BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Amerdment to the Worcester Multiple Resource Area (NR: 1980) AREA FORM NO. 130(S-4) Town Worcester Address 49 Austin Street Historic Name "The Russell" white) Sketch Map: Draw map showing property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all buildings between inventoried property and nearest intersection(s). Indicate north Use: Present Original apartments apartments DESCRIPTION Date ca. 1894 Source Eng. & Bldg, Record Vol. XXX, P. 11 Style Classical, Romanesque, Utilitarian Architect Barker & Nourse Exterior Wall Fabric brick, granite, brown- stone Outbuildings none Major Alterations (with dates) main door replaced, cement block addition at side rear (late 20th c.) Condition Fair/Good Moved Date NA Acreage 4,834 sq. ft.
Setting intersection in mixed residential/ apartment/conmercial area, some vacant lots See attached maps. UTM REFERENCE 19/268440/4782330 USGS QUADRANGLE Worcester North Quadrangle SCALE Recorded by Sarah Zimmerman w/S. :Ceccaci Organization Mass. Historical Cormission 1:25000 Date August, 1985 Valevie Talmage 54p0 9/26185 OCT T 1985 OCL 1 1882 NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA STATEMENT (if applicable) "The Russel1" is a simple but well-preserved example of Richardsonian Romanesque design by a noted Worcester architectural firm, Barker and Nourse. It is representative of architect-designed apartment buildings built in Worcester during the late 19th century.
"The Russell" is also significant as a good example of the apartment blocks built in the Main-Wellington-Chandler area, once Worcester's most extensive area of middle-class apartment block Cegister on the 1osat ievehe Russe11" meets criteria A and C of the National ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community. "The Russell" is a four-story brick Richardsonian Romanesque apartment block built ca. 1894. Built to the designs of Barker and Nourse, a noted Worcester architectural firm, "The Russell" is a modest building whose Romanesque styling is most evident in its use of rugged materials and sparse detall1ng. These give the building a fortress-like appearance. The building is located at the corner of Austin and Irving Streets, just west of Worcester's central business district.
It is set directly on the street with no landscaping. The building is rectangular in plan with a five-bay facade on its north elevation and a curved bay at the northeast corner. On the west elevation to the rear is a concrete block addition added in the late 20th century. The building rises four stories from a raised foundation of rock-faced granite Continued HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community. "The Russell" was originally part of the city's largest district of apartment block construction, which extended along South Main Street, Wellington and Chandler Streets. During the second half of the 19th century, Worcester's industries expanded greatly in size and number. The city's population grew rapidly and swelled through large additions of foreign immigrants.
As a result of the growing demand for housing, residential expansion became necessary and occured in all the central sections of the city. 01der neighborhoods became more densely settled, while outlying areas were expanded with new subdivisions. During the late 19th century, three deckers and apartment blocks formed the bulk of the city's multiple family housing. Located two blocks west of Main Street, "The Russel1" was built near the southernmost edge of the central business district. Constructed in an area where apartment blocks began appearing as early_ as 1879, the building was built on the site of an earlier double house. Typical of apartment blocks in the area, "The Russell" was architect designed and purely residential. The building was built at a cost of $25,000 for Abigail Russell Parsons.
Continued BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES atlases, directories Worcester Architects List, Worcester Heritage Preservation Society Engineering and Building Record, Vol. XXX, July 14, 1894, p. 115 Worcester Telegram, January 11, 1938 (Ava G. Hovey) clipping file, Worcester Historical Museum. 8/85 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commnity: Worcester Form No: 130-(S-4) Property Name: 49 Austin Street "The Russell" Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE continued Al though many speculative apartment blocks were being built by developers in the 1890s, "The Russell" was owner-occupied as most earlier Worcester apartment buildings had been. In this case, Mrs. Parsons' daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Henry A.
Hovey, lived on the first floor while the owner herself lived next door at 55 Austin Street. Mrs. Parsons also owned houses south of "The Russell" on Irving Street. Her grandsons, founders of one of Worcester's largest laundry (the Hovey Laundry), also built and owned property in the neighborhood. The majority of "The Russell's" tenants were of the middle class. Architecturally, "The Russel1" is comparable to other well-buflt, architect- designed Worcester apartment blocks of the late 19th century. With the demolition of many of these, especially in the Main-Wellington-Chandler area, "The Russell" is now one of the few apartment blocks in the area. As a representative of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, it is a simple but effective design.
The rounded northeast corner, extensive use of rock-faced granite and brownstone trim, repeated rhythm of chimney stack "piers" and roofline chimneys, heavy, carved Romanesque arched main entrance and deep corbelled roof parapet are all notable features of the design. The architect of the structure was the firm of Barker and Nourse of Worcester. The partnership of Albert A. Barker (1853-1905) and Walter B. Nourse (1854-1906) was active from 1880-1902. Barker and Nourse designed many important Worcester buildings including a number of apartment buildings. They appear to have been the major designers of Worcester apartment blocks at the end of the 19th century.
the general area are area aneite Boynton Some notable Barker and Nourse apartment blocks in "The Boynton" (1887) and "The Vendome" Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commnity : Worcester Form No: 130-(S-4) Property Name: 49 Austin Street "The Russell" Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE continued ashlar to a flat roof punctuated with several narrow rectangular chimneys along the outside walls. The main block of the building rests on a rock-faced brownstone water table, a detail repeated as a string course above the first floor windows. exception of shallowly projecting chimney stacks with corbelled bases. At the roof line is a shallowly-projecting corbelled frieze culminating in a metal cornice.
Windows throughout the building are 1/1 wooden sash set within wooden surrounds. On the principal facades, windows feature brownstone sills and deep relieving arches. The building's principal ornament is contained within the central three bays of the north facade. The frontispiece is enclosed within a pair of projecting piers which are the stacks for two chimneys at the roof level. The entrance to "The Russel1" , centered between two flanking window bays and recessed beneath a massive round arch, is reached by a short flight of stairs. The round arched entrance is the building's most outstanding architectural feature. It is composed of rock-faced brownstone and rests on a pair of squat Ionic columns. A carved keystone surmounts the arch. Above the entrance, on the second, third and fourth stories, narrow paired windows, flanked by a pair of full-sized windows, occupy the central bay.
Between the second and third stories is a brownstone plaque bearing the name of the building. frontispiece culminates in a raised brick parapet with a deep course of corbelled brick. The building's only alterations have been the addition of the concrete block shed to the rear and the replacement of the original front door with a modern metal door. A rehabilitation of "The Russell" in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation will take place in the near future. Staple to Inventory form at bottom 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 useonly received 5-3-54 date entered Continuation sheet Item number Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Page / of/ dnr-11 Name State Worcester Multiple Resource Area Worcester County, MASSACHUSETTS Nomination/Type of Review 1. Worcester Corset Company Factory Keeper Date/Signature towa ha bmufe ro-ytl Substantive Review Attest Malvern Road School Keeper Substantive Review Bomer naDrgat o-tst Attest Claremont Street Historic District substantive Beviaw Keeper Attest Richmond, Willard, Apartment Entered in the fKeeper ZelmByun11/2185 Block Nationel Jegister Attest 5. Russell (The) Entered 1n the Iotitene) Megistex fteeper SelunaByend112/85 Attest 6. Aurora Hotel Substantive Review frkcepor Patrick Ardus velee Attest Betk*Saunge 4/28/38 Enterod Er thai 7. Holy Name of Jesus Complex 2at10s2l 10g1010z glureepes elougur e1515r Attest 8. Vendome and the St.
Ives Subetantivo zorsgicopBestosuze o-ogt (. Shaarai Torah Synagogue Ente/ed 1n the Matlona1 Registffeeper Attest Styfre 10. Keeper Attest WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Re,=It 85002782 Russell (The) (Worcester MRA) Worcester County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: Lsample request Intoced Matione1 appeal OCT Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: 22/3/82 Date Due: _ 11/2185 Action: LACCEPT - RETURN REJECT_ Federal Agency: 7 1985 - -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 I 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 J original site 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 áreas 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 J 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 49 Austin sT "The Russel" worcester MRAMa ROllI -20 4a Avstin ST. The Russill" worester MRA, Ma ROLl I-2 24 102 03 95 DENOL ISH AUSTIN STRE STREET FO R 130X-C CHANDLER IRVING FORM 142-T-2 'AQUES AVE. ELLIN church GTON ST. 4130X-3 sot *x STREET 459,000 SEE 88 a2 IRVING STREET MURRAY AVE.
MAP SHEET ASSESSORISMAP, CITY OF WORCESTER MOORE SURVEY & MAPPING CO., 1975 SHEET #130 SCALE 1" = 100' Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000304