-
Old Post Office and United States Post Office (Keith Morgan)
In November 1889, a fire destroyed much of the Lynn central business district. The late-nineteenth-century prosperity of this industrial city, however, ensured that the district would be rebuilt quickly. A number of the large multistory buildings erected for offices and light industry are the work of three of Lynn's most important turn-of-the-century architects: Henry W. Rogers, Edwin Earp, and Penn Varney. Most were built immediately after the fire and are variations of Italian Renaissance or Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. The work of Henry Rogers includes 125–155 Munroe Street (1890), 101–127 Munroe Street (1891), and the unusual Romanesque-style flatiron-shaped Fabens Building at 312–332 Union Street (1890). Edwin Earp designed the six-story Mowers Block in 1891 (7 Willow Street), as well as the structure at 1–21 Central Square (1890). Penn Varney added the block at 50–56 Central Square in 1890. This densely built-up commercial district is bounded on the south by the Boston & Maine Railroad viaduct (1913).