United Shoe Machinery Corporation Clubhouse

The former United Shoe Machinery Corporation Clubhouse is located at the edge of a large open area (the Beverly Golf Course) on McKay Street, opposite Balch Street. The building is rectangular in plan, two-and-one-half stories tall, with a full basement mostly above grade and is substantially broader east/west than north/south. It is of stuccoed woodframe construction; the basement is cobblestone. The steeply pitched hip roof contains an array of gables and dormers with half-timbering and is punctuated by a chimney on the south side. The roof is sheathed in asphalt shingles and the rafters are ex- posed in the eave overhangs. es the building, with exterior stucco painted off-white and wooden trim (half-timbering, doors, window surrounds, and porches) painted dark brown.

The window sashes are white. A first floor porch/ver- anda extends along the building on the east, north, west and part of the south elevations, connecting the interior and adjacent ex- terior recreational spaces. The clubhouse sits on 16 of the original 300 acres associated with it. The area immediately adjacent to the building retains: much of its landscaping. The remainder of ac- companying acreage is still used as a golf course, which was laid out when the clubhouse was built. Woodland, now partially developed, made up the rest of the original 300 acres. The east elevation (facing McKay Street) is symmetrical, containing three bays, the central one wider than the side ones.

A central broad stone staircase leads to a recessed porch which is supported by large stucco piers rising at rail height from a solid stucco wall. The wide central entry is framed and surmounted by multipaned lights, and flanked by smaller multi-lighted doors.

(in one paragraph) Builder/Architect Henry Bailey Alden The United Shoe Machinery Corporation Clubhouse possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association. It was built for Beverly's largest industry which was also the major producer of shoemaking equipment in the world at the time. Designed by a prominent local architect, it is an excellent example of a large scale, Arts and Crafts designed structure of the period. Perhaps most importantly, it represents, at a relatively early date, a new sense of responsibilities and cobperation between a large industry and its employees which was eventually to pervade American social ideals. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation Clubhouse thus meets criteria A, B, and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1902, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC) decided to build a plant for over 2,500 men in Beverly. This was constructed in 1903 and added to at various times, especially in 1906. Employ- ment reached up to 5,000. One of the main architects was Ernest L. Ransome; a pioneer in reinforced concrete construction. This one company changed the face of Beverly and was Beverly's major employer. Not only was the company progressive in using reinforced concrete, but also was in the forefront of voluntarily undertaking actions for the improvement of the working and living conditions of the employees, in order to insure conditions of the highest in- dustrial efficiency.USMC's aim was to secure the best living and recreational conditions which would in turn pay off in productive work.

To this end, USMC hired a noted area architect, Henry Bailey Alden, to design a clubhouse for the Shoe Machinery Athletic Asso- ciation. Henry Bailey Alden studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the Boston firm of Parker, Thomas and Rice.