BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 383C*01 Office oi the Secretary, State House, Boston -...- .1.- 3302 1. Town In Area no. Form no. 44-B Worcester Address 100 Barber Avenue John Woodman Higgins Armory Name_ Musoum Present use commercial offices and 2. Photo (3x3" or 3x5") museum Staple to left side of form Photo number Present owner Trustees of John Woodman Higgins Armor: Museum 3. Description: Date 1930 DC38-0K 20:1r 2063 b 3 Source see Bibllography -reverse oid Roll 18 CiTtg 4. Máp. Draw sketch of building location in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings. Indicate north. u. Sosdo Ro DonOc E. 1093. Style elements of International Style *aArchitect Joseph D. Leland of Boston Exterior wall fabric steel and glass Outbuildings (describe) none DEr 5o1: - ooc a0to3m. PLRCBK: :S0.
over-sized rivets used Other features as decoration, neo- classical entry, applied decorative medallions ofsteel at cornice, dodimorit Iacos angled entry bay surmounted at the cornice by & mock suit of armos,tl Co egdoncmos corporate symbol of Worcester Pressed Steel Co. Altered elergcs 93805*0. TENICO BS Losde wane Moved 10 uro»no hatolevso BLa Date .Foca :02a30 **9*Y Torg- 2o abo. UTM: "Assessors! Book 22, p-7 Suboss :219/269240/4686380 5. Lot size: Lots lA, 1B 12,562 sq.ft. One acre or less - Over orie acre a TL0.3 OL C0 1001 Approximate frontage Approximate distance of building from street 10° Lene bi I.4 6. Recorded by Organization B.R. Pfeiffer Date_ Worc. Heritage Pres. Soc March 1978 (over) 37M_7_77 7. Original owner (if known) Worcester Pressed Steel Company Original use Subsequent uses (if any) and dates offices and museum same r8.
Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Agricultural Architectural The Arts Commerce Communication Community development X Conservation Education Exploration/ settlement Industry Military Recreation Religion Science/ invention Social/ numanitaria ransportatio 9. Historical significance (include explanation of themes checked above) The Higgins Armory consists of an "I" plan building of four-storey height built in 1930 for the Worcester Pressed Steel Company, whose president was John Woodman Higgins. Of steel frame construction, the Higgins Armory is believed to have been the first building in the United States to have an exterior constructed entirely of steel and glass.
At the time of the building's construction there existed widespread doubta about the safety of a steel exterior; the most prominent fear being that the expansion and contraction of the steel would shatter the many gass windows. Despite Iears, the building was opened on January 12, 1931, at which time the offices of the Worcester Pressed Steel Company occupied - the lower two floors, while the Jonn Woodman Higgins Armory Museum occu- pied the top two floors. The origins of the Armory Museum trace back to the childhood of John Woodman Higgins, the son of Milton Higgins, a prominent local industrialist and educator. Having shown a high degree of inventiveness early in his lile, John Higgins became interested in the manutacture oi steel- In 1902 Higgins and his father bought the Worcester Ferrule & Manufacturing Company/ which became the Worcester Pressed Steel Company.
In 1905 the company moved from Main Street where Barber Avenue where Higgins developed a variety of stamping processes to replace earlier methods of casting steel. During World War I the company shifted from the manufacture of bicycle and automobile parts to the production of weapons. Varying its production from time to time, the company remained in existence until the 1970s. (cont.) 10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) Worcester Historical Society. Educational File, Higgins Museum. Sunday Telegram, 11/16/1930, Section 5, p.1 (description of building nearing completion) - "Craftsnanship in Steel: The" John Woodman Higgins Armory in Worcester." The Newcomen Society in America. Princeton University Press, 1956.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commni ty : Worcester Form No: 44-B Property Name: Higgins Armory Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. 9. While Higgins was developing his interest in the modern manufacture of steel parts, he became increasingly interested in past metal work, particularly in suits of armor. Later, upon the advice of Bashford Dean who developed the armory collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Higgins purchased eight suits of armor from the collection of George Jay Gould, a purchase which formed the core of Higgins' early collection. In 1927 Higgins made an extensive trip to Europe both to visit armory collections and to buy items for his own collection.
By 1928 Higgins' collection had outgrown the space available in his home at 80 William Street and the plan to open a public museum was formed. In 1929-1930 Joseph Loland, a Boston architect, was hired to design a combined office-museum building in which both the collection of armor and modern manufactured products could be displayed. Higgins intended the museum "to comprise an historical library and a collection of objects Illustrating the progress of the art of metal working from its earliest beginnings to the present time." A strong advocate of improved industrial design, Higgins intended that visitors to the museum have direct access to the company's manufacturing plant and to exhibit modern objects which would "inspire industrial craftsmen." Higgins was also active in encouraging fine arts museums to exhibit well-designed everyday objects.
Somewhat in contrast to the modernity of Higgins' ideas about industrial design, the museum's interior is constructed BI stone and plaster forming high pointed-arch vaults, based on "Prinz Eugen's castle in Hohenwerfen, Austria" from which part of the collection had come. Continued acquisition has made the Higgins Armory collection one of the largest private collec- tions in the world, containing more than 157 suits of armor and 4,000 related objects. Both the ezceptional quality of the museum's collection and the unique- ness of the Armory Building as an example of early modern architecture warrant the listing of this property on the National Register of Historic Places, even though the building is slightly less than fifty Jears old. Staple to Inventory form at bottom MAR 5 1980 Property Warceoter Meltple Resomce Area (Partial laventary) State MA (Warcester Working Number8.
30.79.2060 TECHNICAL CONTROL Photos 383. +13 Maps 2,63 Exuesect Bor Yogenerad docngtion 4 rat entie cel Cau aAN Call/Acapt " te individual inventony sheet are Lightne done. Each tyge of ropecth inclided is wel. conun n/h Bmiés ummento n 102-4-3, 44. Integnty and for bondaries rech to "G-CBD-", "'-E, and 130-C10-50 and be addiesed speatially on indudual tms. DUBIE ARCHEOLOGIST 14 - coot descussed with vali) Erfcanee and cotegarratmnth i se attacded ie WINH 3 EXCEPTIONS AU PROPERTIES APPEAK TO ME TO MEET AK CRITERRIA AND THE OTHER FORMS ARE ADEQUATE RED BOTH TECHNLALLT AND TO DETERMINE SIGNIFICANCE, ACMOWEH SOME EF PHE FORMS DID NOT CONTAN STRONK SIATEMENS IF SIGNIFICANCE TEE ACLEDT KSSOURCE CATEGONES WERE TUDROUGHLY DICUSSED IN BHE BODY OF MHE NDRINATION; TUEREGBRE SNGNIFICANCE MAS ESTABHSHED.
HBDS WERE NOT NELESSARY BELHSE 2/28/88 Of N/E SCHE MAPSAND CLEAKLY DELNEATER BOUNDARICS. HLRENDE WES MUISSING DIU SAMCE PROPEATTES BUT EIS MOW INCLIDED AFTER BE 2/11/ CORRELTORS. HAER THE ONLY PROPENTIES TKET I DO NOT RECOMMEND LISTING ARE Inventory - ~ 116-CBD-13 - DESAOYCO BY FIRE no- 16CBD-! Review 130-CBo-44- POES. NOT RETUN INTEGRITY FOR NDIUDUKA GLGIBILITY v102-L-3 / POAA JUMBOT CONVINKER ABOUT BOUNDANES REVIEW UNIT CHIEF BUT BELLEÜE MEY DOULD BE OK. EF BASED Recommad ON ADDITONAL DOCUMLENTATON SUBMUTTED - / DEPER JUDGEMENT. Listing all propertres nexcept these 3. Return 116-CBD-1. to Stute (not eligebte); F to dercuss futha +State.
DUBIE Retum 102-L-3 to State fer curectum; 315 ,BRANCH CHIEF 3/3/81 HOLD 130-CBD -44 for info from stute DUBIE Staff conferenu 3/5/30 -agued to actisi as zuted belrr: dceyat mn ette, 102 -3 (rekumy f 16-CBD-11 (officcal notfirati of BD-11) a d/ 130-CB0-44 |Leliptritt un. sfate) National Register Write-up Send-back Federal Register Entry 2.3.81 Re-submit KEEPER Entered Soldhe 3/5/80 MAR 5 1980 United States Department of the Interior - Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service MICHELIN &R*TIRE CO.. nc. by Berk JUN 1979. 30 AUG 1979 44-B 1o0 Barber Aue Hggins Armery Museum east+north eleu. wercester MRA, Ma 1980 by Berkey ints JUN 1979 Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000304