Smith, Bradford, Building

The Bradford-Smith Building is a late Victorian wood frame commercial structure located in Weld Square a commercial district north of downtown New Bedford. The building faces east directly onto Purchase Street and is abutted on the north and south by vacant lots. Across the street to the north is the Union Street Railway Carbarn (NR 1978) and nearby south of the Bradford-Smith Building, also on Purchase Street, is the Dawson Building (NR 1982), a late 19th century brick commercial structure. Sheathed in clapboards, the Bradford-Smith Building rises 3½ stories from a granite and brick foundation. The structure is capped by a black asphalt pitch roof which is pierced by three chimneys and is broken on the facade by a double gable.

s ca Pad by PPlain cornerboards and a simple frieze frame the building. Fenestration, except for single pane storefront windows, consists of the original 2/2 sash. The facade's major components (east elevation) are its four original storefronts on the ground level and, ardouble gable with returns at the roofline This design element, which visuallyidivides the building into two units, is joined by a, cornice and supporting brackets. The storefronts, composed of plateglass, are framed by tin posts with glazed transoms (now boarded over) on top, and low wooden boarding placed below. The commercial units are linkedby six arched entrances that lead to recessed entries.

Windows on this elevation are symmetrically grouped below the gables and consist of five openings on the second and third floor with three located within the gable field. An additional window is centrally placed on the second and third floor below the cornice which links the two gables. The total number of windows on these two floors is eleven. All fenestration on the facade is capped bysprojecting moldings which are supported by brackets..

/Architect unknown. Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Bradford-Smith Building possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship./ It is significant for its associations with the development of New Bedford's first streetcar: suburb - Weld Square - which emerged in the late 19th century as a major commercial and residential district north of downtown New Bedford. The property is also important as an intact and early example of wood frame commercial architecture. Thus, the Bradford-Smith Building meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places.

30J 23309110.1 C - t ni BT: 3:2 vi21c Weld Square, unti1 the end of the 19th century, was an undeveloped district north of downtown New Bedford.s Düe to the arrival bf streetcar service in this section of the city in the last quarter of the 19th century, combined with the profitable and expanding Wamsutta Mills located nearby, the Weld Square area quickly grew and prospered. By the early 20th century this streetcar suburb had become an important commercial and industrial district second only to downtown New Bedford. Residents of the neighborhood were generally recent Irish and French Canadian immigrants who worked in the nearby mills and at the Union Street Railway Carbarn (NR 1978).

The nominated property, located in the heart of this late 19th century neighborhood, was constructed in 1887 by a local builder and developer Bradford Smith, who is known to have constructed a number of other buildings in the vicinity. The Bradford-Smith Building, like others on major streets, was built to serve a dual function that combined ground floor commercial space with residential apartments on the floors above.