more attracted to the conservative brick facades and subdued ornament that the majority of buildings here display: However, the Burrage mansion symbolized the change in attitude toward architectural styles which occured at the end of the century. From then until the end of private town house building in the Back Bay, c. 1915, the range of styles employed was much larger and more diverse than it had been in the nineteenth century.

+ + + GPO 921-724 Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) Back Bay District STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Suffolk FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER AUG p. 7. DATE 4 1973 (Number all entries) 8-Significance Footnotes 1. Mumford, Lewis, "The Significance of Back Bay Boston", in The City As a Work of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1969, p. 30. 2. Bunting, Bainbridge, Houses of Boston's Back Bay, Belknap Press, Cambridge, 1967, p. 3. 3. Mumford, op. cit., p. 18. 4. Ibid., p.19. 5. Bunting, Bainbridge, "Back Bay District", in Architecture of H. H. Rich- ardson and his Contemporaries in Boston and Vicinity, S.A.H., Phila., 1972 p. 19. 6. Bunting, op. cit., p. 2. 7. Ibid., p. 2.

T91 10, RECEiVED JUN 2 7 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 921.724 ESTEI -20 NEW ENGLAND MUTUAL EXCAVATIO NGTO HANCOCK EXCAVATION 700 PENINSULA CONTOUR INTERVAL - 10 FEET DATUM - BOSTON CITY BASE Contour Map to Show Topography in Back Bay During Post- Lexington Time. Based on Boring Records on File in the Library of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. Figure 1 (from Johnson1949:28) - 18'O" BOYLSTON ST. HIGHEST TIDE (April 16, 185I) 15'9.3"- MEAN HIGH WATER WNAVY YARD COMMONWEALTH PIER 10'5.2 10'2.6' RECENT - FILL MEAN SEA LEVEL COMMONWEALHPIER U.S. NAVY YARD 5'6.8" MEAN IOW WATER- COMM DIER BOSTON LOW WATER DATUM MEAN LOW WATER - U.S.NAVYYARD BOSTON CITY BASE LOWESTEESDEI 9.3 0.00 -2'8.6" 0.00 UPPER PEAT -12'6.4" -6'10.2"- SHELL LAYER 3 -12'10.9" -14'1.4" Upper Layer) Amorphous.

Layer -9' MAIN OYSTER BED SHELL LAYER 2 -13'L -12'9.9" SHELL LAYER 1 -14'1.9"- LOWER PLAH UPPER LAYER\- -15'8.9" SANDLAYER-S --16'1.5- AMORPHOUS LAYER' 1-16'2.4 -12760" UPPER WATTLE r-14'1.4" LOWER WATTLE BLUE CLAY TOP OF YELLOW CLAY -23'8.4" FIG, 2. Cross section of deposits in the neighborhood of the trench. Enlarged detail shows relation of stakes and wattles to deposits. Figure 2 (from Johnson 1942:12) more QucK Bay eatani Katriet SuTEOnano WORKING NUMBER 6.22.23.3181 TECH REVIEW Photos le Maps 2 siuifl/ CONTROL REVIEW 7-2 13 HISTORIAN large a lot ut appears jnstified - must be ot Federal involvement here ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN Bet we'll here abous tui OK Aecep AmL 7/2/28 CHC 7/17/73 AKC IEOLOGIST REVIEW UVIT CHIEF Thes is ane o the pandect whan distrit i ameica. I doust that many poblend will ariie.

grat sessu BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER This na greut distint with fewr nom-crfoning iicresioms. National Register write-up Federal Register entry_10-2-73 Send-back Re-submit Entered AUG 1 4 1973 NPS Form10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Boston, Back Bay Historic Continuation sheet District Amendments Item number OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page AMENDMENTS TO THE BACK BAY HISTORIC DISTRICT, BOSTON Archaeological Resources 7. DESCRIPTION The Back Bay Historic District is known to contain the intact remains of an important prehistoric Indian fishweir or fishweirs which were utilized during the Late Archaic Period (ca. 5000-3000 B.P.).

The fishweir is commonly known as the Boylston Street Fishweir Site because of its initial archaeological study in 1939 at the construction site of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Company building at 501 Boylston Street (Johnson 1942). Fishweir stakes and/or wattle have also been discovered at other locations in the Back Bay, including: under Boylston Street proper during the 1913 construction of the Boston subway; and at the 1946 and 1954 construction sites of the Old John Hancock Building (between Stuart and Berkeley Streets and St. James Avenue) and the IBM Building (corner of Boylston and Clarendon Streets) (Johnson 1949; see figure 1). The fishweir remains are still intact under the IBM Building, but were removed at the other previously mentioned construction sites.

Given the reconstruction of the prehistoric shoreline of the Back Bay, it is highly likely that additional portions of the fishweir(s) are present under the 19th century fill layers within the the district. The unique historical development of the Back Bayas a planned 19th century development has actually preserved the rich organic materials associated with the fishweir(s), resulting by covering the fishweir with a thick mantle of sand and gravel fill above the water table, thus allowing for the excellent integrity of the fishweir site. Archaeological Investigations Archaeological investigations of the various sections of the fishweir which have been fortuitously exposed have been limited to data recovery or salvage activities during the construction of 20th century buildings (Johnson 1942, 1949).

In an early application of the multi-disciplinary approach to the study of archaeology, these investigations concentrated on defining the paleoecological setting and age of the fishweir. Important associations of the weir with sediment profileswere observed and recorded (Johnson 1942; Judson 1949). Preliminary analysis of the wooden stakes and wattle materials, as wel1 as analyses of paleobotanical remains, pollen, microfossils, foraminifera, and diatoms were conducted (Bailey and Barghoorn 1942; Johnson 1942, 1949). Radiocarbon dates were obtained for a number of samples of the fishweir and samples of wood and peat from strata above and below the weir (Arnold and Libby 1951; Byers 1959; Kaye and Barghoorn 1964).

NPS Form 10-000-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Boston, Back Bay Historic Continuation sheet District Amendments Item number OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered 7 Page 2 Internal Configuration of the Fishweir The fishweir consists of densely packed vertical wooden stakes and horizontal wattle of branches imbedded in silt and sand and presently at a depth of roughly 30-35 feet below grade (Johnson 1942). The weir is covered by about 13 feet of silt and sand containing shel] and other marine resources,which was naturally deposited over time as a result of sea level rise.

Above the natural silts and sands is about 18 feet of sand and gravel fill with some trash which was systematically placed in the Back Bay during the 19th century expansion of the city (figure 2). The fishweir has been continuously submerged below the water table throughout the prehistoric, historic and modern periods, thus allowing for the unusually fine preservation of its organic materials. Important classes of data associated with the fishweir include: the wood and branches of the weir itself; molluscs; pollen; sediments; diatoms; foraminifera; insects; fish and other marine animal remains; macrobotanical remains; microfossils.

The stakes which were used in the construction of the weir appear to have been trimmed and sharpened to a point and had been driven vertically through the prehistoric bottom of the Back Bay into a weathered stratum of blue marine clay or peat (Johnson 1942; Judson 1949). It is estimated that the density of weir stakes is about one per square foot (Johnson 1942:27). Stakes are extremely varied in size and species of wood, although hardwood species tend to predominate. At the site of the New England Life Building, brush and branches appear to have been intentionally set horizontally between the stakes, following the north-south orientation of the weir stakes, as a form of wattling (Johnson 1942). Radiocarbon dates taken from samples of weir stakes or wattles range between 4450 and 4860 B.P. (Byers 1959; Kaye and Barghoorn 1964).

The peat stratum below the stakes was dated to between 5600 and 5700 B.P., while a sample of wood from the silts overlying the weir was dated to about 3851 B.P. (Arnold and Libby 1951; Kaye and Barghoorn 1964). No cultural artifacts other than the modified stakes were found in previous investigations of the weir site. Archaeological Site Boundaries and Justification The known distribution of archaeologically identified portions of the fishweir lies within the present boundaries of the Back Bay Historic District. However, the exact horizontal extent of the weir site have not been fully established, since the Back Bay has not been systematically surveyed for archaeological resources.

Lacking the physical evidence for the boundaries of the fishweir site, the present boundaries of the Back Bay Historic District serve as the boundaries of the fishweir site, as it is most likely, given the reconstruction of the prehistoric shoreline, that the fishweir(s) extended NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Boston, Back Bay Historic Continuation sheet District Amendments Item number For NPS use only received date entered Page 3 throughout this area. The integrity of the fishweir is expected to be uniform across the Back Bay district, because of the systematic filling of the district in the 19th century.

In late prehistoric and early historic times, the Back Bay was a tidal cove of the Charles River estuary, consisting of mudflats and salt marshes. Preliminary sedimentological analysis has resulted in an estimatation of the prehistoric shore line of the cove (see figure 1). This shallow cove would have been a suitable location for the construction of an efficient and highly productive fishweir. The configuration of the weir stakes indicates that the weir would have most likely been submerged during high tide, but exposed at low tide, thus trapping fish after the tide receded (Dincauze Charles Street on the east, Columbus Avenue on the south, Exeter Street (or perhaps even Fairfield Street) on the west, and Memorial Drive on the north in order to take advantage of the natural configuration of the cove (see figure ).

However, additional archaeological testing would be necessary to reconstruct the complete configuration and full extent of the weir(s) within the current boundaries of the Back Bay Historic District. NPS Form 10-200-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 7 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page 4 AMENDMENTS TO BACK BAY HISTORIC DISTRICT, BOSTON 7. DESCRIPTION Twentieth Century Commercial Architecture Commercial buildings, both from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are well represented in the Back Bay Historic District. Most of these differ in use, scale and massing from the original four and five story residential structures characterizing the Back Bay's 19th-century development.

However, important elements are shared by both. These include high style architecture, overall quality of ornamentation and materials and designs by the . city's leading architectural firms. Commercial construction in the Back Bay consists of two major types: conversion of existing 19th-century residential buildings or new construction specifically for commercial use. Architectural styles represented include Romanesque, Commercial, Neoclassical and Beaux Arts modes. Typical Back Bay brick rowhouses remain in large numbers on Newbury Street and, to a lesser. extent, on Boylston Street; often, these have had one and two-story 20th century additions made to the front. Number 396-8 Boylston Street, a mansard style dwelling, has a particularly notable 19l1 storefront addition revealing Art Nouveau influences in its inset broadly arched metal and glass facade.

Distinctive examples of the new commercial structures put up in the 1890s include 707-711 Boylston Street, the six-story Richardsonian Romanesque red brick and brownstone structure at the corner of Exeter Street (1892, George W. Pope). Among the buildings influenced by the Renaissance Revival style are the brick with stone trim Sareet (hand, s. T. Sdirs), and 221-731 Boyiston S, eet (1891, G. M. Pop 372- 3eaux Artsn G.W. Pope). Beaux Arts treatment can be noted in the building at 571-575 Boylston Street (1914, Henry B. Alden), which is ornamented in brick, terra cotta, and stone. Technological advances in building construction are also exemplified by the range of the district's commercial buildings.

While the earliest buildings feature window openings set into load bearing masonry walls, the development of steel framing made possible the expansion of window areas and the use of cladding in materials such as stone veneers and architectural terra cotta. A number of the early 20th century buildings have a clear pier and spandrel, rectilinear emphasis to their facades, a common trait of the Commercial Style. NPS Form 10-000-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Back Bay Historic District Continuation sheet Boston, MA AMENDMENTS Item number 7 OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page 5 Numerous handsome examples of Commercial Style buildings remain; the Berkeley Building (414-426 Boylston Street) is a particularly significant exponent.

This six-story corner building, designed by the architectural firm of Codman and Despradelle, was built in 1905. The design achieves a strong vertical emphasis by its series of terra cotta piers which separate large window/spandrel areas and rise continuously through five stories above the storefront level, terminating in segmental arches. Rich ornament 15 focused at the parapet level and in pier moldings flanking the wide central bay on Boylston Street. Another noteworthy example of steel-framed commercial construction with quality detailing is 143-45 Newbury Street (H.B. Allen, 1927), a neo-Gothic style structure with a limestone veneer and copper bays. The work of the prominent Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge at 885-889 Boylston Street (1907) features Beaux Arts and Mission Style decorative elements, and double-story metal-clad oriel windows.

The Boylston Chambers, built by 1908, is a large six-story building at #739; this contains Boston's only known surviving examples of Chicago-style windows. Its use of terra cotta features a flamboyantly decorative cornice above an otherwise simple grid patterned facade. Terra cotta facades are found in other stylistic modes as well, such as the Gothic Revival (e.g-, 651-655 Boylston Street, erected between 1908 and 1922), and Beaux Arts (e.g., 400-402 Boylston Street, 1908, A. H. Bowditch.) NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet BoststriCtCAmendmenstoric Item number OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered 8 Page 8.

SIGNIFICANCE The Boylston Street fishweir site is considered to be an important contributing element of the Back Bay Historic District, which includes the significant cultural features of past land use of the district. The fishweir site meets criteria A, C and D of the National Register. The fishweir site contains the physical remains of events surrounding the prehistoric adaptation to the changing environment. Built roughly during the stabilization of the rise in sea level, the construction of the weir represents a strategem exercised by prehistoric groups to exploit the marineresources of the newly developed Charles River estuary (Dincauze 1973, 1974). The site exhibits the technology and methods of construction representative of the prehistoric use of fishweirs.

Although there is SEEEES considerable information available on the use and construction techniques employed in the construction of fishweirs during the historic and recent periods (chiefly in regions outside of Massachusetts), there are few, if any, known well-preserved archaeological f1shweir sites dating to the prehistoric perlod in the world. Since there is indirect evidence in the form of tools and food processing features that weir technology played an important part in the prehistoric occupation of Massachusetts, the unique preservation of the Back Bay fishweir makes this cultural resource of extreme significance. Further investigation of the fishweir site will help to delineate the number, the internal configuration and functional attributes, horizontal extent, and dates of use of the fishweir(s).

With this information, it will be possible to estimate the effort of labor required to construct and utilize the weir(s), and thus make inferences concerning the size and structure of prehistoric groups inhabiting the Boston area in Late Archaic The question of the date and reasons for abandonment of the use of the weir can also be addressed. The fishweir site contains information which is likely to contribute significantly to the research and understanding of prehistoric settlement and subsistence systems which changed through time; prehistoric strategies for the exploitation of marine resources; the complexity of social organization; population dynamics; technology; territoriality; and the degree of sedentism practiced during the the Late Archaic period (ca. 5000-3000 B.P.).

The unusually fine preservation of the wood used in the construction of the weir(s), andthe excellent preservation ofthe cultural and ecological remains (e.g., molluscs, macro- and microbotanical remains, pollen, foraminifera, diatoms, microfossils, bone, etc.) provide data essential for reconstructing the functional and mechanical characteristics of the weir, its specific environmental setting and regional paleoecology. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number 8 OMB No.1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page 2 AMENDMENTS TO BACK BAY HISTORIC DISTRICT, BOSTON 8.

SIGNIFICANCE Twentieth Century Commercial Development Ir caddictorn tof the iBacrtaay the dintriet esidents aloins Botuston andne comry Staeets a significant collection of early 20th century commercial buildings which reflect a variety of architectural modes. As a group, these 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings portray the changing character of the street over a 50 year period of development from 1870 The eclecticism common to the period's commercial architecture survives to a considerable extent within the district and can be noted in the multiple story masonry buildings in the Romanesque, Commercial, Neoclassical and Beaux Arts modes which stand Newbury and Boylston Streets.

Although the first level storefronts of many of these buildings have been altered through the years, the upper stories generally remain intact and display a variety of facade treatments, with molded terracotta and pressed metal sheathing prevailing- Much of Boylston Street and all of Newbury Street was originally developed in stylish brick row housing typical of the remainder of the district. The 20-foot setback mandated in the Back Bay's original plan has been retained along Newbury Street and much of Boylston Street and reflects the district's original residential use. Several factors encouraged commercial growth on these two streets. Boylston Street developed its commercial character first, beginning in the 1880s and continuing through 1930 and to the present day.

Proximity to the Boston and Providence Railroad Station at Providence Square (now Park Square), just outside the Back Bay district at its northeastern corner stimulated commercial development on Boylston Street between Arlington and Dartmouth Streets. Commercial buildings began to be erected as early as the 1880s. Some of the street's original rowhouses were replaced or altered to accommodate retail and office uses. Similarly, vacant parcels began to be developed with commercial buildings. Building activity continued along the southern end of Boylston Street during the first two decades of the twentieth century and cohesive groupings of those structures remain today. Newbury Street's commercialization did not occur until the early 20th century with the bulk of lower story conversions and new construction taking place in the 1920s.

probably relates to the beginnings of apartment conversion in the Back Bay, which necessitated nearby commercial establishments, and to a general westward expansion of Boston's traditional commercial center. Such developments culminated in the reconstruction of Arlington Street with large commercial buildings catering to the upper class, the foremost of which are the Junior League Club of 1929 and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, built in 1931. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Back Bay Historic District Continuation sheet Boston, MA AMENDMENTS Item number 8 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page Though the two streets share the bulk of the Back Bay's commercial development, commercial construction on Boylston Street tends to consist primarily of combined office and retail uses while Newbury Street's commercial uses are confined to specialty retail shops on the lower stories. Upper stories, especially for Newbury Street's many remaining 19th-century rowhouses, have generally been converted to apartment use. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Boston, Back Bay Historic District Amendments Item number OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY Arnold, J.R. and W.F. Libby 1951 Radiocarbon Dates. Science 113(2927):113. Bailey, I.W. and E.S.

Barghoorn, Jr. Identification andphysical description of the stakes and wattles from the fishweir. In The Boylston Street Fishweir, edited by F. Johnson, pp.82-89. Byers, Douglas S. The Eastern Archaic: some problems and hypotheses. American Antiquity 24:233-256. Dincauze, Dena F. 1973 Prehistoric occupation of the Charles River estuary: a paleogeographic study. Archaeological Society of Connecticut Bulletin 38:25-339. 1974 An introduction to archaeology in the Greater Boston area. Archaeology of Eastern North America 2(1):37-67. Johnson, Frederick, editor 1942 The Boylston Street Fishweir. Papers of the R.S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology vol.2. Andover, Ma. 1949 The Boylston Street Fishweir II. Papers of the R.S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology vol.4. Andover, MA.

Judson, Sheldon 1949 The Pleistocene stratigraphy of Boston, Massachusetts, and its relationship to the Boylston Street Fishweir. In, The Boylston Street Fishweir II, edited by F. Johnson, pp.7-48. Kaye, C.A. and E.S. Barghoorn Late Quaternary sea-level change and crustal rise at Boston, Massachusetts, with notes on the autocompaction of peat. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 75:63-80. Nelson, T.C. The oysters. In The Boylston Street Fishweir, edited by F. Johnson, pp.49-64. Additemal aupo. WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET BackBayHistorie District (Amendment) Suffolk County MA Substantare Beview Working No._ Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due:. Action: 1.25.85 resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal LACCEPT .

_RETURN REJECT_ 4.5.85 Federal Agency: Substantive Review: J sample request Jappeal NR decision Reviewer's comments NSTOMIC/ARCHELTUKAL COMPONENT ISEMONSTATES SKNIFICANKE DE LATE 191 AND EANLY ZOTL CENTURY COMLMERCIAL DEVELOPMONT Recom./Criteria- scept Are he Dangd Reviewer IN DtE DISTRLT. Tne festwee site teeligbee Discipline and frn be added jo te dedvat undn Date_ 5/85 _see continuation sheet reterion D. Yonne A, Atevait A technical corrections cited below substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? 7.

Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed yes Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use - no Check one unaltered altered Check one - original site I moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed - Date Phone: Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet BONWIT TELLER BONWiT TELLER'S YEW of BERKELEY ST. FACACE EACK EAy DinESCfAIN CONTy- KASAHUSETS FAY FOTO SERVICE INC 45 WEST CANTON STREET BOSTON - CO 7-2000 - MASS PROPERTY OF TNE NATTONAL REGISTER NPS Number 8.14, 73 m810: Back Bey Hustmue Nestri Suffel Co Mess Beunt Jellese FREDERKK AMES OF AMES-WERSTER MANSION #306 DARTMOUTH STI- COR. of COmM. AVE. A PORMION Of THE HOTEL VENDOME AFPENRS TO THE LEFT NPS Number 8.14,73 Title: Back Bay Hestane Nistret Loc.

Sultalk Co.Mass Welstes - Ane Messen MASSACHUSETTE E BA 2 PROPERTY OF TIE NATIOKIL REGISTER COMMONHENLTH AVENUE MALL LOOKINaWErt feom vic. of BERKELEY ST MACZACHUSETE. Sufot BACK BAE DISTCiCT NPS Number 8.14.73 Title: Back Bau estoreo Nustu Loc. Suffelk C,Dass Connesucaltt Alnemue Mall PROPENTY OF TEE NATLONAL REGISTER HACHUSETIS, SUfEuK CoUNTY. BACK BA DISTRiCT FORM 10-301 A (6/72) COPLEy SqUe C.1954- Leom Joro Hhet UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type all entries - attach to or en close with photograph) AND/OR HISTORIC NUMERIC CODE (Assigned by NPS) MUG 14197 1. NAME COMMON Copley Square 2. LOCATION STATE Massachusetts STREET AND NUMBER COUNTY Suffolk TOWN Boston NAT REG 3. PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT DATE NEGATIVE FILED AT John Harrel 1955 Boston Redevelopment 4.

IDENTIFICATION DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC. View west from a point near Trinity Church Showing from the left: a) Foreground-shadows of Trinity Church spire b) Background-north-west corner of Copley Plaza HOt -north-east corner of S.S. Pierce Bui. d) Center-Boston Public Library d) Foreground-south-east corner of Hotel Bristol G COMMONMEALTH AVENUE, NO. SiDE LOOKING WEST ACROBS ARLiNGiTON SI fROM THE BOSTON PUBLiC GARDEN MASCACHUSETIS Suffax Can BACK BA DISTEE NPS Number Title: Loc. 2.14.23 Back Ba Msterc Nustrect MllCe,Mess Cennenucaltl Anemue PROPETY OF THE NATLONAL REGISTER NE, CORNER COMM. AVE §HEREfRD ST. ANDREW HOUSE-MEKIM MENDE E WHIiE IACENCHOGETE Su BACR BAy DISTeRT NPS Number 8.14.73 Title: Back Ban Hestern Distret Loc.

Sullelk CoMass Sele Aadren Heue PROPERTY OF THE NATLONAL REGISTER Form 10-301 (July 1968) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY MAP FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map) AND/OR HISTORIC 1. NAME COMMON Back Bay District 2. LOCATION STATE Massachusetts STREET AND NUMBER NUMERIC CODE (Assigned by NPS) AUG 1 4 1973 COUNTY TOWN Suffolk Boston 3.

MAP REFERENCE SOURCE Boston DATE Redevelopment Authority December, 1966 Back Bay Residential District REQUIREMENTS: PROPERTY BOUNDARIES, WHERE REQUIRED, AND NORTH ARROW: SCALE 1:200 8/|9//110 N RECEiVED JUN 2 7 1973 T9 NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 932-010 ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATEASSACHUSEITE Date Entered AUG 14 1973 Name Location South Mountain Coneeat He23 Sabbath Dey House NavelHospital Boston Baak Bey Iistorie Distadet Pittstlel8 Berfshire County B111eries 1.&dlesex County Chelses Suffoll County Boston Suttolk Couty Hon, Edward M. Kennedy Hon, Sdvraad We Brooke Baraera l: Seosadleo nocited Mon, 812vio 0, Conte Ilon,Paul V, Cronin Hon, PorbertR, MaeDonald Bon, Thones P. O"Nel11, Jr. Bon, John J, Moakley lir, Al1en S, Kezt, DOD Direetor, Northeast Reglon State Ilstorie Preservation Offieer Son. John P.

X, Devoren Secretary of the Conmomveelth Chaizman, Massachusetts Itetorieal Conndssion 4o Beacon Street Boston, Messschusetts 02208 PHR MMott:jal 8/16/73 March 14, 1978 Mx./ Edward T. Pollack Acting Area Director Boston Area Office U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Bulfinch Building 15 New Chardon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02114 salfll Co. Dear Mr. Pollack: On February 23, 1978, the Counci1 received a determination from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the proposed construction of Exeter Towers would not adversely affect the_Back Bay Historic District, a property included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Executive Director does not object to your determination.

A copy of your determination of no adverse effect, along with supporting documentation and this concurrence, should be included in any assessment or statement prepared for this undertaking in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and should be kept in your records as evidence ofyour compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 470f, as amended, 90 Stat. 1320). Your continued cooperation 1s appreciated. Sincerely yours, cc: Chairman Signed SHPO--MA FLO-HUD HCRS ORC: Tannenbaum:kbs 3-14 Myra T. Harrison File:MA/Back Bay H.D./106/HUD/Exeter Towersissistant Director Office of Review and Compliance NEW & CLOSED JORDAN MADE A CARD ON THI_S FILE AavIsory * Council On Historic Preservation 1522 K Street. NW Washington.

DC 20005 COPY MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of the Housing and Community Development Acts of 1974 and 1977, the City of Boston (City), Massachusetts, proposes to fund, in part, the proposed Copley Place project using funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and, WHEREAS, the City, in consultation with the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), has determined that this undertaking as proposed would bave an adverse effect upon Trinity Church, the Boston Public Library, the South End Historic District, and the Back Bay Historic District, properties included in the National Register of Historic Places, and the St. Botolph Street Historic District, a property eligible for the National Register; and, WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. Sec.

470f, as amended, 90 Stat. 1320) and Section 800.4(d) of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's (Council) regulations, "Protection of Historic and Cultural Properties" (36 CFR Part 800), the City has requested the comments of the Council; and, WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 800.6 of the Council's regulations, representatives of the Council, the City, and the Massachusetts SHPO have consulted and reviewed the undertaking to consider feasible and prudent alternatives to avoid or satisfactorily mitigate the adverse effect; NOW, THERFORE, it is mutually agreed that the undertaking will be implemented in accordance with the attached proposal from Robert J. Ryan, Director, Redevelopment Authority, to avoid adverse effects on the above-mentioned properties.

Acting Bam W toule (date) 4/7/8 Exec utive Director Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (date) Chairman Advisory Council on Historic Preservation - Eoston Reóerelopment Authority Robert J. Ryan, Director OCT 3 0 1980 Mr. Jordan E. Tannenbaum Chief, Eastern Division of Project Review Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 1522 K Street, NW Washington D. C. 20005 RE: Copley Place Development, Boston, Massachusetts Dear Mr. Tannenbaum: Pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the procedures of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (36 CFR Part 800), the City of Boston, acting for the U. S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pursuant to Section 104(h) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, has consulted with the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regarding the proposed Copley Place Development in the Back Bay section of the City of Boston, for which the City has applied to HUD for Urban Development Action Grant funds to The proposed project is adjacent to several properties listed in, or eligible for listing in, the National Register of Historic Places, including the Back Bay Historic District, the South End Historic District, the St. Botolph Street Historic District, the Boston Public Library, and Trinity Church.

As agreed upon during the consultation process, we submit herein a proposal for stipulations to be incorporated into a memorandum of agreement pursuant to Section 36 CFR 800.6(c). These stipulations have the concurrence of the State Historic Preservation Officer, as indicated by the signature below: 1 City Hall Square Boston, Massochusetts 02201 (617) 722-4300 Mr. Tannenbaum Page Two 1. The Copley Place project will be executed according to the plans and specifications prepared by the Architects Collaborative, Inc., dated July 11, 1980. 2. f the retail center, hotels, housing, and office buildings components of the project, the City of Boston will submit finai plans and specifications, together with samples of facade materials to be used, to the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer for review and approval.

If, after review, the State Historic Preservation Officer does not approve the selection of materials and the final plans and specifications, the parties, including the City of Boston, the State Historic Preservation Officer, andthe Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consult further to resolve the matter. - 3. Non-brick facade material used for the housing component of the project, including material used for window bays and for horizontal bands at the floor lines and balconies, shall be of the same or com- patible masonry materials as that selected for the overall masonry material of the other components of the project. "Dryvit" will not be used in the project. Should you have any questions with regard to this undertaking, please contact Mr. Richard Mertens, Environmental Review Officer, at (617)722-4300, extension 288, or Mr.

Joseph Orfant of the Massachu- setts Historical Commission, at (617)727-8470. -. Concurrence: QukWesliwta Patricia L. Weslowski State Historic Preservation Officer - Advisory Council On Historic Preservation 1522 K Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 Trinity Church listet SuftoIK Co. iA 11//20 Bostor Fublic LiDRAR 1iºstEd 5/8/73 SuffolK Co, MA NOV- 7 1980 Mr. Richard B. Mertens sonth End Hist. Dist, Environmental Review Officer Boston Redevelopment Authority detERmi ne d eligible 3/19k2 Boston City Hall One City Hall Square Boston, MA 02201 1isfedsM/p3dcte Back Bay tost.

Dist Let Dear Mertens: Syfeolk co datekmo 4°st.D0st, 77 The Council has received your signed proposal Ene i E 11/39/22 concurrence of the Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer for the Copley Place Project and the Trinity Church, Boston Public Library, South End Historic District, Back Bay Historic District and St. Botolph Street Historic District. We have reviewed the proposal and have determined that it represents the agreement reached by the consulting parties. Therefore, pursuant to Section 800.6(c) of the Council's regulations (36 CFR Part 800), a Memorandum of Agreement has been prepared an forwarded to the Chariman of the Council for ratification. The Memorandum of Agreement will become final after 30 days or earlier if ratified by the Chairman, and the undertaking may then proceed. A copy of the ratified Agreement will be provided for your records.

The ratified Memorandum of Agreement will constitute the Council's comments in accordance with Section 800.6(c) (3) and completes your responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and the Council's regualtions. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, nlan E. Tanmanloum Jordan E. Tannenbaum Chief, Eastern Division of Project Review Enclosure Certified Mail No. P284 740 371 JIVE HASATD The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A. Talmage Executive Director State Historic Preservation Officer January 10, 1985 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Department of the Interior 18th & C Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 Dear Ms.

Shull: Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: Bigelow School, Boston (local) Dimock Community Health Center, Boston (state, local) (owner/ceonotification waived) Dorchester Pottery Works, Boston (state, local) Downtown Clinton Historic District, Clinton (local) All have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meetings and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Comments received to date are attached to the nom- ination forms. In addition, amendments to the Back Bay Historic District are also included. These aendments to the statements of description and significance expand the nom- ination to include important archaeological and 20th century commercial resources not articulated in the initial listing (1973).

Also included are five additional properties within the Taunton Multiple Resources nomination. These are the: Taunton Green Historic District William Woodward House, 117 Arlington Street Neck of Land Cemetery, Summer Street William Lawrence House,101 Somerset Avenue LTaunton State Hospital, 60 Hodges Avenue 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 The Taunton Green Historic District, returned for technical and substantive reasons, has been revised as per NR staff comments. The final four properties are new submissions, which were withheld for further intormation at the time of the original MRA submiss1on. Sincerely May KateSmpom for Sarah Zimmorman Sarah J. Zimmerman Preservation Planning Director Massachusetts Historical Commission SJZ/hi Enclosures onoo Mould you look at this to ece ip. Additional Ixto Srendary axcrace and filo in heektinsi, .

we just add it to seomenatin feanetto Jenette, S revined tte 7 ihmer ite and it can just te added 6 te nonuenalion aktrever - but they chauth get come natificalon that it has yuerne stemact Additonal Inpo april 5,1985 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE DATE 5-2-85 TIME OF CALL TELEPHONE REPORT AM PM FROM (Name) ADDRESS (Tel. No. if needed) Gamet Chapip Back Bay Itistoni District DETAILS OF DISCUSSION Explained that there is a proposed developmen (Gerald Itines) Phillip Johnson), which woure reguri demolistig the Chusta Bg 742 Bogltm wied conmibute. I sad it was within eppanded perirdd areas os Teroxed for AME OF PERSON PLACING/RECEIVING CALL Snul FHR-8-227 June 1978 JUL 2 3 2010 H32(2280) Mr. Jonathan Sachs ADLER POLLOCK & SHEEHAN P.C. One Citizens Plaza, 8th Floor Providence, RI 02903 Dear Mr.

Sachs: Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning the building located at 138 St. James Street in Boston, MA We are pleased to inform you that the building located at 138-148 St. James Street (the Copley Plaza Hotel) is included in the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Back Bay Historic District. The Back Bay Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its historic and architectural importance on August 14, 1973. Please let us know if we may provide any additional information or assistance. We appreciate your interest in the historic preservation programs of the National Park Service. Sincerely, (Sad) Patrick Andrus Patrick Andrus, Historian National Register of Historic Places cc: MA SHPO bcc: 2285 2280 Loether Basic File Retained In 2280 FNP:PAndrus:OP:07-23-2010:s:\nr_correspondencelsachs