The Merchants Exchange building (1842-1890) in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
was built in 1841 from a design by architect
Isaiah Rogers
Isaiah Rogers (August 17, 1800 – April 13, 1869) was an American architect from Massachusetts who eventually moved his practice south, where he was based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed numerous designs for hotels, ...
. Centrally located on
State Street, it functioned as a hub for business activities in the city.
History
The Merchants Exchange served as one of Boston's "great gathering-points of the traders -- the marble-paved and frescoed hall ... with its newspaper files, bulletins, wind vane, and ship registry." It was "elegant ... with a fine reading-room, ... and besides accommodations for the post office, and for several insurance and brokers' offices, affords many conveniences for the mercantile community."
Architecture
Built in 1841-1842 by architect Isaiah Rogers, Merchants Exchange was considered "among the best specimens of architecture in Boston" and "a dignified building in its day." Re-modelling occurred after the building "went down" in the
fire of 1872.
[Bacon's dictionary of Boston]
1886.
After 1890, the "Exchange Building" occupied the site of the former Merchants Exchange building.
Function
The building housed business activities, such as:
* Board of Trade (est. 1854)
* Boston Board of Marine Underwriters (est. 1850)
*
Boston Marine Society
*
Boston Stock Exchange
The Boston Stock Exchange (now NASDAQ BX, formerly ''BSE'') is a regional stock exchange located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1834, making it the third-oldest stock exchange in the United States. On October 2, 2007, NASDAQ agreed ...
(1844-1853)
* Commercial Exchange (est. 1871)
*
Post-Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
(ca.1860-1872)
[Justin Winsor]
The memorial history of Boston
including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880. J. R. Osgood and co., 1881.
* Soldiers' Messenger Corps
References
Images
Image:State Street, Boston, Mass..jpg, State Street
Image:State Street, looking down, Boston, Mass..jpg, State Street
Image:1869 MerchantsExchange Nanitz map Boston detail BPL 10490.png, Detail of 1860s map of Boston, showing Merchants Exchange building
Image:1885 MerchantsExchange Boston.png, The Exchange, ca.1885
Image:1885 MerchantsExchange Boston2.png, Reading room, ca.1885
{{coord, 42, 21, 31.33, N, 71, 3, 22.56, W, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title
Commercial buildings completed in 1842
Former buildings and structures in Boston
Greek Revival architecture in Massachusetts
Economic history of Boston
Financial District, Boston
19th century in Boston
1842 establishments in Massachusetts