Built in 1909 in the Beaux-Arts. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1980. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“Stearns Building is an 11-story residence building at 140 Tremont Street in Boston. It was built in 1909 for the businessman R.”
Wikipedia article R. H. Stearns Building, CC BY-SA 4.0.
one of 206 National Register listings in Suffolk County · listed in 1980 · category: Building · built in 1909, Beaux-Arts · one of 5 National Historic Landmarks in Suffolk County.
National Register reference number.80000671- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Boston city, The inset identifies its exact
source book and publication year.
IN giving some notices of manners and social life during this period, I shall speak first of usages which were characteristic of the close of the last century: most of them continued without essential modification until our city charter swept away the old landmarks, and Boston felt the im¬ pulses which mark a new epoch in her history.
Illustrations: State House and the Monument (in 1811), 64; the Monument from the corner of Temple and Derne streets, 65 ; the Monument and the Thurston House, 65; Beacon Street and the Common (in 1804-1811), heliotype, 65; Boston from Breed's Hill (in 1791), 66; the Faneuil-Phillips House,
IN giving some notices of manners and social life during this period, I shall speak first of usages which were characteristic of the close of the last century: most of them continued without essential modification until our city charter swept away the old landmarks, and Boston felt the im¬ pulses which mark a new epoch in her history. It is difficult to deal justly with ways of living which are not widely different from those that surround us. We miss the salient contrasts which lend themselves to picturesque de¬ scription, and are tempted to look for exceptional occurrences to brighten a narrative, rather than for facts which are truly symptomatic of taste and thought. Were it possible to go back four-score years, or even a century, and mingle with those then conducting the town, we should not feel among strangers. In many respects their ways were counterparts of our own. In certain directions, indeed, we might note a narrowness of range and a contraction of outlook, while envying the vigor of speech and de¬ cisiveness of action which seemed the outcome of the limitations. When Massachusetts took her place in the sisterhood of States, the gigantic up¬ heaval of the French Revolution had not taken place. The prophets whom her capital was to raise up to demand the redemption of human society, each with his panacea for its sad ailments, had put in no appearance. The tyranny of England had been broken by an heroic effort, and any further redemption which society might need would be provided by those who VOL. iv. - i.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 39 fires within 5 miles of Stearns, R. H., House between
2015 and 2020, burning about 29 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
14
Debris and open burning
9
Recreation and ceremony
7
Smoking
5
Arson/incendiarism
2
Equipment and vehicle use
1
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 18,496 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Stearns, R. H., House between 1810 and
1975: 8,450 Plantae, 4,448 Fungi, 3,765 Animalia, 1,277 Chromista, 229 Bacteria, 212 Protozoa, 115 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), ?, A B Seymour and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
11 workings within 5 miles of Stearns, R. H., House: 9 plants, 2 past producers.
9 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Gypsum-Anhydrite, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Boston, the town this property stands in, in 64 storm reports between 1994 and 2024: 37 thunderstorm wind, 9 flash flood, 7 lightning, 7 flood.
The reports record 1 death and 9 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
A 50 year old man was struck by lightning while walking in an area known as the Sugar Bowl in South Boston. Lightning struck him in the head, passing through his back and exiting his feet. He collapsed in cardiac arrest and was revived and hospitalized for several days before dying from his injuries.
A 29 year old male and a 29 year old female were knocked unconscious when lightning struck them at Thomas Park, where the pair were watching the July 4th fireworks. They regained consciousness prior to the arrival of EMTs, but unable to feel their legs and were transported to Brigham and Women's Hospital.
In Boston, two cars were stuck in flood waters on Corey Road. Storrow Drive was closed due to flooding at the Mass Avenue and Longmeadow Bridges. Several other roadways in the city experienced significant flooding.
Numerous trees and wires and several utility poles were downed throughout Boston, including in Boston Common. Several trees were downed onto cars throughout town, though no injuries resulted. One tree was downed onto a building on Corey Road. The Automated Surface Observing System at Logan International Airport in Boston, MA (KBOS) recorded sustained wind speeds of 47 mph and wind gusts up to 68 mph.
Multiple trees and wires were downed throughout Boston, including on Barstow Street, Forrester Street, Washington Street, Houston Road, and Keith Street. Trees were downed onto cars on Forrester and Washington Streets. A portion of a chimney was blown over onto Keith Street.
The National Weather Service at Logan International Airport recorded a wind gust to 60 mph as a severe thunderstorm moved across the city of Boston. Scaffolding was blown down at government center and some large trees were blown down in Revere and Winthrop. One damaged a house in Winthrop and a tree limb and electrical wires fell onto an auto. The occupants of the auto were not injured.
At 546 PM EST, an amateur radio operator reported two trees down on Belden Street in the Upham's Corner section of Boston. Also, two trees were down on Hamlet Street including one down on three cars. A tree was down on Willis Street. A tree was down on wires on Taft Street.
At 3:26 PM EST, heavy rain caused the intersection of Lewis and Marginal Streets in East Boston to be flooded and impassable. At 3:36 PM EST a car was trapped in floodwaters at Clark and Stockton Streets in Chelsea. At 3:38 PM EST several cars were trapped in floodwaters on the McClellan Highway, Condor Street and Putnam Street in East Boston.
At 5:05 PM EST several cars on Child Street and Boynton Street were trapped in flood waters as high as the car doors. At 5:10 PM EST a car was trapped in flooding on Columbia Road at Bodwell Street, and Ceylon Street was impassable at Quincy Street due to flooding.
A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds onto a car at the intersection of Bakersfield and Stoughton Streets. Another tree was downed onto a car on Columbia Road.
8 papers published in this town,
digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 0 issues,
0 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be
looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
From the nomination file
2,731 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
The R.H. Stearns building is located in Boston's mercantile district at the inter- section of Tremont Street and Temple Place. The building is adjacent to historic Boston Common (NR) and is in proximity to the Washington Street retail district, the Beacon Hill (NR) residential district and Boston's theatre district. The R.H. Stearns Department Store, an example of restrained Beaux Arts classical style, erected in 1909 as a ten story building with a high ornamental parapet. In the late twenties, an additional floor was added behind the parapet walls. This three bay by twelve bay, free standing, flat roofed, steel frame structure is faced in limestone, granite and brick. The two dressed facades facing Tremont Street and Temple Place are primarily limestone.
The major entrance to the store faces the Boston Common with an additional entrance at the center of the building along Temple Place. The facades are divided into three sections consisting of a two story base, a central and an upper section. The Tremont Street facade (northwest) is three bays wide stressing a vertical organi- zation of fenestration beginning with the elaborate storefront and culiminating in round arched windows visually connecting the ninth and tenth floors. At base section, in the street level two full height display windows flank each side of the main entrance. A cast iron marquee detailed in Beaux Arts tradition overhangs the main entrance. Bronze letters, affixed to the marquee, identify R.H. Stearns and Company.
A handsomely detailed project- ing balcony, supported on decorative brackets, covers the entrance at the level of the second story windows. The windows, both double bay, double hung, and encased in cast 1ron, are accented with carved stone work on either side, and balustrades below. A projecting cornice, beneath which the R.H.
/ARCHITECT Parker, Thomas & Rice, architects Wells Bros. Co., builder STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The R.H. Stearns Building, which retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship, is significant for its role in the social and cultural history of Boston, as a significant example of the work of Parker, Thomas and Rice, and as an important example of turn of the century restrained Beaux Arts classical commercial buildings. The R.H. Stearns Building was designed in 1908-1909. Its architects, Parker, Thomas and Klce, were recognized by contemporary critics as being among Boston's most Skilltul designers of the early 1900's. J. Harleston Parker (1873-1930) F.A.I.A., a graduate of Harvard College, studied architecture at M.I.T. and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
On his return to Boston in 1900 he began architectural practice in partnership with Douglas H. Thomas (1872-1915), F.A.I.A., a Johns Hopkins graduate who also trained at M.I.T. and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1907 (after the design of the Fenway Studios), Arthur Wallace Rice (ice - hat most of thetr oe edoe fomistowes edecuted aneeof pan ostoongn Baltimore. The firm's major Boston works include the R.H. Stearns Department Store, the 1921 John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Building, the Harvard Club, the Tennis and Racquet Club, and a number of downtown elevator office buildings.
Although their work demon- strates an ability to work comfortably in a variety of styles, a marked preference for Neo-classical and Renaissance Revival styles is evident.1 As noted in the Architectural Record of August 1913, 7'the store for the R.H.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 80000671, 12 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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