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Hancock School

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1890, Hartwell and Richardson; 1978, Mary Otis Stevens. 33 Forest St.
  • Hancock School (Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith)

Hancock School was Lexington's first centralized grammar school and first architect-designed school building. Hartwell and Richardson rendered their Richardsonian Romanesque building with chateauesque roof in red brick and decorated it with patterned brickwork and sandstone trim. The main facade is a balanced composition with separate entrance porches and stair towers for boys and girls. In justifying the cost, the building committee stated that “correct proportions and architectural taste not only have an educating influence on boys and girls, but tend to elevate the tone of the whole community.” Other suburban towns chose this popular idiom for school buildings in the period. In 1978, the interior of Hancock School was converted to eighteen condominium units.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Lexington Green
Buckman Tavern
General Samuel Chandler House
Munroe Hill
Munroe Tavern and Sanderson House

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Hancock School", [Lexington, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-LX12.

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, 442-443.

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