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NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 RECEIVED United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form MAY 3 1 1988 NATIONAL REGISTER This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries. 1.
Name of Property historic name other names/site number Eliot Hall The Footlight Club 2. Location street & number 7A Eliot Street city, town Jamaica Plain (Boston) state Massachusetts code 025 county Suffolk code N/A not for publication N/A vicinity 025 zip code 02116 3. Classification Ownership of Property private public-local public-State public-Federal Category of Property X building(s) district site structure object Name of related multiple property listing: N/A Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 1 buildings sites structures objects 1 0 Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register N/A 4.
State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the NationalHistoric Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this Xnomination Jrequest for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the NationalRegister of HistoricPlaces andmeets the proceduralandprofessional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. "Verne opinion, the property [X]meets ]does not meet the National Register criteria. see continuation sheet. S/24/88 Signature of certifying official Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission; Date State or Federal agency and bureau State Historic Preservation Officer In my opinion, the property does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5.
NationalPark Service Certification 1, hereby, certify that this property is: Ventered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. pettkSurge 7-15-88 removed from the National Register. other, (explain:) Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use Eliot Hall, Boston, Massachusetts Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Recreation and Culture/theater Social/meeting hall Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Recreation and Culture/theater 7.
Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions) Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival/Italianate Materials (enter categories from instructions) foundation walls roof other store wood/weatherboard metal/aluminum stone/slate Describe present and historic physical appearance. Eliot Hall, Boston, built as a public meeting hall ca. 1832 and home of the Footlight Club (the oldest continuing amateur theater organization in the United States) since 1878, is a two-story gable front Greek Revival/Italianate frame structure of L-shape plan with corner wood-block quoins, prominent cornice with returns on the gable end, and three-bay street facade. It is located on Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Eliot Hall occupies nearly the entirety of its 8,000 square foot lot, and directly abuts the sidewalk.
Most of the building, supported by sixteen internal brick piers, sits on a rubble stone foundation wall which rises approximately two feet above grade level; the rear and ell portions of the structure rest on short brick pilings, with no foundation. There is a full basement underneath the main portion of the structure. The roof is covered with slate and the ridge is punctured by four decorative metal ventilators (three to four feet tall), evenly spaced along its length. The building has two chimneys, both ca. 1889: one (measuring seven feet wide and eight inches deep) is located on the north exterior wall near the northwest corner of the hall and possesses a decided tilt toward the ridge above the roof line; the other is a narrow rectanglar interior stack located to the south of the ridge in the ell.
Originallysetbackfrom thestreet approximately twenty-five feet, the building was enlarged in 1889 by three two-story additions: a western (front) extension measuring appoximately twenty by forty-five feet, an eastern (rear) addition with hipped roof,measuring appoximately fourteen by forty-three feet; and a southern ell with hipped roof at the rear measuring appoximately twenty-one by forty-five feet. On the basis of stylistic evidence, the front facade is earlier than the 1889 date, appearing to be reconstructed at its current location. A second remodelling in 1924 erected a "penthouse" addition over part of the roof of the eastern (rear) extension which houses the stage. This increase in height allowed the Footlight Club to "fly" scenery-- i.e. raise it up out of sight without dismantling it -- over the stage when not in use.
[X] See continuation sheet NPS Form 10-800-8 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page 1 Eliot Hall Boston, Massachusetts The front or western facade of Eliot Hall is the most interesting architecturally, with its Greek Revival and Italianate ornamentation. (ais ereek Revtvat and 1 Large wood-block quoins of alternating sizes decorate the two corners of the facade and lead the eye upward to the prominent but simple gable cornice with returns. The right-hand quoin bears a small marker which briefly describes the history of the building. Of the three bays in each story, the central is the most elaborate. That on the first floor features a pedimented hood with curved brackets over the double doors;the entrance is reached by a short flight of four concrete steps.
A metal marquee shelters the entryway and extends over the sidewalk to the curb. The central bay at the second story has paired round-arched 6/7 windows inset within a single round-arched hoodmold, while a tripartite arched window (2/2, 4/2, 2/2) above it illuminates an attic. To either side of the central bay on both first and second floors is a 6/6 window with cornice head. The rest of the building exhibits little in the way of architectural ornamentation. The northern elevation, the only one with surviving clapboard siding, measures just over 118 feet in width and includes a portion of the 1889 rear addition. On the main building, fenestration was once six bays of evenly spaced 6/6 windows.
This pattern has been altered by the insertion of two small square hatch openings, three feet square, one located between the second and the third and one between the third and fourth bays (reading from left to right) on the first floor; one narrow 4/4 window between the fourth and fifth bays; and two 2/2 second floor windows on either side of the chimney --part of the western extension of 1889. Each window on the elevation (except the hatches) features two seven-inch fillet moldings, one underneath each corner of the sill. The second floor windows of the main bullaing are framed into the entablature, except for the 2/2 windows flanking the chimney. On the north elevation toward the rear of the building, marking the back of the original hall building and the location of the 1889 rear addition, is a column of wooden quoin blocks of alternating sizes.
The northern wall of the rear addition contains a single second floor window horizontally aligned with the other second floor windows, but not framed into the cornice. Like the other windows on this facade, it features a seven inch fillet molding below each corner of the sill. The basement level contains five shallow window openings. The cornice is wide and the roof overhang is deep- The eastern or rear elevation measures appoximately sixty-six feet in width and is composed of two portions of the building: the rear addition and the southern ell, both constructed in 1889. The facade is completely blank, with no openings or decoration of any kind, but it is vertically divided in half by the use of two different types of (continued) OMB Approvel No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900- (8-80) United States Department of theInterior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 2 Section number Page Eliot Hall Boston, Massachusetts siding: asphalt shingles on the rear addition (the right-hand side), and vertical wood weatherboarding on the ell (the left-hand side). The southern elevation ofthe ellmeasures appoximately forty-five feet wide, is covered in asphalt shingles, and features a pair of 2/2 windows on the first floor, located towards the right-hand side of the wall. A single 2/2 window is located almost directly between them at the second floor level. All three of these windows have aluminum frames, in contrast to the building's other windows, which feature wide wooden frames. The eastern wall of the ell (appoximately twenty-one feet wide) is sided with aluminum and contains four openings.
On the first floor, a large loading door (six feet wide by eight feet tall) is framed into the juncture between the main building and the ell. A concrete loading ramp extends from this door approximately twelve feet to west. The date of the ramp and loading door have not been determined. Next to but not aligned with the door is a 6/6 window, whose wooden frame is almost obscured by the siding. On the second floor, centrally located on the elevation, is a pair of 2/2 windows placed very close together. The southern elevation of the main building (appoximately seventy-five feet wide) is also covered with aluminum siding, and its fenestration has been altered from an earlier, more regular pattern to its present haphazard state. Like the northern elevation, there appear to have been six regularly spaced bays of first and second floor 6/6 windows.
Six bays are discernible today, despite the loss of the sixth bay of the original building due to the ell addition; one second floor 6/6 window was built into the western extension. Today, the first bay (reading from left to right) contains only that second floor 6/6 window; a small (three feet square) window has been inserted between the first and second bays on the first floor; the second bay is missing its second floor window; a narrow 4/4 window lies between the third and fourth bays; a 6/6 window has been inserted between the fifth and sixth bays; and the sixth bay is missing its floor window. All of the second floor windows except that in the first bay are framed into the wide entablature. to the basement aligns with the third bay, while two shallow windows align with the fourth and fifth bays.
The plan of Eliot hall reflects its use as a theater, and is the result of remodeling done for the Footlight Club in 1889. The original building apparently measured approximately forty feet wide by eighty feet long; the plan was perhaps composed of a large, open meeting space on both floors, with several smaller rooms at the rear; on the first floor one passed through an entrance hallway with one or (continued) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 OMB Aoproviel No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-e (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 3 Eliot Hall Boston, Massachusetts Section number- Page - two rooms at each side, before entering the main hall. The front and rear additions of 1889 nearly doubled the length of the building, while the 1889 ell contributed to the building's current of 1889 nearly L-shape plan.
On the first floor today are an entry foyer and lobby, with an office, two costume storage rooms, two lounges, the box office, and the rest rooms distributed to either side. The main stair rises from the right hand side of the lobby to a wide landing, then rises against the front wall to the second fioor. To the east/rear of this block of rooms is the Parker Room, a large (forty-three feet square) reception room used for meetings, refreshments served during intermissions, and as an arena theater for smaller productions. The ceiling features three exposed transverse beams and is supported by six chamfered posts. The Parker Room is actually under the audience space on the second floor; the four rooms behind it are underneath the stage. They include two storage rooms for scenery flats, a small kitchen and a large cioset.
Further to the right is the southern ell; it contains the back stair, several closets, and the Green Room, which is now used to store Footlight Club memorabilia but has severed as a green room in the theatrical sense -- an area where children scheduled to perform in the productions were supervised between their apperances onstage. The Green Room contains a late Victorian fireplace (whose chimney is visible outside); other details include four exposed ceiling beams supported by decorative S-curve brackets and wainscot molding at an eight to ten foot height on the walls. From the main staircase at the front of the building, one enters the upper lobby, which contains a late Victorian fireplace.
That this room is part of an addition to the main building (1889 western extension) is evident by a slight difference in the alignment of its floor with that of the "house" or audience space and the stage at the rear of the building, which take up the bulk of the second floor. The auditorium has a seating capacity of approximately 320 people; the floor is flat, but wooden risers are used to give the floor an appropriate slope for seating an audience. The ceiling slopes at the northern and southern sides and is supported by three wooden ties with decorative brackets and trusses.
The stage is moderately generous, its proscenium arch being approximately fourteen feet tall; depth approximately thirty-two feet, the result of a second remodelling in At that time the height of the stage area was increased by eighteen feet to allow for space to fly the scenery; there are two operating levels above the stage housing an outmodel lighting board, portable modern lighting equipment, and operating space for the technicians who operate the mechanicals of the sets. This space is (continued) NPS Form10-900- (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number -1 Page - Eliot Hall Boston, Massachusetts unusually roomy for an amateur theater.
Storage rooms and dressing rooms are distributed behind the stage and to the right, in the ell, which also contains the stage door, opening onto the landing of the back stairs. The attic isasmall space over the upper lobby and is used for storage; the basement contains two furnaces and storage space for scenery. The fieldstone foundation walls of the original building are visible in the basement. The Footlight Club has practiced deferred maintenance on Eliot Hall due to the small size of its operating budget; nevertheless, the building has few serious structural problems. The brick foundation piers in the basement need repair and reinforcement; beam failure under the Parker Room has given a decided slope to the floor; inadequate ceiling support for the Green Room has led to some concern about the safety of the floor above.
Other problems include deterioration of the juncture between the rear addition and the original building, behind the stage; some water damage resulting from poor flashing, and missing slates on the roof. The interior needs a good cleaning, replastering, and new paint; the aluminum siding should come off and the clapboard siding restored. The Footlight Club has taken steps toward initiating and maintaining a proper maintenance and repair schedule. The immediate area surrounding Eliot Hall is characterized by a dense mix of. mid- to late 19th-century two and three story wood frame residences; directly across Eliot Street is the First Church, Unitarian, of Jamaica Plain (1853-54) with its small associated cemetery.
Although Eliot Street is a quiet, primarily residential street, less than one hundred feet to the south of Eliot hall lies the junction of two prominent commercial thoroughfares, Centre Street and South Street, a major intersection known. as Monument Square because of the Civil War monument in its center island. This area has historically been considered a political and social center of Jamaica Plain: in addition to the Unitarian Church, the area contains Jamaica Plain's old town hall and was the site of the original Eliot School, erected in the late 17th century. The fourth Eliot School, located at 24 Ellot street (less.than a block away from Eliot Hall), is a striking Greek Revival structure dedicated in 1832 and may have served as the inspiration for the design of Eliot Hall -- the two resemble each other closely.
As Eliot Hall occupies most of its lot and there is a full basement beneath the main portion of the structure, it is unlikely that the site contains any significant archaeological deposits. OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Statement of Significance