Oakes Ames Memorial Hall is a historic hall designed by noted American architect
H. H. Richardson, with landscaping by
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...
. It is located on Main Street in the village of North Easton in
Easton, Massachusetts
Easton is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,058 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Boston area.
Easton is governed by an elected Select Board. Open Town Meeting acts as the legislative br ...
, immediately adjacent to another Richardson building,
Ames Free Library.
History
The hall was built 1879–81 as a gift to the town from children of Congressman
Oakes Ames. It was originally intended for use as a Town Hall but in practice has mainly served as a meeting space for private groups. It was due to dissent amongst different groups in the town at the time that the Oakes Ames Memorial Hall was never used for its intended purpose as the town hall, and to this day the Frothingham House is used for this purpose
Features
The structure's main facade, altogether long by deep, presents an arcade of five massive arches with a row of windows set above and an octagonal tower at its right corner. Its first floor is constructed of native, pinkish-gray North Easton
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
with Longmeadown brownstone trim. The second floor is brick, with a north-facing dormer half finished in timber and
stucco. The steeply peaked roof above is finished in red tile. The front's third-floor, dormer window is wreathed with sculpted foliage, and displays the initials O. A. and twelve signs of the
zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pat ...
.
The main hall inside is on the second floor, and long by wide with a height. It contains a stage (26 by 18 feet). This arrangement proved impractical due to inadequate stairway access to the hall. The first floor contains a small meeting room and service rooms; the attic contains a Masonic hall.
Gallery
Image:RichardsonNEaton.jpg, Oakes Ames Memorial Hall
Image:Oakes Ames Memorial Hall (North Easton, MA) - side view.JPG, Side view
Image:Oakes Ames Memorial Hall (North Easton, MA) - facade detail.JPG, Facade detail
Image:Oakes Ames Memorial Hall (North Easton, MA) - detail.JPG, Detail
Image:Oakes Ames Memorial Hall (North Easton, MA) - tower detail.JPG, Tower detail
Image:Oakes Ames Memorial Hall and Ames Free Library (North Easton, MA).JPG, Oakes Ames Memorial Hall with Ames Free Library in background
See also
*
H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton
The H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton is a National Historic Landmark District in the village of North Easton in Easton, Massachusetts. It consists of five buildings designed by noted 19th-century architect Henry Hobson Richard ...
*
North Easton Historic District
References
* ''Oakes Ames: A Memoir with an Account of the Dedication of Oakes Ames Memorial Hall at North Easton, Massachusetts, November 17, 1881'', printed at the Riverside Press, 1883, pages 55–57.
* Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ''H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works'', MIT Press, 1985, pages 33–34. .
Easton Historic Society (with photos)
External links
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{{Authority control
Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts
Henry Hobson Richardson buildings
Buildings and structures in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Masonic buildings in Massachusetts
Government buildings completed in 1881
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Butler–Ames family
National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
1881 establishments in Massachusetts