Nomination for Second Brazer 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 JUN 2 5 1986 date entered historic Second Brazer Building and or common same 2. Location street & number 25-29 State Street N/A not for publication city, town Boston N/A vicinity of Massachusetts state code 025 county Suffolk code 025 3.

Classification Category - district building(s) structure site object Ownership - public - private both Public Acquisition N/Ain process 'being considered Status occupied unoccupied work in progress Accessible - yes: restricted yes: unrestricted no Present Use agriculture X commercial educational entertainment - government industrial military museum park private residence . religious . scientific transportation other: 4. Owner of Property John D. Rehms, Trust name street & number 7 Water Street - 2nd Floor city, town Boston N/A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Suffolk County Registry of Deeds street & number Pemberton Square city, town Boston 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys state Massachusetts title Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts date 1980 has this property been determined eligible? yes X no tederal X state county local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission, 80 Boylston Street Boston Massachusetts city, town state 7. Description Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Condition excellent X good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered X -altered Check one original site moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Second Brazer Building is a trapezoidal plan, eleven story freestanding Beaux Arts style office building of steel frame construction clad in limestone and terra cotta. Its design features a column format having a base of two stories, a transitional third floor, a five-story shaft, and an el aborate crowning cap of the upper three stories. Exterior materials are limestone for floors one through three and terra cotta for upper stories. The building covers the entire 2,669 square feet of the trapezoidal parcel. Its height is 125 feet, which was the maximum allowed by building codes in 1896. The terra cotta cladding is fashioned in a rusticated wall surface pattern from fourth through ninth stories, andsmooth-faced masonry pattern at floors ten through eleven. Fenestration patterns are identical on the State Street., Devonshire, and south Quaker Lane facades.

The rusticated limestone base is articulated by three wide bays, round arched atthe second story and embellished by ornamental keystones, while floors three through eight are divided into six bays. Two slender metal colonettes and one horizontal member further break up the units within the arched openings. A slightly paired arrangement ofthe upper story bays added subtle vertical emphasis to the building when seen from a distance. Viewed closely, however, the Renassiance-inspired masonry and terra cotta patterns have a decided horizontality. Windows on the ninth floor are arched. Window units are one over one, double hung wood sash. Rounded corner bays are found at the northeast and northwest corners. The northwest contains a classically enframed street-level entry. Wreathed medallions are centered above the second-story corner windows, carved with the intial "B".

Street-level openings contain large windows or entrances, generally fit with contemporarymetal and glass units. Additional ornamental accents are provided by the wave-patterned running mold above the third floor, and banded leaf molding above the eighth, and festoons and elaborate keystones over the ninth-floor windows. Decorative roundels with terra cotta medallions in colors of green, turquoise, and gold further embellish this level. Crowning the building, the tenth and eleventh floors are treated as a unit, forming an ornamental cap. Pilasters separate three elaborately embellished tripartite window groupings on each principal elevation. Each group includes Beaux Arts classicism in its central wreathed oval windows, pilasters, and cornices. A wide decorative entablature with dentil molding and iron cresting crowns the building.

The heavily ornamented entablature above the eleventh floor oval windows includes terra cotta eagles, while the cresting is decorated with jagged shell forms and floral motifs. Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) nited States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number 7 OMB Expires No.1024-0018 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered Page 1 The eastern elevation, which faces onto narrow Quaker Lane, is treated rear facade, containing an irregular fenestration pattern. At ground level, (from south to north) there is a large window, a classically enframed door, a small window (framed down), another large window, and a single-door entry. Attached to the building at the small window is a glass and metal enclosure.

Two large round-arched windows are located on the second story above the first story large window openings, while smaller rectangular windows are above remaining first story openings. From the third through ninth level to the top, the pattern of windows is 2-1-1-2-1. A metal fire escape is joined to the building on this facade. Second Brazer Building is located in the area of the original Shawmut Peninsula. Due to its scale and the possibility of significant archeological remains of the 17th and 18th century, this property should be considered to have high archeological potential.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Second Brazer Building , 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 X archeology-historic conservation x agriculture economics architecture education art engineering commerce exploration/settlement communications industry invention landscape architecture law literature military music philosophy politics/government Specific dates 1896 Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) Builder/Architect Cass Gilbert The Second Brazer Building possesses integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, setting, and association. It is significant as an intact, early steel-frame skyscraper and is a fine example of the use of architectural terra cotta. It is unique as Boston's only work by Cass Gilbert, an architect of national significance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Historically the building has been associated with the city's financial community, serving as offices for brokers, bankers, and bond sellers. As such, the Second Brazer Building meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

In the Boston Landmarks Commission's Central Business District Preservation Study (1980) of 809 buildings, this building was evaluated to be of "Major Significance" (Group II) to the City, the Commonwealth and the New England Region. The Second Brazer Building was one of the earliest steel-framed skyscrapers built in Boston. In 1893, Clarence Blackall designed the Winthrop Building, Boston's first steel-frane building, which was erected at 7 Water Street. The Worthington Building, just east of the Second Brazer, was put up in 1894. Both buildings still stand and possess similarities in their overall design format of well-defined base, relatively plain shaft, and elaborate cornice. Boston's conservative taste in architectural design of the 1890s' is reflected by the Second Brazer Building, which reveals influences of New York's American Surety Building (Bruce Price, architect; 1895).

In American Architecture, 1607-1976, Marcus Whiffen and Frederick Koeper point to the American Surety Building as , "the most discussed and most influential skyscraper of the decade ..- Price hinself called it a "rusticated pillar. "] The Beaux Arts style takes its name from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, which during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was unrivaled in reputation among schools of architecture. The first two Americans to attend, Richard Morris Hunt and Henry Hobson Richardson, set the example for succeeding generations of architects, particularly in the period from 1890 to 1930. By the turn of the century, the profession was dominated by men who had trained at the Ecole. religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation other (specify) Continued 15J31y 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References Second Brazer Building see continuation sheet 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property less than one Quadrangle name - Boston South UT M References A1,9l Zone 3|3105,25 Easting 4/691400 Northing Quadrangle scale 1" = 25,000' E dLILIIL Zone Easting Northing DLUJLLILLU LELILLLI FLLJ LLLLL LLILL LLIL Verbal boundary description and justification Nominated property conforms to Boston assessor's parcel number 3889. 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 11. Form Prepared By Carol Kennedy name/title Boston Landmarks Commission county code organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date May 1986 street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 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 State Historic Preservation Officer date 4/12/86 For NPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Nelua fhooper of the Matonal aryuer Entered in the Nasional date 1-24-86 Attest: date Chief of Registration U.S.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1983 0 - 419-311 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. 8 Continuation sheet Item number OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered Page 1 Training at the Ecole emphasized the traditional and monumental. As explained by architectural historian William Jordy, the aim of Beaux Arts composition was to achieve "a stable harmony dependent on an emphasis on mass. were typically symmetrical, and masses were generally bounded along the ground level, sides, and cornice of a structure. The Beaux Arts aesthetic emphasized the use of traditional forms.

According to Jordy, the Ecole taught that "the past provided vocabularies of form and compositional themes from which the present should learn;" in other words, that "current design should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary."3 The Second Brazer Building is among the city's finest examples of the use of architectural terra cotta, a kiln-fired clay building material which came into use in the United states after the Civil War. Its first use on a large scale was in the old Boston Museum of Fine Arts in Copley Square (1870-71) by Sturgis and Brigham. Authors Nancy D. Berryman and Susan M. Tindall have noted the following: Terra cotta cladding was extremely popular from the 1890s through the first third of the twentieth century. It sheathed the early skyscrapers of the Chicago School of Architecture, the set-back structures of the Art Deco Movement, the commercial buildings on palaces.

It was essential to the designs of architectural giants such as Adler and Sullivan; Burnham and Root; Holabird and Roche; Cass Gilbert. The material was also mass produced and ornament, available from catalogues, appears on thousands of small ommercial and residential buildinas. The popularity of terra cotta can be attributed in part to its fireproof nature, durability and aesthetic potential. Standardized production techniques allowed architects to incorporate intricate sculptural detailing at a fraction of the cost of carved stone. enameled) terra cotta of the type used on the Second Brazer Building reached the height of its popularity during the period from about 1890 to 1915, after which it was gradually replaced by cast stone.

cotta buildings which remain, particularly fine examples such as the Second Brazer building, are testimony to the interdependence of design, craftsmanship, and building technology. Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number 8 OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use anly received date entered Page 2 Terra cotta was first used in this country for its natural dark reddish-brown color as ornament in conjunction with brick and brownstone, especially 1n the late 19th century's Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque architectural styles, where the material was an integral part of the Toad-bearing masonry unit.

In 1873 terra cotta tiles were first used in Chicago as fire-proofing for a metal frame building.6 Its third, and most visible use, was as an exterior surface material when anchoring systems had been devised to join terra cotta wall and decorative units to metal structural frames. As tastes in architectural design shifted toward the end of the century, influenced by the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, light colored wall surfaces became popular. cotta could be executed in the rich sculptural effects desired for Beaux Arts styles and in a variety of colors depending on the clays and glazes used. The Second Brazer Building's design is a reflection of the structural and aesthetic patterns made possible by these new technologies.

The architect Cass Gilbert (1858-1934) began his career in the office of MCKim, Mead, and white and served for a time as Stanford White's personal assistant before opening an office of his own in St. Paul, Minnesota in He practiced with James Knox Taylor there for ten years, and later independently. In 1896 Gilbert won the competition for the Minnesota State Capitol, a design for which he is well known. Subsequently, he returned to New York where his career flourished. Among his other works are such notable large public buildings as the New York Custom House (c.1905), Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. (1933-35), and Federal Court House in New York, as well as the 66-story Woolworth Building in New York (1910-1913), which was then the world's tallest building.

Gilbert served for a time as president of the American Institute of Architects and was the recipient of many professional honors. The Second Brazer Building is Gilbert's only Boston building. Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number 8 OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered Page 3 A plaque above the State Street entrance to the Second Brazer Building marks the site as the location of Boston's first meeting house, a thatched roof structure which stood there from 1632-1640. Quaker Lane, which borders the building on its south and east facades, is a remnant of the city's colonial street pattern.

John Brazer of Boston acquired land here in the 1820's from several heirs of Thomas Dawes. He was listed in City Directories of the 1820's as "merchant, 13 Franklin St." Isaiah Rogers, a prominent Boston architect, designed a three-story granite commercial building for this site in Known as Brazer's Building, this was a restrained Greek Revival/Boston Granite structure replaced by the present bullding. ne (first) Brazer's Building contained offices of insurance companies, lawyers, and real estate agents. Alexander S. Porter, identified with real estate deals of great magnitude, had offices there. After Brazer's death, the property passed to his daughter Sarah L. (wife of John Brooks). The property was transferred to subsequent Brazer heirs, including the next generation, John Brazer Brooks and Alice Brazer Norris (nee Brooks).

The Brazer Building Trust was formed in May of 1896 for the purpose of purchasing the old Brazer building, erecting and managing a new building. Total capital was $625,000 represented by 6,250 shares at $100 each. Trustees were Thomas H. Russell of Boston, Moses Williams of Brookline, and Arthur H. Russell of Winchester. Initial subscribers included the Municipal Real Estate Trust (Trustees Samuel Wells, James M. Jr.; Henry Parkman, moses Williams) ($250,000); Sadie L. Brooks ($5,00); Fannie E. Russell ($500); Alice L. Mathews ($7500); Arthur H. kusse| as guardian of Louis de Relgram Cole ($1,000); Alex S. Porter ($1,000); Alice Brazer Norris of Milwaukee (Thomas H. Russell as Trustee) ($200,000).

Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet second Brazer Building, Boston item numbersetfs OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use anly received date entered Page 4 Contractor for the Second Brazer Building was the George A. Fuller Company, and its terra cotta was supplied by the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company, both of Chicago. Located in the midst of the city's late 19th century financial district, the Second Brazer Building was early associated with Boston's financial community. Original plans indicate first floor space devoted to banking purposes, with upper story offices. Early tenants included brokers, bankers and bond traders. City Directory research indicates the following as tenants in 1899: E.A.

Corbett, William Frederick Hill, Cameron and Noyes and Elwood S. Gatch and Company. Several of these men were members of the Boston Stock Exchange, located nearby at 53 state Street (which had been completed in 1891). This area of Boston continues in use today as the city's financial center. The first floor space of the Second Brazer Building is now occupied by the Provident Savings Bank, a liquor store, and a snack bar, while the upper stories provide office space. The structure is currently undergoing rehabilitation work of masonry stabilization and planning for comprehensive exterior restoration. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number 9 OMB No.

Expires 1024-0018 10-31-87 For NPS uee onh received date entered Page 1. NOTES Whiffen, Marcus and Frederick Koeper. American Architecture, 1607 - , D. 264. Jordy, William H. American Buildings and Their Architects, p. 279. Jordy, Ibid. Margaret Henderson Floyd. "A Terra Cotta Cornerstone for Copley Sauare" May 1973, D. 83ff. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 32, Berryman, Nancy D. and Susan M. Tindall, Jerra Cotta, Preservation of an Historic Building Material, pp. 2-3. Whiffen and Koeper. Op cit., D. 242. BPS Form 10.900-a United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Second Brazer Building, Boston, Mass. Continuation sheet Item number 10 OMB No.

1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use only received date entered Page 1 BIBLIOGRAPHY "A Look at Terra Cotta" , Christopher Nash, unpublished report, 1981. "Architectural Terra Cotta: Analyzing the Deterioration Problems and Restoration Approaches, " Technology and Conservation, Fall, 1978, 30-39. Berryman, Nancy D. and Susan M. Tindall. Terra Cotta, Preservation of an Historic Building Material. PubTished by Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois. Chicago. 1984. Boston Landmarks Commission. Central Business District Preservation Study Report, 1980. Boston Landmarks Commission. Theatre District Preservation Study. 1978. Boston Landmarks Commission. Building Inventory Forms for Boylston Street Zoning Study. 1985. Boston Landmarks Commission. Saxon Theatre. Report on the Potential Designation of the Saxon Theatre as a Landmark. 1983. Boston Public Library, Fine Arts section.

Architectural archive. Boston Redevelopment Authority. Downtown Projects, 1984. City of Boston. Building Permits. Drexler, Arthur. The Architecture of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1977. Floyd, Margaret Henderson. "A Terra Cotta Cornerstone for Copley Square" Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 32, May 1973. Continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Second Brazer Building, Boston, Item Sumber OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS use anly received date entered Page 2 Friends of Terra Cotta Newsletter. California Historical Society, Spring 1982. Jordy, William H. American Buildings and Their Architects. Volume 3, 1972. Kilham, Walter H. Boston After Bulfinch: An Account of its Architecture 1800-1900.

Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press, 1946. Lyndon, Donlyn. The City Ubserved: Boston. Vintage Books, 1982. "The Preservation of Historic Glazed Terra Cotta", No. ], Preservation Briefs. Technical Preservation Services Division, Department of the Interior. June, 1979. Schuyler, Montgomery. The Woolworth Building. New York: Hugh McAtamny, 1913. Suffolk County Deeds: 312.123, 223, 242, 257; 591.286; 2362.372, 373. "Terra Cotta in Boston", Boston Preservation Alliance Newsletter, November 1983. "Terra Cotta's Comeback", Historic Preservation, March/April 1982, 40-46. Tucci, Douglass Shand. Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800-1950. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1978. Withey, Henry F. Bibliographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Los Angeles: New Age Publications, 1956.

Gratitude is expressed to Dierdre Savage for collecting, researching and preparing I material for this Study Report. WALL 122,926 WALL 9/38 13,243 18,/66 30,220 15,094 V.A. OUTPATIENT CLINIC SQUARE 19,888 COURT 6233 WASHINGTON 22 16 ANNEX SQUARE 11,055 STREET 10 197 199 M.BT.A. STATION OLD STATE HOUSE CITY HALL 201 COURT STATE 27,033 CORNHILL 205 207 209 ST. 5232 STREET COURT 212 216 4633 222 226 228 4020 7584 PIE 15 2031 ALLEY 215 COURT AVE 8632 PARKING 2100 2100 2700 3009 3056 1998 4062 5880 2234 3/36 2712 3463 241 243 3017 2705 258 260 1713 3364 460C 268 7 2523238 21 CHOOL 24 22 20 1814 12 10 3366 1405 4868 3356 2300 2200 1635 277 279 3798 19/15 13/ 11 9 7 53 ST.

WATER 76 15 380 29 c SPRING 4716 LANE 10 8460 FANEUIL HALL 234 4/2 MONUMENT FANEUIL HALL SQUARE 10 6 5 3079 CORN COURT 3157 CONGRESS CHANGE 250 AVENUE 13,574 10 24,173 50 66 60 53 45 33,222 31 33 29 27 * 2622 3692 2669 QUAKER LANE 209/ 2000 GI 6360 3202 4601 QUAKER LA EXCHANGE 6095 19,555 2nd Brazer Building 25-29 State Street Boston, MA (So. Quad) UTM References: 19/330525/4691400 scale: 1" = 100' Boston Assessor's Map N 86001913 WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Second Brazer Building 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: 2/3/87 Date Due:_ 272/186 - Intered in Afios: - 8/2/86 ACCEPT - 7-24-86 National Regieter - RETURN _REJECT - Federal Agency: - -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 J 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) J summary paragraph complefenest, S VUL clarity J applicable criteria Jjustification of areas checked J relating significance to the resource context J relationship of integrity to significance J 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 Second Brazer Building 25-29 State St., 42-46 Devonshire St. Boston, Massachusetts Carol Kennedy, 1985 Negative on file at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number l of2 Northeast oblique view; camera facing southwest Second Brazer Building 25-29 State St., 42-46 Devonshire St. Boston, Massachusetts Carol Kennedy, 1985 Negative on file at Boston Landmarks Commission Photograph number 2 of 2 Northwest oblique view; camera facing southeast #9093545991 DOI TNI The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A.

Talmage Executive 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 fiftéen 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, Phoenix, Richardson, Sears Block and Crescent, and Tremont Temple buildings. All ot the propertles have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

Owner: vere 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 2 5 1986 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470