G.A.R. Hall and Museum

The G.A.R. Hall and Museum is a historic museum at 58 Andrew Street in Lynn, Massachusetts.

G.A.R. Hall and Museum
Grand Army of the Republic Hall
G.A.R. Hall and Museum is located in Massachusetts
G.A.R. Hall and Museum
G.A.R. Hall and Museum is located in the United States
G.A.R. Hall and Museum
LocationLynn, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°27′46″N 70°56′53″W
Built1885
ArchitectWheeler & Northend[1]
Architectural styleRomanesque
NRHP reference No.79000331 [2]
Added to NRHPMay 7, 1979

The four story Romanesque brick building was built in 1885 by contractor Frank G. Kelly[3] to the design of the Lynn firm Wheeler & Northend for the General Frederick W. Lander Post 5 of the Grand Army of the Republic, an American Civil War veterans organization. It has two storefronts on the ground floor, offices and a library with spaces for 1500 volumes on the second floor,[3] and a large 46'10" x 56'4" meeting hall on the upper two floors.[3] The roofline originally had ornate brick crenellations, but these were removed in the mid 20th century. The first two floors have also been altered over time, but the meeting hall remains in nearly original condition.[4]

The building was constructed with incandescent electric lighting by the Thomson-Houston Electric Company,[3] which had moved to Lynn two years prior.[5]

With declining membership in the organization, the building was turned over to the city in 1919 by a Special Act of the Massachusetts Legislature.[6][7] The city operates it as a museum.[8]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[2]

The building is the earliest known work by Holman K. Wheeler, who designed and constructed more than 400 structures in Lynn and surrounding towns,[1] including residences, schools, commercial and factory buildings, and monuments. A total of five H. K. Wheeler structures in Lynn are listed on the National Register.

The father[9] of co-architect William Wheelwright Northend, Massachusetts State Senator William Dummer Northend, while attending Governor Dummer Academy as a child, became longtime friends with General Frederick W. Lander[10] for whom the Lynn G.A.R. Post is named.

In 2018, a fundraising campaign was started to raise as much as $10 million for needed repairs, renovations, and preservation of the museum's collection.[11] Plans include making the building ADA compliant with additions such as an elevator.[12] An updated climate control system is also needed to preserve the museum artifacts.[13]

The museum was named one of the top 11 most endangered historic resources in Massachusetts for 2018 by Preservation Massachusetts.[14][13]


See also

References
  1. Industries of Massachusetts: Historical and Descriptive Review of Lynn, Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Danvers, Gloucester, Newburyport, and Amesbury, and their leading Manufacturers and Merchants. International Publishing Co. 1886. p. 52. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  3. "Lynn's G. A. R. Memorial". The Boston Herald. Boston, Massachusetts. 1886-04-22. p. 8. Gen. Lander post No. 5, G. A. R., of Lynn, dedicated its new "Home" on Andrew street, in that city, last evening. This organization owns the Coliseum building, and has occupied Exchange Hall and rooms above as headquarters for several years past. As the largest Grand Army post in the country, it was in need of enlarged quarters, therefore the new edifice was erected.
  4. "MACRIS inventory record for GAR Hall and Museum". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
  5. "Elihu Thomson Papers". Retrieved 2019-10-19. ...formed the Thomson-Houston Company in 1882. In 1883, the Thomson-Houston works moved to Lynn, Massachusetts... Elihu Thomson Papers at the American Philosophical Society
  6. Acts and Resolves Passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, Volume 2. Secretary of the Commonwealth. 1919. p. 260. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  7. 1919 Special Acts Chap. 0220. An Act To Authorize The City Of Lynn To Accept In Trust A Conveyance Of The Grand Army Building In That City. State Library of Massachusetts. 1919. Retrieved 2020-02-26. The city of Lynn, by its acceptance of the conveyance authorized by this act, shall forever maintain the said building as a memorial to the men of Lynn who served in the army or navy of the United States in the civil war, shall keep the building in good repair and properly equipped, heated and lighted, and shall replace it if it should be destroyed by fire or otherwise, shall preserve the main hall thereof and the pictures therein, so far as possible, in the same condition in which they now are, and shall permit the use of the said hall, free of charge, for meetings of the inhabitants of Lynn for patriotic, charitable, benevolent or educational purposes, and for meetings or entertainments given by churches or by religious, charitable or benevolent societies: provided, that no fee for admission to the said hall so used shall be charged by the said city, or by any person, association or corporation to which the use of the same is granted.
  8. "GAR Hall and Museum". Lynnhistory.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2013-12-22.
  9. Samuel Atkins Eliot (1914). Biographical history of Massachusetts: biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in the state, Volume 5. Massachusetts biographical society. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  10. Gary L. Ecelbarger (January 2001). Frederick W. Lander: The Great Natural American Soldier. LSU Press (published 2001). p. 9. ISBN 9780807125809. Retrieved 2019-07-25.
  11. "Why The GAR Matters". Lynn Daily Item. 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  12. Thor Jourgensen (2019-01-10). "Marching In Lockstep for the GAR". Lynn Daily Item. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  13. Jennifer Fenn Lefferts (2019-02-08). "Historic buildings across the state face challenges. This organization is sounding the alarm on them". Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  14. "2018 Massachusetts Most Endangered Historic Resources List". Preservation Massachusetts. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2019-09-26.


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