Nomination for Smith, Bradford, Building

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (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 See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For NPS use only received APR 1 8 1984 date entered historic Bradford Smith Building and/or common Bradford Smith Property 2. Location street & number 1927-1941 Purchase Street- N/A not for publication city, town New Bedford N/Avicinity of Massachusetts state 025 code county Bristol 005 code 3. Classification Category district X building(s) _ structure site . object Ownership public private both Public Acquisition in process N/A being considered Status - occupied unoccupied X work in progress Accessible X- yes: restricted .

yes: unrestricted no Present Use agriculture _ commercial educational entertainment government industrial military museum park private residence religious scientific transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name Martin D. Gavin & Daniel D. Zailskas - Gavin Associates street & number Mr. Gavin - 17 Framer Road/ Mr. Zailskas 10 Drift Way, Scituate, MA 02060 city, town Wellesley Hil1, MA 02181 n/a vicinity of state Massachusetts 5. Location of Legal Description Bristol County Registry of Deeds courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. street & number 25 North Sixth Street New Bedford Massachusetts city, town state 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets of title the Commonwealth #642 has this property been determined eligible?

_ yes X no date February, 1980 _federalX state county _X local depository for survey records Historical Commission/City of New Bedford 294 Washington Street Boston# New Bedford Office of Better Neighborhoods city, town state Massachusetts 7. Description Bradford Smith Building, New Bedford, MA Condition excellent X good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered - Check one original site moved date N/A Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Bradford-Smith Building is a late Victorian wood frame commercial structure located in Weld Square a commercial district north of downtown New Bedford. The building faces east directly onto Purchase Street and is abutted on the north and south by vacant lots. Across the street to the north is the Union Street Railway Carbarn (NR 1978) and nearby south of the Bradford-Smith Building, also on Purchase Street, is the Dawson Building (NR 1982), a late 19th century brick commercial structure. Sheathed in clapboards, the Bradford-Smith Building rises 3½ stories from a granite and brick foundation. The structure is capped by a black asphalt pitch roof which is pierced by three chimneys and is broken on the facade by a double gable. s ca Pad by PPlain cornerboards and a simple frieze frame the building.

Fenestration, except for single pane storefront windows, consists of the original 2/2 sash. The facade's major components (east elevation) are its four original storefronts on the ground level and, ardouble gable with returns at the roofline This design element, which visuallyidivides the building into two units, is joined by a, cornice and supporting brackets. The storefronts, composed of plateglass, are framed by tin posts with glazed transoms (now boarded over) on top, and low wooden boarding placed below. The commercial units are linkedby six arched entrances that lead to recessed entries. Windows on this elevation are symmetrically grouped below the gables and consist of five openings on the second and third floor with three located within the gable field. An additional window is centrally placed on the second and third floor below the cornice which links the two gables.

The total number of windows on these two floors is eleven. All fenestration on the facade is capped bysprojecting moldings which are supported by brackets.. The remaining three elevations contain little ornamentation and few significant archit- ectural elements.i The north andsouth elevations form the sides of the building and are identical in appearance. Both have a front section which projects slightly from the planeof the wall: and double shed dormers that pierce the roofline. Windows on these two faces are placed asymmetrically and capped by simple moldings. The rear elevation (west side), unlike the facade, does not have a continuous band of storefronts or a linking cornice between the two gables. Without these elements, the building's true configuration can clearly be seen which is a pair of connected gable ended structures.

Windows on this side of the building are of the same simple design as those on the north and south elevations. Each floor contains four openings, with those on the second and third story symmetrically aligned. Two additional windows are also contained within each gable. Subsidiary entries are centrally located on the ground floor. The interior of the building retains its original use of space which includes stores on the ground level and apartments on the floors above. Alterations to the structure have been minimal and generally have involved superficial changes made to the storefronts and interior space. These additions have included new signage and wooden sheathing placed on the lower portion of the facade and dropped accoustical ceilings and wood panelling placed in the apartment areas.

The building is presently undergoing a certified rehabilitation following the Secretary of Interior's Standards.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Bradford Smith Building, New Bedford, MA Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 X 1800-1899 1900- Areas of Significance - Check and justify below _ archeology-prehistoric community planning - archeology-historic conservation agriculture economics -architecture education art engineering commerce exploration/settlement - communications industry3 _ 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 unknown. Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Bradford-Smith Building possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship./ It is significant for its associations with the development of New Bedford's first streetcar: suburb - Weld Square - which emerged in the late 19th century as a major commercial and residential district north of downtown New Bedford. The property is also important as an intact and early example of wood frame commercial architecture. Thus, the Bradford-Smith Building meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

30J 23309110.1 C - t ni BT: 3:2 vi21c Weld Square, unti1 the end of the 19th century, was an undeveloped district north of downtown New Bedford.s Düe to the arrival bf streetcar service in this section of the city in the last quarter of the 19th century, combined with the profitable and expanding Wamsutta Mills located nearby, the Weld Square area quickly grew and prospered. By the early 20th century this streetcar suburb had become an important commercial and industrial district second only to downtown New Bedford. Residents of the neighborhood were generally recent Irish and French Canadian immigrants who worked in the nearby mills and at the Union Street Railway Carbarn (NR 1978).

The nominated property, located in the heart of this late 19th century neighborhood, was constructed in 1887 by a local builder and developer Bradford Smith, who is known to have constructed a number of other buildings in the vicinity. The Bradford-Smith Building, like others on major streets, was built to serve a dual function that combined ground floor commercial space with residential apartments on the floors above. When first completed, this structure contained small shops which included a bakery and furniture store in its ground floor commercial space and apartments above for mill workers employed at the carbarn and nearby textile mills. The building noted for its double facade gables and Italianate detail, has been little altered over the years, and continues to be used for its original function.

Bradford Smith, the builder/developer of the nominated property, was born in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1841. He came to New Bedford as a young man and for many years worked at the Taunton-New Bedford Copper Company. Upon his retirement, he bought numerous parcels of land in this northern section of New Bedford and constructed a number of tenement properties. These buildings, to increase productivity, generally included ground floor commercial space above which were floors that contained residential apart- ments. In addition to 1927-1941 Purchase Street, Bradford Smith also constructed a tenement directly to the rear of this building as well as houses on Highland Street. Weld Square remained a thriving commercial center and blue collar neighborhood through the mid-20th century.

In more recent years, it has experienced a period of deteriorations and decline, however, the area has lately undergone extensive revitalization. Examples of this activity can be seen in the rehabilitation of the Dawson Building and Union Street Railway carbarn, both of which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Bradford-Smith Building is also scheduled for rehabilitation with plans that will follow the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. Completion of this project will serve to enhance and further stabilize this important late 19th century streetscape and commercial district.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References Bristol County Registry of Deeds, Book 101, p. 91, Book 111, p.270, Book 1687, p. 710 City of New Bedford Tax Records, 1885, 1886, 1887 New Bedford Times, July 21, 1914. City Directories, New Bedford Free Public Library, 1889, 1906-10, 1912. NR nomination - Dawson Block, 1982 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 9,215 square feet Quadrangle name - New BedfordNorth Quadrangle scale 1:25,000 UT M References AL119/ |3|319/217,0/ Zone Easting [4/6/12|620 Northing B Northing CLULLILIL ELLILI GLULLILLIILIL Zone Easting -LULLILI FLUJ LLILI HLULULULIILL Verbal boundary description and justification Bristol County Registry of Deeds- Book 1850, p.

1190- "All that certain lot, piece or parcel of land situate in the City of New Bedford, State of Massachusetts, bounded and described as follows: Beginning in the northeast corner of said lot in the west line of said Purchase Street at a point fifty-five and 45/100 (55.45) 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 Mari L. Myer, Program Assistant, and Kathryn Kubie, Preservation Planner with name/title Peggi Medeiros, Research Historian organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date January 26, 1984 street & number 294 Washington Street 617-727-8470 telephone Boston. Massachusetts city or town state 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 PatunhWeslowrki State Historic Preservation Officer title Massachusetts Historical Commission date 4/10/84 For NPS use only 1 hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Uelues NaCoreo In the Natlonal Rogistor -Keeper of the National Register date 5/17/84 Attest: Chief of Registration date NPS Form 10-900-a 1(3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Bradford-Smith Building 10 Item number OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 For NPS use anly received date entered 1 Page feet south of the south line of Weld Street; thence Westerly one hundred and 2/100 (100.2) feet to the east line of land owend by Noah Tripp and at a point fifty-three and 45/100 (53.45) feet south of the said line of Weld Street; thence Southerly in said Tripp's east line ninety-two and 8/10 (92.8) feet to other land of the grantor; thence Easterly one hundred and 2/100 (100.2) feet in a line nearly parallel with the north line, to the west line of said Purchase Street; thence Northerly on the said west line of Purchase Street ninety-two and 9/10 (92.9) feet to the place of beginning. Containing thirty-four and 104/1000 (34.104) square rods, more or less. Mortgage Date October 27, 1982 - Recorded November 15, 1982 at 10 o'clock and 23 minutes pm. John Gomes, Register, Bristol County Register of Deeds.

WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Smith, Bradford, Building Bristol County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: Lsample - request Working No. APR | 8 1984 Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due:_ 3712/87 .86 Eatered in thaction: LACCEPT. National Register -RETURN _REJECT_ Federal Agency: _ 12/80 5/17/84 -appeal -NR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline. Date _ see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: - _ 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? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one - unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one -original site - moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) 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 PURCHASS OGANS ralCrORZZ COLO DEES VARIETY - Daly SNACK BAR Aackon Antiques 1927-1941 Pur New Bedford, Bradford Smitl Photographer Negative WHALI Front Facade