John Stevens (architect)

John Stevens
Born 1824
Died April 14, 1881
Worcester, Massachusetts
Nationality United States
Occupation Architect
Practice John Stevens; John Stevens & Son
South Church, Andover. 1860.

John Stevens (1824-1881) was an American architect who practiced in Boston, Massachusetts. He was known for ecclesiastical design, and designed churches and other buildings across New England.

Life and career

John Stevens was born in 1824.[1] His early life is unknown, and he established himself as an architect in Boston in 1850.[2] After several years primarily designing schools and private residences, he began receiving commissions for churches by the end of the 1850s. He built these churches, generally in the Romanesque Revival style, in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island. From 1860 to 1862 he employed Archimedes Russell, who would later become a prominent architect in Syracuse, New York.[3] In 1869 he was briefly associated with S. F. Pratt, at which time he was working on buildings at Oak Bluffs.[4] He remained in Massachusetts until 1879, when he established a partnership with his son, J. Walter Stevens, and moved west to St. Paul, Minnesota. John Stevens & Son operated until April 14, 1881, when Stevens died while on a visit to Worcester, Massachusetts.[5]

Legacy

Stevens designed a great many churches. His Baptist Church in St. John, New Brunswick, completed in 1878, was said to have been his 113th.[6] Many of his churches were built on only three basic models, which he relied on throughout his career. His contemporaries critizised him for this repetitiveness. In 1878, an anonymous writer going by "Verax" wrote in regard to his St. John church: "and as the 'outline and general features are after the Byzantine period' we may expect something similar to Mr. Stevens's previous works, which may be seen in almost every city from Calais to Lynn."[7]

At least six of his works have been listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places, and several more contribute to listed historic districts.

Architectural works

YearBuildingAddressCityStateNotesImageReference
1852Nathaniel Dearborn House21 Chestnut StWakefieldMassachusettsOn the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
1854Smith HallAbbot AcademyAndoverMassachusettsDemolished.[1]
c1855Stephen Hall House64 Minot StReadingMassachusettsOn the National Register of Historic Places.[8]
1855Punchard Free School36 Bartlett StAndoverMassachusettsDemolished.[1]
1857Malden Town Hall389 Main StMaldenMassachusettsDemolished.[9]
1859First Congregational Church322 Main StWoburnMassachusettsOn the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
1859First Parish Congregational Church1 Church StWakefieldMassachusettsA complete rebuilding. Demolished in 1890.[10]
1859North Church240 Main StHaverhillMassachusetts[11]
1860First Congregational Church1 S Main StRandolphMassachusettsBurned in 1936.[10]
1860Reading Agricultural and Mechanical Association Building643 Main StReadingMassachusettsBuilt with an elaborate mansard roof, removed in 1959.[12]
1860South Church41 Central StAndoverMassachusetts[13]
1861Haverhill City HallMain StHaverhillMassachusettsDemolished.[14]
1861Cyrus Wakefield House467 Main StHaverhillWakefieldDemolished.[15]
1863First Parish Congregational Church12 Beach StSacoMaineBurned in 2000.[16]
1863Third (Pavilion) Congregational Church270 Main StBiddefordMaineConverted into the McArthur Public Library.[10]
1864First Baptist Church81 St Paul StBurlingtonVermontOn the National Register of Historic Places.[17]
1865Trinitarian Congregational Church72 Elm StNorth AndoverMassachusetts[18]
1866Oren B. Cheney House262 College StLewistonMaineNow Cheney House of Bates College.[19]
1866Masonic Temple326 Main StMelroseMassachusettsHeavily altered.[20]
1866Pine Street Congregational Church60 Pine StLewistonMaineDemolished.[10]
1867Erastus P. Carpenter House47 Ocean AveOak BluffsMassachusetts[21]
1867First Congregational Church1 Washburn SqLeicesterMassachusettsBurned in 1900.[10]
1867Pawtucket Congregational Church40 Walcott StPawtucketRhode IslandOn the National Register of Historic Places.[22]
1868Memorial Hall22 South StFoxboroughMassachusettsOn the National Register of Historic Places.[23]
1868Wakefield Town HallMain and Water StsWakefieldMassachusettsDemolished in 1958.[2]
1870Court Street Baptist Church129 Court StAuburnMaine[24]
1871First Congregational Church171 Main StFranklinMassachusettsDemolished or burned.[25]
1871First Congregational Church150 S Common StLynnMassachusetts[2]
1871Wakefield High School1 Lafayette StWakefieldMassachusettsNow the Town Hall.[26]
1873First Congregational Church21 Calais AveCalaisMaineBurned in 1992.[27]
1874Melrose Town Hall562 Main StMelroseMassachusettsSubstantially burned in 1937, and rebuilt from designs by Mowll & Rand.[28][29]
1876First Universalist Church169 Pleasant StAuburnMaineOn the National Register of Historic Places.[30]
1877Weldon (King Edward) School210 Wentworth StSt. JohnNew BrunswickDemolished.[31]
1878Central Baptist Church42 Leinster StSt. JohnNew BrunswickSaid to be his 113th church.[31]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Reed, Roger G. "The Lost Victorian Campus". Academy Hill: The Andover Campus, 1778 to the Present. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Morgan, Keith N. Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston. 2009.
  3. ↑ Hardin, Evamaria. "Archimedes Russell and Ninetenth-Century Syracuse." 1979.
  4. ↑ Weiss, Ellen. "Robert Morris Copeland's Plans for Oak Bluffs." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. Vol. 34, No. 1, 1975.
  5. ↑ Saint Paul Globe 20 April 1881: 2.
  6. ↑ -"Biographical Record for 1881: John Stevens." Annals oo the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, 1795-1892. Boston: Rockwell & Churchill, 1892.
  7. ↑ American Architect and Building News 28 Sept. 1878: 111. Boston.
  8. ↑ Stephen Hall House NRHP Nomination. 1984.
  9. ↑ Oration, Poem, Speeches, Chronicles, &c., at the Dedication of the Malden Town Hall. Malden: Charles C. P. Moody, 1857.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 The Year-Book of the Unitarian Congregational Churches for 1867. Boston: American Unitarian Association, 1868.
  11. ↑ "HVR.709". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  12. ↑ "REA.407". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  13. ↑ Shivell, Kirk. The Steeples of Old New England: How the Yankees Reached for Heaven. 1998.
  14. ↑ Chase, George Wingate. The History of Haverhill, Massachusetts. 1861.
  15. ↑ MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Wakefield. 1980.
  16. ↑ Images of America: Saco Revisited. Arcadia, 2009.
  17. ↑ First Baptist Church NRHP Nomination. 2001.
  18. ↑ "NAD.90". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  19. ↑ Main Street-Frye Street Historic District NRHP Nomination. 2008.
  20. ↑ "Laying of the Corner-Stone of the Masonic Hall in Melrose." Freemason's Monthly. 1 July 1866: 277.
  21. ↑ "OAK.1046". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  22. ↑ Pawtucket Congregational Church NRHP Nomination. 1978.
  23. ↑ "FOX.11". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  24. ↑ Thompson, Deborah. Maine Forms of American Architecture. 1976.
  25. ↑ History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Ed. D. Hamilton Hurd. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Company, 1884.
  26. ↑ "WAK.352". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  27. ↑ Graettinger, Diana and Jeanne Curran. "Evening fire destroys century-old church at Calais". http://archive.bangordailynews.com/. Bangor Daily News. 22 Feb. 1992.
  28. ↑ Massachusetts Reports: Decisions of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. Vol. 313. 1942.
  29. ↑ "MEL.20". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  30. ↑ First Universalist Church NRHP Nomination. 1979.
  31. 1 2 "Stevens, John". http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/. n.d.
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