Nomination for Lynn, Armory

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form No. 10-300 REV.

(9/77) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM RECEIVED JUL 6 1979SEP T 1979 DATE ENTERED SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS 1 3 4 NAME HISTORIC Lynn Armory AND/OR COMMON Lynn National Guard Armory LOCATION STREET & NUMBER 36 South Common Street CITY, TOWN Lynn STATE -VICINITY OF CODE 025 -NOT FOR PUBLICATION CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Sixth COUNTY Essex Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION CODE 009 CATEGORY -DISTRICT XBUILDING(S) -STRUCTURE SITE _OBJECT OWNERSHIP XPUBLIC PRIVATE _BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION IN PROCESS BEING CONSIDERED STATUS XOCCUPIED -UNOCCUPIED - WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE XYES: RESTRICTED - YES: UNRESTRICTED _NO PRESENT USE AGRICULTURE _MUSEUM _COMMERCIAL _PARK _EDUCATIONAL - PRIVATE RESIDENCE -ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS _GOVERNMENT -SCIENTIFIC -INDUSTRIAL _TRANSPORTATION XMILITARY - OTHER: OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME Conmorwealth of Massachusetts, Edward F.

King, Governor / STREET & NUMBER CITY.TOWN Boston Massachusetts State House, Beacon Street STATE Massachusetts _ VICINITY OF LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC. Essex County Registry of Deeds STREET & NUMBER Essex County Courthouse CITY. TOWN Salem STATE Massachusetts REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth #525 DATE 1978 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS FEDERAL XSTATE _COUNTY _LOCAL Massachusetts Historical Commission CITY. TOWN Boston STATE Massachusetts DESCRIPTION CONDITION -EXCELLENT XGOOD -FAIR DETERIORATED _RUINS CHECK ONE _UNALTERED XALTERED CHECK ONE XORIGINAL SITE -MOVED DATE. _UNEXPOSED DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

Located on a level lot facing the Lynn Common, the Lynn Armory is a Romanesque Revival structure built of red brick with sandstone trimmings. The building is made up of a head house which has a drill shed attached to its rear (south) wall. Head House: Containing the building's major facades (east, north & west), the Head Houseisrectangular in plan with roundedbaysat each of its four corners. It rises from a plinth of rock-faced granite and is constructed of pressed brick which has been pointed with tinted mortar to emphasize the walls' appearance of solidity. Theroof is nearly flat and is masked by a crenellated parapet on its east, north and west sides. Windows of the head house (except where otherwise noted) are made up of 11 sash, the top half of which is arched; the sash is set in brick surrounds 0 1/1 with arched heads, and sandstone sills.

Head House - North Elevation: Facing South Common Street, the north elevation is nearly symmetrical, containing the building's major entry centered at the first story. The entry is set behind a wide arch with a sandstone architrave and has modern wooden doors (mid-20th c.) On either side of the entry, below grade level, are light wells which allow access to the cellar. Set on each of the entry at the first story is a single window. Second and third stories of the facade each contain three sets of paired windows. The third story windows are set in three blind arches. Framing the north elevation are two circular corner towers, 22' in diameter, each of which rises four stories to a crenellated parapet built out from the wall on a corbelled base.

The northeast tower has evenly spaced windows at its first three stories and oculi at its fourth story; the northwest tower has similar fenestration, except where blocked by an attached stair tower and oriels which connect to the second story of the side tower. At the third story of the northwest tower is a carved sandstone placque of the state seal of Massachusetts. Head House - West Elevation: Facing an empty lot, the west elevation is framed by the structure's northwest corner tower and by a smaller rounded bay at the structure's southwest corner. The west elevation 1s symmetrical, consisting at both the first and second stories of a narrow center bay with one window per floor flanked on each side by a wider outer bay with two windows per floor. The second story windows are set in three blind arches which correspond in widths to the bays below.

At the third story are three pairs of windows surmounted by corbelling which supports the parapet above. Fenestration of the small southwest corner bay is irregular consisting of one window at each story set in positions which spiral from the base of the bay to its top. Head House - East Fleyation: Facing a neighboring building (aporox. 15' distant), the east elevation 1s a mirror image of the west elevation. Head House - South Elevation: Undecorated, the south elevation is mostly covered by the drill shed. Near the southeast comer, a square-plan chimney rises along the exterior of the south elevation. Drill Shed: Constructed of a porous red brick and centered on the rear wall of the head house, the drill shed is nearly as wide as the head house.

The shed is approximately (continued) FHR-8-300A (11/78) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTOR Y -- NOMINATION FORM FOR HCRS USE ONLY RECEIVED DATE ENTERED JUL 6 1973 CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 2 140' long, divided into four bays on the exterior by buttresses; each bay contains two arched windows. The drill shed is enclosed by a steeply pitched slate roof and has a stepped gable at its south end. The south elevation of the drill shed has a small wing (with half-hip roof) at its first story. Above the wing are three arched windows which provide light for the shed's interior hall. Alterations to the drill shed are minor, consisting of the enlargement of two windows on the east wall, both of which have been converted to doors.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD PREHISTORIC -1400-1499 -1500-1599 -1600-1699 -1700-1799 X1800-1899 -1900- ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC AGRICULTURE XARCHITECTURE ART _COMMERCE -COMMUNICATIONS AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _COMMUNITY PLANNING -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _CONSERVATION -LAW LECONOMICS _LITERATURE _EDUCATION XMILITARY -ENGINEERING _MUSIC _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY LINDUSTRY -POLITICS/GOVERNMENT _INVENTION _RELIGION SCIENCE _SCULPTURE -SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _THEATER -TRANSPORTATION -OTHER (SPECIFY) SPECIFIC DATES 1893 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

RWXDOE8CARCHITECT Wheeler & Northend Ihe Lynn Armory retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and association. Bullt in 1893 to replace the Franklin Street Armory of 1888, the present Lynn Armory is among the best examples of Romanesque Revival architecture in the city. In addition, the Lynn Armory is one of several important Victorian public bulidings located at the east end oi the Conmon, ail of wnich served to make this area the city's major institutional center. Included in this group are (or were) the Old Lynn City Hall (1867-1868 - demolished); St. Stephen's Memorial Church (1881 ) potential NR); and the Lynn Public Library (1898-1900 - potential NR).

Unlike the many Romanesque revival factories of Lynn's business district, most of which have Romanesque decorative details on their facades only, the Lynn Armory was designed to carry its decoration around three sides, leaving only the drill shed without Romanesque decorative details. In May of 1893, plans drawn by Wheeler Northend were accepted by the Commonwealth and construction began in summer of 1893. Currently in original condition, the building consists of a "head house" of approxi- mately 68' (facade) by 86'(depth) to which a drill shed of 140' length is attached at the rear (south). At the time of the building's dedication, local newspapers efforts of "Commissioner Leighton" who oversaw construction and who allowed the armory construction. The Armory's architects, Wheeler & Northend, were a Lynn firm which formed around 1886 and dissolved around 1893, after which Holman K.

Wheeler continued a private practice in Lynn and Northend moved elsewhere. The years of the firm's existence co-incided with a period of growth for Lynn as well as a period of building activity which followed the Fire of 1889 that destroyed the city's business district. During the rebuilding, Wheeler and Northend designed a large number of Romanesque Revival style blocks of which the New Item Building (1890 - demolished) was the best known. Elsewhere in Lynn the firm designed the Lynn High School (Romanesque Revival style - 1890 - demolished) and a number of small scale commercial blocks. The scale of the Armory and its prominent site marks its as the firm's most important surviving design.

The rest of the file

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

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES City of Lynn. Building Department. 1893 Building Permits Lynn City Item. May 12, 1893, p. 7; June 8, 1894, p. 2. Lynn Scrapbooks. (unpublished - at the Lynn Public Library) Vol. 32, p. 40; Vol. 37, p. 8. 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY - QU ADRANGLE NAME UTM REFERENCES AL1,9/ L313,913,0,0 ZONE EASTING 17,256 sq. ft. Lynn 14,710,218,4,0) NORTHING QUADRANGLE SCALE 1:24,000 LILHL ZONE EASTING NORTHING LILu FLULLILALIILIL HLULLILLLLL VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION Please refer to the attached assesor's map on which the boundaries are deliniated. Lot #31 of block #732.

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE 11 FORM PREPARED BY NAME / TITLE ORGANIZATION Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET & NUMBER 294 Washington Street CITY OR TOWN Boston Brian Pfeiffer, Consultant City of Lynn Candace Jenkins, National Registrer Coordinator with DATE April, 1979 TELEPHONE (617) 727-8470 STATE Massachusetts 12 STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS: STATE_ LOCAL NATIONAL - As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665).1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE latua LWeslraski 6/25/9 TITLE Executive Director, Mass. Historical Commission DATE FOR NPS USE ONLY I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER Caal ull ATTEST: CHIEF OF RECISTRATION Dulug DATE DATE 9.7-79 1/4/19 GPO 921-803 BOND 383.49 Parcel 2B 75, 702 SOSZ obtzi 125.19 13,794 DESS 2E-08 Lot #31 of Block #732 17,256 Lynn Armory 12,736 SE'08 90, SOUTH COMMON STREET 9062 0781 6672 8128 6849 11,550 Parcel 20 7995 ka Ei2S Parcel 77,223 2C 52,270 429.52 245.59 BLOSSOM 221.63 SEP 7 1979 Property Lumn Axmoue State- lass (Essel Horking Number, 6.29.1629 TECHNICAL CONTROL Photos _ pl Maps OK 7.9.29 The musod wuportant surviving design ofa local fiem, thio ud HISTORIAN brick armong is one o the t - best examples of the Pron egue Pesial abale in frgm.

I ts uin deviate Oulup restrictive state plans for armo, constucfion because 9/4/29 a commissiona feigha germitted local ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN militia comparies to unk with the architectual firm, whedler and Northend.- ARCHEOLOGIST OTHER HAER Inventory- Review REVIEW UNIT CHIEF 1/5/29 BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry 10-2-79 Send-back Re-submit Entered SEP 7-1979 United States Department of the Interior -Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service Lynn Armory ynn, Mass Brian Pfeiffer 1979 147 Brattle St., Cambridge Photo #1 View facing southeast SEP 7 1979 JUL 6 lssed Country 1979 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Office of the Secretary of State 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 617-727-8470 MICHAEL JOSEPH CONNOLLY Secretary of State June 25, 1979 RECEIVED JUL 6 1979 Mr.

Ronald Greenberg, Acting Chief Registration Branch OAHP, Heritage, Conservation & Recreation Service 440 G Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20243 NATIONAL REGISTER Te Dear Mr. Greenberg: Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: - BOSTON - Arthur J. Lynn (Schooner) - HANOVER - Stetson House - LAWRENCE - Downtown Lawrence Historic District - LYNN - Lynn Armory - LYNN - St. Stephen's Church - SOUTHBRIDGE - Center Village Historic District All have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Sincerely, Christine Boukding Christine Boulding Survey Director CB/leaf Encl: ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER MASSACHUSETTS STATE Date Entered SEP T 1979 Name Stetson House Centre Village Historic District St.

Stephen's Memorial Church Lynn Armory Location Hanover Plymouth County Southbridge Worcester County Lynn Essex County Lynn Essex County Also Notified Honorable Paul G. Isongas Honorable Edward M. Kennedy Honorable Gerry E. Studds Honorable Edward P. Boland Honorable Nicholas Mavroules State Historic Preservation Officer Mrs. Patricia L. Weslowski Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Conmission 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 NR Byers/bjr 9/12/79 Toy foythyinsli