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1 Winthrop Square

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1873, Emerson and Fehmer.
  • 1 Winthrop Square (Keith Morgan)

The commercial block at 1 Winthrop Square, one of the most unusual structures built after the Great Boston Fire of 1872, dominates the small square. William Ralph Emerson and Carl Fehmer based their design on the Lustschloss, a Renaissance palace in Dresden, probably familiar to Fehmer, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, and came to this country in 1858. Replacing another commercial palace destroyed in the fire, the architects responded to concerns for improved fireproofing by using granite construction and selecting a standing seam metal hipped roof, originally with ornamental cresting, instead of the popular mansard roof, thought to be a conduit for fire. This block of stores was constructed for James M. Beebe and William F. Weld, two wealthy Boston developers. The same firm designed the block behind this structure, which extends down Otis Street to Summer.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Wigglesworth Building
Trans National Building (Union Warren Savings Bank)
Citizens Bank Building
75–101 Federal Street, Boston
Church Green Building

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "1 Winthrop Square", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-FD19.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 71-71.

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