Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee (June 1, 1829 – December 17, 1888) was a
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 ...
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and a partner in the firm of
Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell.
Life
Bradlee was born 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 ...
to Elizabeth Davis and Samuel Bradlee. He married Julia Rebecca Weld on April 17, 1855. Their children were Joseph Williams Bradlee, Caroline Lousia Bradlee, Elizabeth Lydia Bradlee, Eleanor Collamore Bradlee, and Hellen Curtis Bradlee.
Bradlee designed many of the
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
s in Boston's
South End, and was president of the Cochituate Water Board. The Bradlee Basin at the
Chestnut Hill Reservoir
Chestnut Hill Reservoir is a reservoir created in 1870 on existing marshes and meadowland to supplement the city of Boston's water needs, located in its namesake neighborhood of Chestnut Hill. A 1.56 mile jogging loop abuts the reservoir. Chestnu ...
,
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...
, completed in 1870, was named in his honor.
In 1876 Bradlee ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Boston.
From 1866 to 1896 his family lived in the
Alvah Kittredge House, a
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
mansion (built 1836) at 10 Linwood Street,
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts.
Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for n ...
. He vacationed in
Altamonte Springs
Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metr ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
in what is now known as the
Bradlee-McIntyre House
The Bradlee-McIntyre House is a Victorian Cottage Style house. It is now located in Longwood, Florida at 130 West Warren Avenue, after being moved there from Altamonte Springs, Florida, Altamonte Springs. On March 28, 1991, the house was added ...
(built 1885), probably the best example of
Victorian Cottage Style architecture in
Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
. In 1885, Henry Herman Westinghouse, younger brother of
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of ...
, built a nearby house whose plan was a mirror image of the Bradlee-McIntyre House. Westinghouse also had Bradlee design homes of 12 to 15 rooms near Boston Avenue in town.
Bradlee died unexpectedly in
Bellows Falls
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the ...
,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
while on a train from Boston to
Keene,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. His papers are archived in the
Boston Athenæum
The Boston Athenaeum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of a number of subscription library, membership libraries, for which patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use Athenaeum services. The instit ...
.
Legacy
Bradlee's early 1860s
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The o ...
department store, an ornate brownstone edifice with a landmark corner clock tower in what is now known as Boston's
Downtown Crossing
Downtown Crossing is a shopping district within downtown Boston, Massachusetts, located east of Boston Common, west of the Financial District, south of Government Center, and north of Chinatown and the old Combat Zone. It features large ...
, sparked a major historic preservation movement in the city when it was torn down in 1975. Local architect Leslie Larson had founded a coalition called the City Conservation League to try to save the old building — one of the few survivors of the
Great Boston Fire of 1872
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, 1872, in the basement of a com ...
— but it made way for a low modern brick structure that sits there today as Macy's. Some outraged customers cut up their credit cards in protest of the demolition. These protests and preservationist grassroots efforts led to the creation of the Boston Landmarks Commission. He built for Royal Robbins of Waltham Watch Co. A series of 8 freight stables in 1866,which serviced the adjoining Boston and Providence Railroad property, They are still standing on Stanhope Street Boston.
Gallery
File:FirstChurchofJP.JPG, First Church of Jamaica Plain, 1854
File:Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Massachusetts, Kirkbride Complex, circa 1893.jpg, Danvers State Hospital
The Danvers State Hospital, also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, and The Danvers State Insane Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital located in Danvers, Massachusetts. It was built in 1874, and opened in 18 ...
, 1874–1878
File:Boston Young Men's Christian Union - front facade.JPG, Boston Young Men's Christian Union
The Boston Young Men's Christian Union is an historic building at 48 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts and a liberal Protestant youth association. When Unitarians were excluded from the Boston YMCA (which was evangelical) in 1851, a group ...
, 1876
File:ConwayScenic.jpg, Depot, North Conway, New Hampshire, 1874
* 1853–1854 –
First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian-Universalist, a
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 ...
(NRHP) site. At Centre and South Sts. Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
* 1855 – William F. Schultz House, 53 Beacon Street,
Boston, Massachusetts.
* Early 1860s –
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The o ...
department store, 450 Washington Street,
Boston, Massachusetts (demolished in 1975)
* 1861–1862,
Phillips School
The Phillips School was a 19th-century school located in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. It is now a private residence. It is on the Black Heritage Trail and its history is included in walking tours by the Boston African American National Hi ...
,
Boston, Massachusetts. A rare substantial surviving Italianate school building.
* 1866 eight freight stables at 13-45 Stanhope Street, Boston to service B&P Railroad Co.
* 1869, the
Cochituate standpipe. Modernized Roxbury's water system.
* 1870 – Mount Auburn Reception House,
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...
,
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
. One of only two existing buildings in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
by Bradlee.
* 1874,
Railway Station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
,
North Conway, New Hampshire
North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...
.
* 1874–
Second Church, Boston
The Second Church (1649–1970) in Boston, Massachusetts, was first a Congregational church, and then beginning in 1802, a Unitarian church. The congregation occupied a number of successive locations around town, including North Square, Hanover ...
, on Boylston Street, between Dartmouth and Clarendon
* 1874–1878 –
Danvers State Hospital
The Danvers State Hospital, also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, and The Danvers State Insane Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital located in Danvers, Massachusetts. It was built in 1874, and opened in 18 ...
, 450 Maple Street,
Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the renowned beaches of Glo ...
. A massive complex designed to care for the mentally ill.
* 1875, commercial building (workshops), 6 East Springfield Street, South End, Boston
* 1876 –
Boston Young Men's Christian Union
The Boston Young Men's Christian Union is an historic building at 48 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts and a liberal Protestant youth association. When Unitarians were excluded from the Boston YMCA (which was evangelical) in 1851, a group ...
, 48 Boylston Street,
Boston, Massachusetts. An outstanding example of the High Gothic style, another NRHP site.
* 1878 – Unitarian Church,
Brunswick, Maine
Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...
.
* 1879 – 542–550 Columbus Avenue, South End, Boston. Single family row houses.
* Late 1870s – Palladio Hall, 60–62 Warren Street,
Boston, Massachusetts. An Italian Renaissance-style commercial block designed and owned by Bradlee.
Published works
* Nathaniel J. Bradlee, ''History of the Introduction of Pure Water into the City of Boston, with a Description of Its Cochituate Water Works'', Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1868.
References
External links
Nathaniel J Bradlee websiteDanvers State Insane Asylum — information and Nathaniel J Bradlee biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradlee, Nathaniel Jeremiah
1829 births
1888 deaths
Architects from Boston
19th-century American people
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Altamonte Springs, Florida
19th-century American architects