The Adams Building is a historic commercial building at 1342–1368 Hancock Street in downtown
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
. Built in stages between 1880 and 1890, it is a distinctive example of
Jacobethan
The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...
architecture, and is one of city's oldest commercial buildings. It was owned for many years by members of the politically prominent
Adams family. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Description and history
The Adams Building is located in downtown Quincy, roughly across Hancock Street from the
United First Parish Church. It is located on a curve in the street that was formerly a junction between Hancock and Temple Streets. It is a -story frame structure, with a stuccoed half-timbered exterior. It has an irregular facade characterized by the repetition of a variety of elements, including large gable wall dormers, polygonal bays, and patterns in the half-timbering. It is roughly divided into thirds by brick firewalls, which rise above the gabled roof.
The building was built in two stages, between 1880 and 1890, by
John Quincy Adams II; it was one of the city's first large-scale commercial buildings. Its designer,
J. Williams Beal
John Williams Beal (May 9, 1855 - July 7, 1919) was an architect in Boston, Massachusetts.
Biography
He was born on 19 May 1855 in Scituate, Massachusetts, to John Beal and Lucy Ann Beal.
He married Mary Washburn.
He trained at Massachusetts In ...
, was a prominent
Boston architect with a number of local commissions. When originally built, it housed retail space on the ground floor, and a mixture of residential space, professional offices, and a social club meeting space, on its upper floors. Its offices have been used by a procession of prominent local businessmen, politicians, and lawyers, and it house a local district court for a time. More recently, the upper floors have been converted entirely to professional office space. The building is locally unusual as an example of
Jacobethan
The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...
architecture, a variant on the Tudor Revival.
[
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Quincy, Massachusetts
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Quincy, Massachusetts
Tudor Revival architecture in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Quincy, Massachusetts
Commercial buildings completed in 1890