Nomination for Winchester Town Hall

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (7-81) 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 See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name Winchester Town Hall For NPS use only MAR 2 1983 received date entered historic Winchester Town Hall and/or common 2. Location Winchester Town Hall street & number 71 Mount Vernon Street N/Anot for publication city, town Winchester N/Avicinity of congreseienut distriet state MA 3.

Classification Category district Ownership public X building(s) private - structure both site Public Acquisition - object in process N/Abeing considerec code 025 county Middlesex code 017 Status _ occupied - unoccupied - work in progress Açcessible - yes: restricted yes: unrestricted _no Present Use - agriculture commercial educational entertainment X government industrial military museum - park private residence . religious _ scientific - transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name Town of Winchester, Massachusetts street & number Town Hall, 71 Mt. Vernon Street city, town Winchester N/Avicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state MA courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Middlesex County Registry of Deeds street & number 40 Thorndike Street city, town Cambridge state 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets of title the Cormonwealth #150 has this property been determined eligible? _ yesX no date 1977 and 1979 _federal X state -county - _ local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town Boston state MA 7. Description Winchester Town Hall, Winchester, MA Condition excellent X good fair .deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered X altered Check one X original site _moved date N/A Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Winchester Town Hall occupies a corner lot at the intersection of Mt. Vernon and Washington Streets in downtown Winchester. It is set back slightly (10'to 20!) from the street. Landscape plantings include trees, shrubs, and a low hedge surrounding the building. To the rear (southwest) lie a pond and waterfall, site of the first 17th century mill, a gristmill, in the town. A massive brick structure designed by Boston architects Rand and Taylor and erected 1887, the Town Hall is a visual landmark in this turn of-the-century, moderately sized business district. Surrounding civic and commercial buildings include a Neo-gothic Library (1931); a Neo-classical school building (1903); the Romanesque Style Winchester Savings Bank (1892; NR); and a modern brick senior citizens' center. Use of shifting scale and a complex roofline screens the basic simplicity of the Town Hall's plan.

The main rectangular block has projecting 2-story gabled pavilions approximately centered on its north, west and south elevations, a 4-round, 2-story tower at its southeast corner, and a square integral clock tower at its northeast corner. A narrower 2-story rectangular ell with gables and 2-story towers on both its north and south elevations projects east from the main block, and east from that, a lower 2-story ell. All elevations are finished with pressed red brick trimmed with Longmeadow freestone; they rise from a foundation of coursed Rockport granite. The slate covered roof consists of a high hip over the main block and primary ell, broken on the north and south elevations by eyebrow dormers and by gable dormers with steeply pitched roof; the gable roof of the secondary ell is uninterrupted. A variety of window openings are employed.

They appear singly and in groups of up to five; semicircular arches predominate although segmentally arched and trabeated forms are present. the tberal use of multiple jambs with bold gable and delacate mullions. all painted white, enlivens the building. The main entry is approximately centered on the Mt. Vernon Street (north) elevation and located in the primary ell, abutting the clock tower (west) and round towers (east). The entry is defined by a 2-story arcaded porch with three round arches on the first story and six round arches on the second story. The freestone elements of the moulded archivolts feature foliated ornamentation of spirals, clustered leaves, and flowers. Directly above the entry is a multi-pane eyebrow dormer.

West of the entry is the clock tower (described below) and beyond that: a 3½-story projecting gable contain- ing a bank of five trabeated windows with 4/4 sash and 10-pane transoms on the first story, a larger mülti-pane roundarch window lighting the second and third stories, and an ocular window in the gable peak; also a 1-story projecting gable with a secondary entry, the doorway of which repeats the roundarch form. East of the entry. a round tower, projecting gable (both 2½-stories) and 2-story ell(flank to street)with a variety of fenestration, complete the asymmetrical facade. (Continued) NPS Form10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 Far NPS use anly received date entered Continuation sheet Winchester Town Hall Item number 7 Page 1 A dominant skyline silhouette , the bell and clock tower stands 125 feet tall and 20 feet square. Notable features include an arcaded belfry, four clock faces, decorative brick corbelling, and a high pyramidal hip roof. At the second floor level of the north elevation is a stone panel which marks the date of construction and names given to the town throughout its history. Structural renovations (1964), including the replacement of some brickwork at the corners, have not altered the tower's original appearance. The rear south elevation is characterized by a continuation of the varied window forms and design elements found elsewhere. At the eastern end, the facade line is broken by the stepped back arrangement of the two wings.

Alterations of the rear elevation have been minor or reversible. They include: a 3-story fire escape on the main block applied directly over the existing building fabric (1942); and an additional, entry (1934) and window (1943). Modifications to the interior plan reflect changes in the Town Hall's function through time. When originally constructed it contained the town offices, the public library, the historical society, and the police lock-up. Presently it houses the town offices only. A 20 by 5 foot-room in the eastern-most wing of the building, which housed the public library in the original plan, contained a main lobby, balcony stacks, and had a capacity of 20,000 volumes. In 1931 when a new library was constructed on the lot behind the Town Hall, this wing wasrenovated and usedfor town offices.

The auditorium at the west end of the building is 50 by 75 feet and has a seating capacity of 1000. A small hall, 34 by 45 feet, seating 300, is located behind, accessible through an arched opening. Changes to the hall were minimal during 1968 interior renovations. The balcony on each side, the stage, anterooms, and several dressing rooms remain in original condition.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Winchester Town Hall, Winchester Period - prehistoric _1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 1900 Areas of Significance-Check and justify below - archeology-prehistoric - community planning - archeology-historic - conservation _ agriculture economics X architecture -education _ art _ engineering commerce - exploration/settlement communications _ industry - invention _ landscape architecture _ religion law literature military music philosophy - politics/government _ science - sculpture _ social/ humanitarian - theater - transportation - other (specify) Specific dates 1887 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect Rand & Taylor, architects Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Winchester Town Hall possesses integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, setting, feeling, &association. It is significant as a classic example of late 19th century American public architecture designed by a distinguished Boston architectural firm. Furthermore, it possesses enduring associations with the civic development of the town of Winchester. Thus, the Town Hall meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. The idea for a town hall originated on May 25, 1850 in a letter to the selectmen of Winchester from Colonel William Parsons Winchester of Watertown. For the honor of having the newly-created (April 30, 1850) town named after him, he made the offer of $3000 "to be appropriated to the erection of a Town Ha11 or any other proper object of municipal expenditure".

The town accepted the offer, but it was more than 35 years before a town hall was built. From 1851 until 1886, the town rented meeting hall and office space. In that year it finally voted to purchase the Gardner/Cutting lot at the corner of Washington and Pleasant and appropriated $50,000 for a new building through a period of heated debates, arguments, and innumerable troubles concerning the location and price of the new building. Conmittees were formed and dissolved, and as Chapnan states, "the affair left scars that were long in healing". The offices of Rand & Taylor were located at 28 School Street in Boston. George D. Rand, a resident of Winchester, was a member of the original cornmittee who met to determine the feasibility of a new Town Hall in 1885. While he was not on the committee that moved to purchase the final site, he was well known to them.

His fhe hot est order oo aorigtnated intalent ind ie Bost it ares consie tet to igamong The firm designed "several of the most important buildings in recent years."2 Among the most outstanding designs of Rand & Taylor were the alteration and enlargement of the Hotel Vendome in Boston in 1881 (originally designed by William G. Preston in 1875): the State Hospital for the Insane in Worcester, (NR) Young Ladies' Seminary in Northfield; Winter Park Hotel, Florida; the Hotel Hampton, Boston (1885); the Mary Hitchcock Hospital, Hanover, NH. (1890); and the Boston and Lowell railroad station in West Medford (1885). The Winchester Town Hall embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles, design idioms for which the architects were we11-known.

Although the building's composition was criticized by some contemporaries, chiefly for its lack of compactness and composite style, nevertheless, its design represents popular ideas of the period and its construction indicates a change in Winchester's spirit from industrial village to upper class Boston suburb. (Continued) 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References winchester Town Ha1l 1. 2. Annual Reports of the Town of Winchester: 1885, 1886, 1931, 1940, 1941, 1958-1967. Chapman, H.S., History of Winchester, Massachusetts, Winchester: Town of Winchester, 1936. 3. Leading Manufacturers and Merchants of the City of Boston. Boston: 1885. 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 42652 Square Feet Quadrangle name Lexington, MA UMT References Quadrangle scale 1:25000 i000 cedee s A 19 1324449 Zone Easting 1470,40,29 Northing CL D JULUANTR Zone Easting Northing LILLL F GLULUILLJ LILILLL HLU LLILAd bAlILL Verbal boundary description and justification The property bounds conform to those originally purchased by the Town of Winchester in 1885 for the erection of a town hali. See attached deed and assessor's map...

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By name/title Virginia A. Fitch, Preservation Planner with Cynthia A. Krumme, Chairperson, Winchester Historical Commission organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date November, 1982 street & number 294 Washington Street telephone (617)727=8470 city or town Boston state" MÀ 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national -_ state local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National. 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 criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service....

State Historic Preservation Officer signature Yatum LWeslouske title State Historic Preservation Officer For NPS use only 1 hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Entered in the Uelores Dyeu Natlonal Begister Keeper of the National Register date 2/24/83 date 3/31/83 Attest: Chief of Registration date NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form OMB No.1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 For NPS Use only received date entered Continuation sheet Winchester Town Hall Item number Page 1 In addition to the public offices, the Town Hall includes an auditorium which has held Town Meetings,tax assessors meetings, and meetings of different public and private organizations, as well as fund-raising events such as the Winton Club Cabaret held yearly since the early 1920's, the United War Fund Benefits featuring Bette Davis and Bob Hope, the annual Rotary Club Auction and even a benefit concert in 1940 to pay the mortgage of the local New Hope Baptist Church. The clock and bell tower were purchased from the funds of Colonel Winchester. Cast on the bell is the following inscription: "This clock and bell commemorate the gift of William P. Winchester to the town which bears his name".

The ringing of the bell is still a familiar daily event and a special part of the annual summer band concert held on the grounds behind the Town Hall. Citations: ILeading Manufacturers and Merchants of the City of Boston. Boston 1885. 2Ibid 3Ibid Bibliography, Part 9 4i Stone, B.W., History of Winchester Massachusetts, Volume 22. Winchester:Town of Winchester, 1975. 5. The Daily Times and Chronicle (newspaper) November 2, 1981. 6. Winchester Star (newspaper) November 19, 1981. 7. Winchester Star (newspaper) February-March, 1888. IATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Imited States lational Park Winchester Town Hall Middlesex County MASSACHUSETTS EYALUATION / RETURN SHEET resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Working No. MAR 21983 Fed. Reg.

Date: -7-87 Date Due: 3/31/83 - 4//6/83 Action: -ACCEPT- 3/31/83 Intered in the - RETURN National Register REJECT. Federal Agency:_ - sample - request _ appeal - NR decision Reviower's comments: Recom. /Criteria - Reviewer Discipline Date continuation sheet -Nomination returned for: - technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Prosont Ueo 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Représentation in Existing Surveys fms thla property teon detemened o -' 7. Description ood talr deterton PUdnG boch em - umattera _aitored arlbo thhe proeent and ertalnal (1l trswal ptryadoed cppasram summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection 8.

Significance arde 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 rper Perbel beunde 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The ovatuad etgnifioence ef ente propearty cutostn are etate de: attansl stmie __leca: en Oficer algnatur 13. Other Maps Photographs - Other Questions concerning.this nomination may be directed to - Signed. Date - Phone: 202 272 -3504 Commentsfor any Item may be continued on an attached sheet WINCHESTER TOWN HALL 71 Mount Vernon Street Winchester, Mass.

01890 Marjorie McCann-Estridge 1978 Winchester Archival Center # 1 of 1 View - Looking north grabh 720-0182 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 February 24, 1983 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. 20243 Dear Ms.

Shull: Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: Boston - Harvard Avenue Fire Station (Local) Dedham - Ames School (Local) Needham - Amos Fuller House (Local) Newbury - Hale-Boynton House (Local) Northbridge - Rockdale Common Housing District (Local) Springfield - Upper Worthington Historic District (Local) Winchester - Town Hall (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 meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Comments received to date are attached to the nomina- tion forms. Sincerely, Candace lenkins Candace Jenkins Registration Director CJ/1k RECEIVED AMDCNAL REGIPTLR