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Chadwick Lead Works

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1887, William Gibbons Preston. 176–184 High St.
  • With Harbor Towers, WF23 (Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith)

The Chadwick Lead Works was originally located in the center of the iron and hardware trade district. The Romanesque facade is dominated by four three-story arches and topped by a row of closely spaced rectangular clere-story windows, ornamented with terra-cotta. The first story has granite piers and a cast-iron lintel. Topped by carved griffins, the company name in terra-cotta adorns the building above the second story, as well as on the tall, equally Romanesque tower at the rear corner of the building. The tower was used for manufacturing lead shot by dropping molten lead from the top, which formed into balls and cooled as it fell. The company also manufactured castlead products such as pipe and solder. (Later zoning prevented downtown manufacturing.) The Chadwick Lead Works had a relatively short life in the lead business, however, since it was taken over by another company in 1902. The adjacent National Whiting Building (1875, George H. Young, NRD) at 172–174 High Street, which also originally served the iron and hardware trade, is a fine example of Italianate commercial architecture with a cast-iron first story.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

UBS Building (Paine Webber Building)
Wyndham Boston Hotel (Public Service or Batterymarch Building)
International Place
State Street Bank
Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Chadwick Lead Works", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-FD8.

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, 66-66.

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