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NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) 1292 OMB No.1024-0018 RECEIVED 2280 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service SEP 2 9 1998 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form DI ACES This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "X" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a).
Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name other names/site number_ ST. MARY'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 2. Location street & number 14-16 CUSHING AVENUE not for publication city or town BOSTON (DORCHESTER) state_MASSACHUSETTS _ code MA vicinity county_SUFFOLK code 025 . zip code_02125 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property J meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally O statewide Nocally. (D See continuation sheet for additional comments.) udith B. nioonowah Signature of certifying official/Title Judith B. McDongygh, Executive Director 9,22,98 Massachusetts Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property meets - does not meet the National Register criteria. (O See continuation sheet for additional Comments.) Signature of certifying official/Title Date State orFederal agency and bureau 4. National Park Service Certification 1, hereby certify that this property is: Ø entered in the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined eligible for the National Register J See continuation sheet ] determined not eligible for the National Register - removed from the National Register - other (explain): Poan TN.
Beell Date of Action 10/30/98 _St. Mary's Episcopal Church Name of Property 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply) Xprivate _ public-local _ public-State _ public-Federal Suffolk, MA County and State (Check only one box) X building(s) - district _ Site _ structure _ object Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.) Contributing Noncontributing 2 Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) buildings _sites structures objects Total 2 Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RELIGION/Church DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RELIGION/Church DOMESTIC/Single Dwelling EDUCATION/School 7.
Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) Tudor Revival Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundationSTONE/Granite walls STUCCO, WOOD roof_ other ASPHALT, SHINGLE Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) (PS.Fom 10-900-a United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. Section number Page - 7. DESCRIPTION The St. Mary's Episcopal Church property consists of two buildings situated on the north-western section of Jones Hill, adjacent to Upham's Corner, a historic commercial district of Dorchester in Boston, Massachusetts.
The church, built in 1888 and designed by architect Henry Vaughan, was modeled after the rural parish churches of England. In 1893, the church was enlarged with the addition of the chancel and transepts, designed by the architectural firm of Hartwell & Richardson of Boston, that are contextual to Vaughan's original design. Complimenting the design of the original structure is the parish house built in 1907 and designed by Charles K. Cummings of Boston. The Church and parish house are located on Cushing Avenue, between Stoughton Street on a lot of over 43,000 square feet. Cushing Avenue, which dates from 1875, is one of a series of short, irregular streets found in this section of Jones Hill, and is a narrow east-west road which curves past St. Mary's where it connects with Columbia Road at Upham's Corner.
SETTING Dorchester occupies the southern section of Boston and is bounded by Dorchester Bay, Roxbury, Mattapan and the Neponset River. Settled in 1630 and annexed to the City of Boston in 1870, Dorchester soon became a streetcar suburb which attracted the expanding, middle classes during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Contributing sociological and demographic changes during the twentieth century have made this area an ethnically diverse and densely settled section of the city in modern day. St. Mary's is a key institutional complex within the commercial and residential neighborhood known as Upham's Corner. Active residential development, which began during the last part of the nineteenth century, overlapped into the early twentieth century and continued to attract upper middle class residents to this Victorian neighborhood.
Today, Cushing Avenue and the surrounding Jones Hill streets are characterized primarily by Queen Anne, Shingle and Colonial Revival style dwellings built during this period. The adjacent commercial district is distinguished by the Strand Theater, and numerous nineteenth and twentieth century commercial buildings of one to four stories. The Dorchester North Burial Ground, incorporated in 1634 and located at the corner of Columbia Road and Stoughton Street is the area's primary open space. St. Mary's (continued) (IPsS. Fom 10-900-a United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 7 2 Section number Page overlooks this space from an elevated setting between Stoughton Street and Cushing Avenue and, while not associated with the burial ground, its setting into the hillside allows it to appear larger in mass. In this setting St. Mary's commands a strong, unobstructed visual presence. EXTERIOR St. Mary's Episcopal Church is a half-timbered building set on a high stone foundation with primary entrances on its 170-foot Cushing Street elevation. It is approximately 48 feet in height at the front and is built on an outcrop of Roxbury Puddingstone. The eastern elevation of the church is the most commanding due to the added height of the raised basement level. From this elevation the well articulated chancel of the church is defined.
The front elevation of the church (western elevation) is in line with the residential architecture of Cushing Avenue in setback, height and domestic scale. The church was completed in 1888 with just the nave built and a small crawl space serving as basement. In 1893, the majority of this space was excavated with the addition of the chancel and transepts, which increased the church's usable space. The grade difference between the two streets allows the rear of the church to have two ground level entrances and three, full-size windows in the half-octagonal apse. Window configuration and placement in the foundation wall of the transepts is asymmetrical on the south elevation and symmetrical on the north. In addition, three, small rectangular window openings located under the aisles have been sealed with cinder blocks.
The church rests on a stone foundation of seam-faced and is granite complimented with brown, Longmeadow sandstone quoins which surround the window openings and entrances, and mark the building's corners. Vertical half-timbering with stucco in-fill between distinguishes the clerestory, transepts, front and rear elevations. Wood trim is present in the form of barge boards, doors and frames, and the decorative trim of the porch dormers. The roof has a small octagonal bell cote which is still covered in the original dark- gray slate shingles that once covered the entire roof of the church. Placement of this bell cote identifies the nave crossing in the interior of the church. On top is a spire which tapers inward and carries a wrought iron cross at its pinnacle. The wooden louver openings of the belfry are decorated with gothic, pointed trifoliate tracery.
The roof carries an additional cross which is found on the ridge line at the point where the interior vaulting of the chancel meets. Installed on top of the ridge line between a service chimney and this cross is a copper cresting, pierced with a quatrefoil design. At the clerestory level the exterior of the church is decorated with vertical half- timber framing with diagonal bracing between the windows. These diagonals create a (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places*. Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. 7 3 Section number Page pattern of chevrons and visually tie the composition together due to the alternation of upward and downward placement of the timbers.
The Cushing Avenue facade of the church displays a more elaborate half-timbered design and is divided into five horizontal parts. The first is a series of twelve vertical rectangles and above these is a row of arched diamonds. The next section, which is the largest of the five, incorporates two sets of slender vertical lattice windows, installed in the middle of the twelve segments. Above, a third segment repeats the same window configuration but half the length as below. Prominently displayed above this is a wooden Anglican cross set into the stucco with three upper segments of half-timber braces. The church is of cruciform shape and the interior proceeds as follows: entrance porches at the left (north) and right (south) side elevations at the west end of the church lead into the rear of the church and are covered by a small, pitched rafter and braced roof.
Three lattice windows framed in trefoil tracery light the interior of the porch space. The entrance doors are arched, double-leaf with vertical board and batten on the exterior and, cross board and batten construction on the interior. There are two sets of doors per entrance which serve to protect the rear of the church from drafts. The porch floors are red brick, laid on their trimmer side in a herringbone pattern. INTERIOR On the interior, oak parclose screens divides the rear of the church (narthex) and the last row of pews. The nave is flanked by side aisles which are covered by a lean-to roof of less pitch than the nave roof. The aisle roofs are constructed of exposed common rafters of soft pine, stained dark brown. The principal rafter and purlin for this roof is boxed over with Spruce which provides a sharp contrast to the darker rafters.
The aisles lead into the transepts through a pointed, Tudoresque arch and both transepts are identical in size and design. Located above the entrances and narthex is a choir gallery which measures 25 by 10 1/2 feet. A large window group on the western wall of the gallery is composed of four pair of narrow lattice windows of diamond-shaped panes set in diagonal strips and outlined with narrow pale yellow glass strips. Set into a heavy timber brace the shape of a cross, the window pairs measure 8 feet by 3 feet nine inches at the bottom and 2 feet by 3 feet, 9 inches at the top. The windows are set into wooden frames which have a round trifoliate design. Above the gallery window and flush against the wall is a collar beam which serves as the beginning of the truss system for the nave roof.
The interior of the church displays an intricate, exposed timber frame nave roof of aisled-construction based upon fifteenth-century medieval design and construction methods. The truss work has been acknowledged by architectural historian, William Morgan as one of the finest arched braced roofs in existence. The interior woodwork of (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. 7 4 Section number Page the church ie prodominantly of Spruce which through the yoars has oxidized to a honoy color. The exposed truss work is soft pine and is stained a dark brown. Depending upon the light source, the actual height of the interior can be deceiving due to the sharp contrast between wood colors.
The nave rises to a clerestory which is lit by eight sets of lattice windows, four sets per side placed and aligned within the bays. Beginning in the gallery, the clerestory windows are configured three panels in one bay, two in the next, then three and finally two. These panels are also diamond-shaped, set in a diagonal and set in wood trifoliate frames. A framework of simple Spruce wood molding provides the interior window casing, and a horizontal wooden molding running under the sills connects each window together. The nave is divided into six bays by seven octagonal wooden posts, (or piers) of Norman influence. These piers provide the main vertical support element in each bay and connect under the ridge plate of the clerestory wall at the junction of the aisle roof. Two of these piers are engaged; one at the chancel arch and the other at the beginning of each aisle.
The piers rise from an octagonal plinth base with simple curved moulding and are topped with a capital. The capitals are constructed of a series of cove moldings, and measures 5 3/4 inches, making the total height of the pier columns six feet five inches. Rising from this capital is a square timber post, chamfered on four sides by the use of two sets of cove moulding per side. The posts connect to the ridge plate at the clerestory wall and each pier post is reinforced by a pair of curved, longitudinal braces which are chamfered forty- five degrees on their four sides. The pier posts continue vertically and become engaged in the clerestory wall where they eventually become the under-part of the wall plate to which the beam system begins.
The narrow aisles are separated from the nave by this pier arcade, and their walls are wainscotted three quarters of the way with fitted, double boards and astragal batten. Above the wainscotting, and in all other interior areas not covered by wood, the walls are white-washed, rough-cast plaster. The nave roof is supported by a combination of tie and collar beams which alternate between each bay. The common rafters of this roof are supported by two sets of purlins which divides this ceiling into three, equal horizontal segments. Support for these sections is provided by a pair of braced collars, which are found in the first two segments. The third segment is reinforced by the same collars which are now installed inverted but, in a reversed position below the ridge post.
The four ends of these braces connect at the ridge line with the principal rafter and form a semi- arch brace on both sides of the rafter. The five collar beams are supported by an arch brace of Spruce which begins on the clerestory wall as part of a two-piece, wall plate of Spruce and pine. The wall plates - (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) nited States Department of the Interior Vational Park service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. 7 Section number - 5 Page are backed by engaged pilasters which are continued from the pier posts below. The plates eventually connect into the principal rafters. The last arch brace is installed flush against the chancel arch and in turn, provides an evenly proportioned frame for this arch.
The tie-beams also use a shorter and broader format of arch- bracing which appears on the underside of the beam in the form of Spruce. A king post prevents the tie-beams from sagging under their own weight and in this instance, the king post rises from the center of the tie beam and attaches to the underside of a collar beam. Two large transverse struts are found on either side of the king post and connect from the first quarters of each tie-beam into the principal rafter, at the junction of the first purlin. The collar beam, which is placed a third of the way down from the pitch of the roof, has two small transverse braces which tie into the principal rafter, above the second set of purlins. The chancel arch is constructed of pressed brick laid in a common bond, and uses bricks which are chamfered at a forty-five degree angle on one corner.
This method provides the edge of the arch with a series of continuous ribs which meet at the apex. The arch is approximately thirty-five feet in height from the chancel floor, is 17 1/2 feet wide, and forms a lancet at it the apex. The chancel is paneled in spruce wood, stained a dark brown. Between the chancel and the sacristy is the choir section of two rows of pews per side. The altar, constructed of blonde oak is paneled and decorated with simple trifoliate designs, and has perpendicular gothic sprockets at its crest. In front of the altar is the brass communion rail which is ornamented with a rinceaux, (or serpentine) scroll on its underside. The lectern is also of oak and has nine symmetrical sides decorated in perpendicular gothic tracery. Within the chancel and just beyond the choir, is a pair of five-light, wrought iron wall sconces.
Originally gas, they were most likely electrified in 1909-1910 when the church converted from illuminating gas. A door on the east wall of the north transept provides access to the organ chamber which houses the pipe ranks and bellows for the organ. A lancet arch opening into the choir serves as a decorative display for the organ's major pipes, which are held together by a quatrefoil banding. The organ is an 1888 manual-tracker made by George Hutchins of Boston. Beyond the south transept (right side) is the vestry which opens to the right side of the choir section. The vestry contains a small fireplace and hearth of pressed brick with a simple mantle surround. This room is lit by two pairs of lattice windows, the same style as found elsewhere in the church.
Access to the ground-level and sub-basement of the church is through a door in this room, or through a door on the south transept's east wall. The ground level of the church provides storage rooms and is used for the Ruth Darling Day Care Center. Beneath this level is the sub-basement which serves as a furnace room. OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. Section number. Page 6 The chancel ends in a half-octagonal apse which has eleven window openings, nine of which are stained glass. The remaining two are lattice windows. The chancel is paneled in dark brown spruce and meets the sills of the windows, which are framed in rounded-shoulder, wooden frames.
Approximately two feet above the chancel windows is a dark brown moulding which divides the walls before they arch upward to form the ceiling. All corners meet and intersect at the ridge seam which connects to the rear of the chancel arch. The three bays which divide both transepts from the nave are decorated with a set of "screens" installed above and between the piers. Each set is designed with a middle gothic arch, pointed and trifoliate, and is supported on either side by two smaller, pointed and trifoliate arches. Above two smaller arches are trifoliate squares. The parish house, designed by Boston architect Charles K. Cummings is contextual in style and massing with the design of the church. Cummings was associated with the firm of Hartwell & Richardson briefly during this period, hence the connection.
Built on a foundation of white, seam-faced granite blocks the first floor begins after a ten-inch setback on the foundation. The shape of the parish house also resembles a cruciform, but its placement is oriented lengthwise and its long side parallel to Cushing Avenue. Its main gables face St. Mary's Church and on the other side, a neighboring house. The orientation of the parish house actually allows it to appear smaller in mass than the church. While considerably close to the property line this placement allows the church to be the center focus of the composition. The parish house is a two-story, half-timbered stucco building in the Tudoresque style; it is approximately 35 feet in height. Compared to the church, the use of vertical timber framing is restrained on the parish house.
Framing only appears on the rear and front (west and east) second story projections and on the north elevation between the eaves. Half timber frame patterns are not present in the south elevation which faces the church. The pitch of the parish house roof is steep and does not have exposed rafters on the interior The front and rear elevations are identical in design, with both displaying gabled projections that give the parish house its slight cruciform shape. The second story of each projection overhangs at the second story and is supported by protruding girt-joists. The ends of the joists are floriated with leaves and bell flowers and appear hand-carved but are actually of precast concrete, mortared in place and painted to resemble wood. The front elevation has a window cluster of three, large double-hung sash windows on the first floor which contains nine over twelve panes.
The middle window was altered and turned into a door which leads into the assembly hall. Adjacent, and on the same floor is a grouped pair of double hung sash windows. Aligned above this pair is a dormer which is installed with a pair of double-hung sash windows. The first floor three-window group is the second floor overhang which is divided (continued) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. Section number - Page - 7 into seven vertical segmente and three distinct horizental sections by the use of half timbers. The middle three of the first seven segments are installed with double-hung sash windows which take up only half of each vertical segment.
Above, in the middle of the next section is a small window, again half the segment is used. This is the same configuration for the rear of the building which has been altered by the 1917 addition of a balcony. Located on the second story of the parish house's south elevation is a large window in a rounded top frame, which mimics the large gallery window located on the front elevation of the church. A covered walkway connects the parish house to the church. Constructed of wood, its support posts are reinforced by the use of carved wooden braces which are ornamented with carved bell flowers and leaves. The interior floor plan is designed without the use of significant hallways, with circulation facilitated by a central staircase which located upon entering from Cushing Avenue.
This floor plan allows the parish house the maximum usable area per floor, a function which allows the parish house to have a large meeting hall on almost the entire first floor. The second floor is the rector's residence and on the third floor under the eaves, (attic level) is a small apartment and meeting room. The basement of the parish house contains storage rooms and a gym. A basement level tunnel from the parish house provides access to the basement of the church. STAINED GLASS St. Mary's Episcopal Church possess an important collection of stained glass by Tiffany Studios, Wilbur H. Burnham, Charles J. Connick, Harry E. Goodhue and A. B. Cutter of Boston. The interior of the church is dominated by the collection of nine windows which are installed above the altar, with the center three by Tiffany.
These three windows represent early work from Tiffany Glass Decorating Company and were given in memory to Martin Luther Bradford, a warden of the church for forty-four years. They are the first windows one sees upon entering the church and were installed shortly after the Chancel was built in 1893. Compared with the 1913 Tiffany window, "The Annunciation, " which is located in the north transept, one can easily see the evolution in style, design and execution of craft which evolved at Tiffany Studios. The Bradford windows display technical faults which plague some early Tiffany windows and is caused by the use of heavy enamel paints and frequent temperature changes. Throughout the post World War Two period St. Mary's Parish continued to encourage its parishioners to memorialize their departed in a stained-glass window.
The Rector's report of 1949 stated that the "Garlands of Memories memorial," which involved prayers and flowers was a fine idea and method for remembrance. However," (continued) MPSFom 10-900-2 United States Department of the Interior Nationai Park Service Naticnal Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. 7 8 Section number Page flowers fade and die, but a stained glass window brings joy to many for generations to come." The south transept features a five-window series from the studio of Harry E. Goodhue, created in 1909-10. The series, picturing Moses the Law-Giver; David, the King; Isaiah, the Prophet; Matthew, the Evangelist; and Paul, the Apostle, was given in memory of former church officials, parishioners, and longtime philanthropist Robert Treat Paine.
Only the rendering of Isaiah is signed by Goodhue. The north transept's four windows represent a longer time span, and a variety of studios. Tiffany Studio's 1913 window, The Annunciation, displays exceptional glass- layering methods in shades of blue, white, and faint green. A.B. Cutter Company's Angel memorializes Sunday School teacher Mary Lizzie Boyd, who died in 1901 at age 26. Connick Associates two windows of the series, Heavenly Achievement Through Earthly Trial, and Christ Blessing the Children date from 1949 and 1960, respectively. Both sides of the sanctuary contain windows executed by the Wilbur H. Burnham studio of Boston. Along the right side are Martha (1937), Mary of Bethany (1926), and Lazarus (1947); while the left side exhibits Simon (1941), Virgin with Christ Child (1926), and Anna (1920).
In the center an 1893 triptych Our Blessed Lord and the Angels is attributed to the Tiffany Glass Decorating Company of New York. Although the three panels are not signed, the signature may be covered over under a glass strip, under which are faint letters. The panel is listed in the Tiffany Studios registry as "Bradford Memorial Window." Other memorials and works of art include a bust of Phillips Brooks, Epsicopal Bishop of Massachusetts and composer of the Christmas carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," a member of the parish; and the "Garlands of Memories" Chapel, honoring Harry Skelding Timmins, author of "Garlands of Memories." Archeological Description: No prehistoric sites are located on the St. Mary's Episcopal Church parcel.
Construction impacts, land-use history and the relatively small size of the parcel in relation to the size of the buildings constructed thereon suggest a low potential for recovery of any prehistoric materials. There is a moderate potential for locating historical archeological resources on the St. Mary's Episcopal Church Historic District parcel. The parcel, developed in 1888, could contain archeological survivals related to the the church as religious, educational and a social center. Church-related activities that may have taken place on these grounds have included fund raisers, fairs and special or ecclesiastical events. Documentary research reveals a strong youth membership in St.
Mary's Parish, and a strong educational component for children including Sunday school, weekday care and (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a 8-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet St. Mary's Episcopal Church Boston (Dorchester) (Suffolk Co.), Mass. Section number - 7 Page _9 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 musical instruction which could be revealed on the archeological record. Archeological evidence could also lend insight into the physical condition and characteristics of the property, including original landscaping, gardening features and materials used in construction such as original roofing slate fragments. (end) St. Mary's Episcopal Church Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance