Colony's Block is a historic commercial building at 4-7 Central Square in the heart of

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in, and the County seat, seat of Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Keene is ho ...

. The five-story brick building was built in 1870 to a design by

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, architects E. Boyden & Son, and is the city's most prominent example of

Second Empire architecture Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

. In addition to being a long-standing commercial center, the building housed the city library from 1870 to 1877. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1983.

Description and history

Colony's Block is located in the heart of Keene, on the east side of its Central Square. It is a broad brick structure, nine bays wide, with four full stories, and a fifth under its

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

. The ground floor consists of three modernized storefronts, each with a recessed entrance and large display windows. The main entrance is located in a recess to the right of the center storefront. The upper levels bays are divided into 3-4-3 groupings, highlighted by the Chateau-style caps of the outer groups. The window arrangements and treatments are slightly asymmetrical, with second-floor windows in the left group set in rounded-arch openings, and

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

-style arrangements of windows on the second and third levels of the right group. Dormer treatments in the mansard roof are also nearly symmetrical, differing in the shaping of decorative elements. The building was constructed in 1870, in the aftermath of a fire which destroyed the commercial buildings on this side of the square in 1865. It was built by Timothy Colony, treasurer of the Cheshire Mills of Harrisville and a prominent local businessman. Early tenants included the public library on the second floor, and a drugstore on the first that remained in operation into the 1980s. The building was designed by

Elbridge Boyden Elbridge Boyden (1810–1898) was a prominent 19th-century American architect from Worcester, Massachusetts who designed numerous civil and public buildings throughout New England and other parts of the United States. Perhaps his best known works ...

, who had executed other commissions in Keene prior to this work. The building was built together with the Bank Block, located to its right. Also designed by Boyden, it and the Colony were meant to be seen as a single structure. The Bank Block was altered in the 20th century, attaining a more Colonial Revival appearance.Tolles, Bryant F., Jr. ''New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide''. 1979.

References

{{NRHP in Cheshire County, New Hampshire Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Second Empire architecture in New Hampshire Commercial buildings completed in 1870 Buildings and structures in Keene, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Cheshire County, New Hampshire

Description and history

See also

References