Nomination for Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

8/1186-8/9/86 NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No.1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 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 date entered 25 historic Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block and or common 2. Location same street & number 38-68 and 70-72 Cornhill N/A - not for publication Boston N/A city, town - vicinity of state Massachusetts 3. Classification Category Ownership - district - public x building(s) - private structure both site Public Acquisition object _ in process _N/Abeing considered code 025 county Suffolk code 025 Status - occupied - unoccupied .

work in progress Accessible X yes: restricted - nes: unrestricted Present Use _ agriculture X commercial _ educational .entertainment _ government - industrial - military _ museum - park - private residence _ religious _ scientific transportation _ other: 4. Owner of Property name street & number 36-68 Cornhill: N.V. Bromasio Indo Suez Bank 1270 Ave. of the Americas 70-72 Cornhill: Sharafs Inc. Mass. Corp. 63 Court Street city, town NY, NY N/Avicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Boston, Mass. 02108 courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Suffolk County Registry of Deeds street & number Pemberton Square city, town Boston state Massachusetts 6. Representation in Existing Surveys inventory of Historic Assets of title the Commonwealth of Massachusettsas this property been determined eligible?

date 1980 federal X state - county - yes X _ no _local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission, 80 Boylston Street city, town Boston state Massachusetts 7. Description Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block. Boston, Mass Condition excellent X good S fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered X altered Check one Xoriginal site moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Sears Block (1848) and Sears Crescent (1816) buildings together define the southwestern corner of Boston's 1arge, modern City Hal1 Plaza and remain as reminders of the original path of Cornhill Street. Boston's changing commercial architecture from the early to mid-nineteenth century is revealed in their designs, which exhibit Federal, Boston Granite, and Italianate stylistic features. The buildings are largely intact, although there are some alterations, such as the addition of new commercial storefronts on the first floor. Sears' Crescent building, located at 38-72 Cornhill, was originally a row of Federal style red brick and granite commercial buildings, designed with a single unified curving brick facade of 24 bays. Alterations dating from circa 1850-60 include the application of Italianate detailing in the decorative window hoods.

The first floor was originally of granite post and lintel construction, now intact at the rear but on the front 1argely rebuilt in concrete. Facing City Hall Plaza, the principal facade includes a central section six stories in height containing 6 bays, flanked by five story sections of five bays. The central portion features semi-circular hooded lintels at floors 2 and 3, and segmental pediments at 4 and 5. A mansard-like story at level 6 has brickwall surfaces and simple rectangular brownstone lintels. Crowning the fifth story of the central portion and the fourth story of the side sections are paired brackets above arched brick corbel courses. Between the fourth and fifth stories, "SEARS CRESCENT" is carved in an inset brownstone panel.

Rectangular window openings pierce the 5-story portions of the structure, embell ished at level 2 by flat projecting bracketed hoods, at the third story by bracketed cornice heads, and at the fourth story by bracketed hoods, at the third story by bracketed cornice heads, and the fourth story by bracketed lintels. The top story is a mansard like design, wooden on the front, featuring arched window openings. The rear facade of the building is 1argely Flemish bond brick with either splayed or rectangular stone lintels, and features intact original trabeated granite post and lintel storefronts. At the west in the rear, Sears' Cresent joins 25 Court St., the 1967 City Bank and Trust Building. bays are contained on this facade. Most of those in the western 2 bays are bricked in, while some of those in the central group of 8 are filled with louvers.

Remaining openings contain contemporary single-pane metal units. The east side facade contains 7 bays of rectangular windows with brownstone sills and lintels. The ground floor's 4 openings have all been bricked in. A fire escape is attached near the northern corner. Original windows have all been replaced with single pane metal frame units. Continued 8.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block, Boston, Mass. 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 Xagriculture - economics architecture education art engineering Xcommerce . exploration/settlement communications . industry invention landscape architecture law literature military music philosophy politics/government Specific dates 1816, 1848 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect _Unknown Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Sears Crescent (1816) and Sears Block (1848) are significant historically as the only two 19th century structures to survive along Cornhill Street, once a central location for Boston's book stores, and to be preserved in the 1962 Government Center Urban Renewal Plan, which otherwise cleared the old Scollay Square Area. Sears' Crescent is important architecturally as an early 19th century commercial building altered in mid-century with the addition of fine Italianate detailing. A portion of the rear of the building features the original Federal style splayed lintels and post and granite storefront, an early surviving Boston example of the trabeated grani te storefront arrangement which became increasingly popular during the Greek Revival period.

Sears' Block is significant as a rare surviving example of a mid-19th century post and lintel comnercial building in the "Boston Granite" tradition. Largely intact, it is one of only four such small-scale comnercial buildings remaining in the city's central business district; the others are: 365 and 427-429 Washington Street, and 9-11 Winter Street. Specific architects or builders are not known for these buildings. In the Boston Landmarks Commission's Central Business District Preservation Study (1980) of 809 buildings, The Sear's Block was evaluated to be of "Major Significance" (Group II) to the City, the Commonwealth and the New England Region. Sears Block and Crescent buildings possesses integrity of design, materials, wvorkmanship, association, and to some degree setting, and as such meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

The irregular parcel of 1and which defines the Crescent was purchased by the Cornhill Corporation in 1816 as part of a plan to "lay out a new and spacious street" and to construct a group of comnercial structures between Court and Cornhill (then called Cheapside). In 1816 the Cornhill Corp. sold the property to Uriah Cotting, a merchant, who in turn sold it the same year to David Sears, the prominent merchant for whom the building is named. The "Condition of Sale" to both Cotting and Sears states, "the whole front of said 1and on Cheapside shall be covered with a block of Brick stores, the front walls whereof shall be built of the same materials and correspond in the nanner of finishing, as near as may be with the front of the stores already erected on Cheapside" (Suffolk County deed records; book 253, p. 167: Condition of sale and plot map; Jan. 1816). Cornhill St.

was traditionally one of the major book centers in the United States. In 1825 Thomas Marshall Burnham founded a bookstore there which, under varying names and owners, continued at this location until the Continued religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation other (specify) 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References See Continuation Sheet 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property - less than one Quadrangle name Boston South UT M References AL19 Zone L3l 31d 3191d Easting L416|211/51210/ Northing Quadrangle scale 1:25,000 Zone D LILAJ LILLL Easting Northing LuLLL LLILLL E F HLL Verbal boundary description and justification Nominated property conforms to Assessors' parcelnumbers 2895 and 2897. See attached Assessor's Map. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county 11. Form Prepared By Carol Kennedy name/title Boston Lanamarks Commission organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date code May 1986 street & number 80 Boyston Street telephone (617) 727-8470 Boston city or town state Massachusetts 02116 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _X. state X - 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 Valerie A. Talmage title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission date State Historic Preservation Officer 6/12/86 For NPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Dlelres Entered in the Keeper of the National Register Nationel Register.

date 8/9/86 Attest: Chief of Registration GPO 911-399 date NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventor ears Orescent atd Searsi B1ock Block, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number cEIved dale enterec 8 Government Center Urban Renewal plan forced its removal in the 1960s. (It was known as the Brattle Book Shop at that time, "the oldest continuously active bookshop in the U.S.,"and is now located on West St.). Nineteenth century authors frequented the Cornhill area, among them Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the mid 1900s the Christian Freeman, a noted abolitionist Tists1, had its office in the Sears Crescent. In 1858 the Boston Al manac 4 booksellers, a bookbinder, a paper dealer, and a seller of bookbinding supplies, as well as one furniture dealer.

The 1865 Almanac lists 3 booksellers, a paper dealer, bookbinders' supplies, and the New England branch of the American Tract Society. John Whiting's A Schedule of the Buildings and Their Occupancy (1877) lists 2 bookstores, 2 dealers in bookbinding or bookbinders supplies, a large furniture store (Lawrence, Wilde and Co.), a dealer in artists materials, and an engraver. Owners of the row in 1848 were the Fifty Associates. One of the lesses, John Lilley, an umbrella manufacturer, obtained permission from the Associates to construct a new building, the granite building adjacent to the row (now #70-72 Cornhill) at the corner site. A drawing that accompanies the request in the deed records includes the "Sears' Block" name on the building. However, Sears' specific relationship to the building has not yet been discovered. Lilley's business operations continued here as late as 1877.

Other concerns here at that time were offices, a cloth cap manufacturer, and photographer. Present use of the Sears Crescent includes a restaurant, retail shops, service shops, and office space. David Sears was an entrepreneur and phil anthropist who was responsible for many developments in both Boston and Brookline. In 1820-21 his pecuniary interest in the Back Bay flats induced his purchase of a large tract of 1and on the adjacent confines of Brookline. A principal portion of this 1and was devel oped at Sears' expense and became the Longwood section of Brookline. The Cottage Farms area was another significant Sears development. According to members of his family, David Sears had acquired great areas of undeveloped tidal flats, on the southern shores of the Back Bay, from families of Revolutionary War Veterans whose services had been recompensed by the Commonwealth with grants of 1and.

Since some of the land was subject to tidal flow, and worthless for agricultural purposes, Sears bought it for very little. Continued OMB 1o. 1024-001 Expires 10-31-8 1 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service FOr NAS UNDG National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form date antered Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block, Boston, Mass Continuation sheet Item number Page 2 In 1850, anxious to have Back Bay filling operations speeded. Sears prepared and printed a plan for partially filling in that area and connecting it with Longwood and Brookline by avenues that bordered upon Silver Lake, an ornamental sheet of water. Sears offered to deed the Commonwealth thirty seven and one-half acres of his land in the Back Bay, provided that the legislature set aside an equal area for Silver Lake.

The axis that projected through the lake is the first hint of what would be Commonwealth Avenue. Other than the lake, the plan had little merit. Sears had failed to address the problem of the two railroad tracks that cut through the Back Bay in a great X. Sears' granite mansion at 42 Beacon Street in Boston was designed by Alexander Parris and is now the Somerset Club (built 1819; listed in the National Register). Sears was also responsible for the 1850 construction of the Liberty Tree Building (628-636 Washington St./1-9 Essex St.; listed in National Register and designated a Boston Landmark). Rehabilitation work was undertaken on the Sears Block in 1969 by Stahl/Bennet; a coffee shop is now located here. The large gold tea kettle above the entry originally was the trademark for the Oriental Tea Company, Boston's 1argest tea store, and hung over its door nearby at Scollay Square.

A contest was arby t soi ay saare held in 1874 to guess the number of gallons the kettle held. Guesses were submitted by 1300 persons, eight of whom shared the prize of 40 1bs of tea. The correct amount was 227 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint, and 3 gills. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Sears' Crescent and Sears' Block, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received date entered Page BIBLIOGRAPHY Boston Almanac. 1858 and 1865. Boston Globe, February 26, 1962. Boston Herald American, August 14, 1974. Brian, John M. Boston's Granite Architecture, Boston University Graduate School Ph.D. Thesis (1972). BRA publication "Government Center" Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 1963. Harrell and Smith, Ed.

Victorian Boston Today. 1975. Suffolk County Courthouse, book 253, p. 167. Condition of sale and plat map. (Jan. 1816). Suffolk County Deeds. Book 594, end. Elevation, floor plan, request to build. Thwing, Annie. The Crooked and Narrow Streets of the Town of toston. 1920. Weston, George. Boston Ways. Beacon Press, Boston, 1957. Whiting, John. A Schedule of the Buildings and Their Occupancy... 1877. 719 E N 122,926 WALL WALL 9/38 13,243 O. 946 SQUARE 14,888 COURT ANNEX SQUARE CITY HALL COURT 25,915 2031 15,268 29 299/ 020 18,/66 15,094 V.A. OUTPATIENT CLINIC COURT 6233 22 16 STREET 11,055 10197 199 201 COURT 27,033 CORNHILL 5232 205 207 209 7584 PIE ALLEY 215 COURT AVE 8632 PARKING 2100 2100 2700 2234 5880 241 243 3/36 2712 3463 3356 2300 2200 == ---: _== 30,220 MONUMENT U CONGRESS WASHINGTON MALL M.B T.A. STATION OLD STATE HOUSE 31 33 STATE ST.

15 (25 27 29 2622 NE 212 216 4633 222 226 228 4020g 2669 QUAKER LANE 209/ 2000 3009 3056 3202 Sears Block and Crescent 38-68, 70-72 Cornhill Boston, MA (So. Quad) UTM References: 19/330390/4691520 scale: 1" = 100' Boston Assessor's Map 846 FANEU' FANEUI! SQ 3079 CHANGE 13,21- 24,173 45 33, 636C 258 260 3; 86001489 WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Sears's Crescent and Sears' Block Suffolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: sample request JUN 25 1986 Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: 2/3187 Date Due: 8/13 Action: -ACCEPT..

8/9/86 8/9/86 Entered in the _RETURN Iatlona1 RegiFederal Agency: - REJECT_ 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 C S clarity J applicable criteria Jjustification 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:- GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Sears' Block and Crescent 70-72 Cornhill Boston, Massachusetts Pamela Fox, 1980 Negative filed at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number 1 of 2 Western oblique view of Sears' Block; camera facing east Sears' Block and Crescent 36-68 Cornhill Boston, Massachusetts Pamela Fox, 1980 Negative filed at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number 2 of 2 Northwest elevation of Sears' Crescent; camera facing southeast ROPES & GRAY 225 FRANKLIN STREET BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS O21IO (617) 423-6100 TELEX NUMBER 940519 ROPGRALOR BSN TELEX NUMBER 951973 ROPES GRAY BSN TELECOPIERS: (617) 423-2377 (617) 423-7841 INTERNATIONAL:(617) 423-6905 RECEIVED JUN 11 1986 MASS. HIST. COMM. IN WASHINGTON 1001 TWENTY-SECOND STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C.

20037 (202) 429-1600 TELECOPIER:(202) 429-1629 June 11, 1986 Valerie A. Ialmage, Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Dear Ms. Talmage: On behalf of Bromasio, N.V. I enclose herewith the notice of objection to the listing of the Sears Crescent Building on the National Register of Historic Places. would you kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter by acknowledgement on the enclosed letter. Thank you very much. neerely yours, Ilonci ancis X itMoulan FXH/dmw Enclosure VSz BF Gile NR 986L - IINNG BROMASIO, N.V. RECEIVED JUN 11 1986 MASS. HIST. COMM. June 5, 1986 Valerie A.

Talmage, Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02116 Gentlemen: The undersigned, a duly authorized representative of Bromasio, N.V., a corporation organized under the laws of Netherlands Antilles, hereby certifies that Bromasio, N.V. is the sole owner of the property known as the Sears Crescent Building located at 38-66 Cornhill Street, Boston, Massachusetts and that Bromasio, N.V. objects to the listing of said property on the National Register of Historic Places. Executed as of this Io"h day of June, 1986. Bromasio, N.V.

By: Th on this the lay oi June, 1006 botore tonFrJ appearedTomConmy acknowieaged to be thefTTy/NMéf Bromasio, , a Netherlands Antilles corporation, and that, as such officer, being authorized so to do, he executed the foregoing instrument for the purposes therein contained and acknowledged said instrument to be the free act indeed of said Bromasio, N.V. Shwakh. Cenery gnature NoTARY STEVEN M. CANCRO Notary Public, State of New York No. 60-4757930 Qualified in Westchester County Certificate filed in New York County Commission Expires Aprii 30, 1988 #P 093 540941 ESI ATIOCRAATA mand The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A. Talmage Erecutive Director State Historic Preservation Officer June 12, 1986 Carol Shull Chief of Registration National Register of Historic Places Dept.

of Interior, NPS P.O. Box 37127 Washington, D.C. 20013-7127 Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed you will find fifteen nominations. forms for properties in Boston and Richmond, Massachusetts. Eleven of the Boston properties are being submitted for Determinations of Eligibility due to owner objection. The remaining properties are being submitted for nomination to the National Register. Owner objections have been received for the Appleton, Auchmuty, Federal Reserve, 20-30 Bromfield, Hemenway, National Shawmut Bank, Parker House, phoenx, Richrdson, Sears Block and Crescent, and Tremont Temple buildings. All of the properties 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 nomination forms. Sincerely, Saran zimmennan Sarah Zimmerman Director of Preservation Planning /sjz enc. JUN 25 1986 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE TELEPHONE REPORT IDATE 7/14/86 TIME OF CALL PM 1. CALL 2. ADDRESS (Tel. No. If needed) Fally Zemmermon Stpo o/fei mA SUBJECT, PROJECT NO., ETC. Leau Cuscent Dewa Block sulfalk C MA 4. DETAILSOF DISCUSSI Tw fre - ry mue pepte. treat as panding for lesten, nat as DoE fune iajetin. NAME OF PERSON PLACING/RECEIVING CALL TITLE OFFICE FHR-8-227 June 1978