George F. Meacham

George Frederick Meacham (July 1, 1831 - December 4, 1917) was an architect in the Boston, Massachusetts, area in the 19th century. He is notable for designing Boston's Public Garden, the Massachusetts Bicycle Club, and churches, homes, and monuments in greater Boston and elsewhere in New England.

George F. Meacham
BornJuly 1, 1831
Watertown, Massachusetts
DiedDecember 4, 1917
Boston, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
OccupationArchitect
South Congregational Church, New Britain, Connecticut (1865-1868)
1862 advertisement for Woodcock & Meacham, Architects

Early life and career

George F. Meacham was born in 1831 in Watertown, Massachusetts to Giles A. and Jane A. Meacham.[1] In 1849, after attending schools in Newton, Waltham and Cambridge, he entered Harvard College. He graduated in 1853.[1] After college he trained and worked as a civil engineer, at one point working on the Water Works of Jersey City, New Jersey. In 1855 he entered the office of an unnamed architect in Boston.[1] By 1857 he was associated with architect Shepard S. Woodcock,[2] and by 1858 they had formed a partnership.[3] Meacham established an independent firm in Boston in 1864.[4]

Meacham was appointed architect of Boston's new Masonic Temple in 1866, after the health of the original architect, Merrill G. Wheelock, failed.[5] Construction had begun in 1865, and Meacham completed the exterior of the building to Wheelock's design and was responsible for the design of the interior.[6] The building was dedicated in 1867. It has been demolished. In 1867 a set of plans for an apartment house designed by Meacham was published in an overview of charity work in France, though it does not indicate whether it was intended to be built in France or Boston, where the book was printed.[7] Meacham continued in Boston until 1891, when he retired from active practice.[1] He continued to work on a few projects from his home in Newton in the following years.

Though most of Meacham's work was architectural, he did his best known work in the capacity of landscape architect. In 1859 his design was adopted for the reconstruction of the Public Garden, his plan for which has remained largely intact.[8][9] He was also responsible, in 1865, for an extension to the Center Cemetery of Shirley,[10] and for Farlow Park in Newton in 1882.[11]

Personal life

In 1859 Meacham married Mary J. Warren of New Boston, New Hampshire. In 1870 they moved from Watertown to Newton. They had two children together, who both died in their youth. Mary J. Meacham died in 1877. Meacham remarried in 1881, to Ellen Louisa Frost, who survived him. Meacham died on December 4, 1917. At the time of his death he was a resident of Boston.[12]

Legacy

Following his association with Woodcock, several architects who would become notable trained in his office. These include Henry M. Francis (1864-1865)[13] and George R. Pyne (1870s).[14]

Several of his works have been individually listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.

Architectural works
YearProjectAddressCityStateNotesImageReference
1864House for John A. Wiley93 Elm StNorth AndoverMassachusettsNRHP-listed as part of the Machine Shop Village District.[15]
1864South Congregational Church90 Main StNew BritainConnecticutHammatt Billings may have been associated with Meacham in the earliest phases of the design.[16] Meacham was also responsible for the addition of a parish house in 1889.[17] NRHP-listed.[16]
1865Reformed Church of Utica276 Genesee StUticaNew YorkDemolished.[18]
1866Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument,
Common Park		Purchase StNew BedfordMassachusetts[19]
1866Soldiers' Monument,
Evergreen Cemetery		2060 Commonwealth AveBrightonMassachusetts[20]
1867Silver Lake Mills320 Nevada StNewtonMassachusetts[21]
1867Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument,
Riverside Cemetery		274 Main StFairhavenMassachusetts[22]
1867Tabernacle Baptist Church8 Hopper StUticaNew YorkNRHP-listed.[23]
1868Melrose High School (former)69 W Emerson StMelroseMassachusettsDemolished.[24]
1868Soldiers' Monument,
Waltham Common		610 Main StWalthamMassachusetts[25]
1869Engine House No. 19128 Babson StDorchesterMassachusettsDemolished.[26]
1869First Baptist Church of Lewiston240 Bates StLewistonMaineDemolished.[27]
1869Gate,
Newton Cemetery		791 Walnut StNewtonMassachusettsDemolished.[28]
1870Green School (former)408 Merrimack StLowellMassachusetts[29][30]
1871Houses for Newton Talbot234-236 Clarendon StBostonMassachusettsExtant but altered.[31]
1871Lewiston City Hall27 Pine StLewistonMaineBurned in 1890.[27]
1872Cary Avenue Baptist Church (former)60 Tudor StChelseaMassachusettsLater the First Methodist Church of Chelsea, and now Temple Emmanuel.[32]
1872House for Uriah H. Coffin232 Clarendon StBostonMassachusetts[33]
1872Mechanics Savings Bank Building200 Merrimack StLowellMassachusettsBurned in 1962.[34][35]
1873House for James W. Tobey119 Marlborough StBostonMassachusetts[36]
1873Mercantile building for Charles Duane91 Water StBostonMassachusettsDemolished.[37]
1873Underwood School101 Vernon StNewtonMassachusettsDemolished.[38]
1873Walnut Avenue Congregational Church (former)120 Walnut AveRoxburyMassachusettsNow known as the Eliot Congregational Church. NRHP-listed.[39]
1874House for Charles B. Fillebrown219 Bellevue StNewtonMassachusetts[40][41]
1874Newton City HallWashington and Cherry StsNewtonMassachusettsA smaller existing building was incorporated into the new City Hall. Demolished.[42]
1875Curb and fence,
Tremont Mall, Boston Common		Tremont StBostonMassachusettsRemoved and replaced.[43]
1877Central Fire Station51 Main StPlymouthMassachusettsDemolished.[44]
1877Hotel Huntington25 Commonwealth AveBostonMassachusettsDemolished.[45]
1877House for Edwin Morey338 Beacon StBostonMassachusetts[46]
1877Whitford Block663 Main StWalthamMassachusetts[47]
1878House for Daniel Chamberlin338 Commonwealth AveBostonMassachusetts[48]
1879House for Frank N. Thayer325 Commonwealth AveBostonMassachusetts[49]
1880House for John W. Field10 Melville AveDorchesterMassachusetts[50]
1881Channing Church (former)75 Vernon StNewtonMassachusettsNow the Newton Presbyterian Church.[51]
1881House for George C. Lord259 Waverley AveNewtonMassachusetts[52]
1883Hollis Street Church28 Exeter StBostonMassachusettsLater the South Congregational Church. Demolished.[53]
1884House for Hartley Lord26 Summer StKennebunkMaine[27]
1884Y. W. C. A. Building40 Berkeley StBostonMassachusettsDemolished.[54]
1885Massachusetts Bicycle Club (former)152 Newbury StBostonMassachusettsIncorporated into the former Boston Art Club building after the club was disbanded.[55]
1886Tomb for Hartley Lord,
Hope Cemetery		Barnard LnKennebunkMaine[27]
1887Eliot Church474 Centre StNewtonMassachusettsBurned.[56]
1887House for Levi B. Gay303 Franklin StNewtonMassachusetts[47]
1889Home for Little Wanderers202 W Newton StBostonMassachusettsDemolished.[57]
1890"Irwinton" for Charles I. TravelliHighland and Chestnut StsNewtonMassachusettsBurned in 1898. The former stable still stands at 22 Burnham Rd.[58][59]
1893House for William F. Bacon52 Hyde AveNewtonMassachusetts[60]
1894Dickson Memorial Chapel,
Greenlawn Cemetery		57 Orne StSalemMassachusettsNRHP-listed as part of Greenlawn Cemetery.[61]

References
  1. "George Frederick Meacham," Report of the Harvard Class of 1853, ed. Robert Samuel Rantoul (Cambridge, MA: University Press, 1913): 179-180.
  2. Boston Directory for the Year 1857 (Boston: George Adams, 1857)
  3. Boston Directory for the Year 1858 (Boston: Adams, Sampson & Company, 1857)
  4. Boston Post, November 23, 1864, 1.
  5. Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Boston: Solon Thornton, 1871)
  6. "The New Masonic Temple," Freemason's Monthly Magazine 26, no. 10 (August 1, 1867): 289-302.
  7. William Richards Lawrence, Charities in France in 1866. An Account of Some of the Principal Existing Charitable Institutions in that Country (Boston: Gould & Lincoln, 1867)
  8. City of Boston (14 July 2016). "Public Garden".
  9. Landscape Architecture and Urban Design. Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and Suburbs. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.
  10. Seth Chandler, History of the Town of Shirley, Massachusetts (Shirley, MA: Seth Chandler, 1883): 105-106.
  11. Annual Report of the City Engineer, for the Year 1882 (Newton, MA: 1883)
  12. "George F. Meacham Dead, Was Old-time Architect," Boston Daily Globe, December 5, 1917, 10.
  13. Ellery Bicknell Crane, Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, vol. 4 (New York and Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1907): 304.
  14. "Pyne, George Rovillo," Who's Who in New England, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company, 1909): 771.
  15. Machine Shop Village NRHP Registration Form (1982)
  16. James F. O'Gorman, "H. and J. E. Billings of Boston: From Classicism to the Picturesque," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 42, no. 1 (March 1983): 54-73.
  17. South Congregational Church NRHP Registration Form (1990)
  18. Isaac S. Hartley, Historical Discourse Delivered on the Occasion of the Semi-centennial Year of the Reformed Church, Utica, N. Y. (Utica, NY: Curtiss & Childs, 1880)
  19. William W. Crapo, Centennial in New Bedford (New Bedford, MA: E. Anthony & Sons, 1876): 135-136.
  20. Evergreen Cemetery NRHP Registration Form (2009)
  21. "NWT.1120", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  22. Charles A. Harris, Old-time Fairhaven (New Bedford, MA: Reynolds Printing, 1947): 244-245.
  23. Tabernacle Baptist Church NRHP Registration Form (2012)
  24. "Melrose," Boston Daily Advertiser, August 18, 1868, 1.
  25. Charles A. Nelson, Waltham, Past and Present; and its Industries (Cambridge, MA: John Ford & Son, 1878): 110.
  26. Auditor of Accounts' Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Boston and the County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, For the Financial Year 1869-70 (Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1870)
  27. Roger G. Reed, "George F. Meacham," A Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Maine (Augusta, ME: Maine Historic Preservation Commission, 1984)
  28. Newton: Garden City of the Commonwealth, ed. John C. Brimblecom (Newton, MA: Newton Graphic, 1902)
  29. "The Old and New Green School Houses," Lowell (MA) Daily Citizen, December 30, 1870, 2.
  30. City Documents of the City of Lowell for the Year 1870-71 (Lowell, MA: Stone & Huse, 1871)
  31. "234-236 Clarendon", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  32. "CLS.645", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  33. "232 Clarendon", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  34. "LOW.78", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  35. "Galvanized Iron as a Building Material," Manufacturer and Builder 4, no. 6 (June 1872): 135.
  36. "119 Marlborough", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  37. "Building Permits," Boston Daily Advertiser, October 11, 1873, 4.
  38. Auditors' One-hundred and Ninety-fifth Annual Report of the Finances of the Town of Newton, Selectmen's Report, Registrar's Report, and Record of Streets for Eleven Months Ending Dec. 31, 1873, with the Tax-list for 1873 (Boston: Rand, Avery & Company, 1874)
  39. "Walnut-Avenue Congregational Church," Suffolk County Journal, May 24, 1873.
  40. Charkes Bowdoin Fillebrown, Genealogy of the Fillebrown Family with Biographical Sketches (Boston: Charles Bowdoin Fillebrown): 122.)
  41. "NWT.1085", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  42. Thelma Fleishman, Newton (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1999)
  43. Documents of the City of Boston for the Year 1876 (Boston: Rockwell & Churchill, 1876)
  44. Annual Report of the Town Officers of the Town of Plymouth for the Financial Year Ending January 1, 1879 (Plymouth, MA: Avery & Doten, 1879)
  45. "BOS.14297", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  46. "338 Beacon", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  47. Keith N. Morgan, Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2009)
  48. "315 Commonwealth", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  49. "325 Commonwealth", backbayhouses.org, Back Bay Houses, n.d.
  50. "BOS.6066", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  51. Services in Commemoration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of Channing Church, at Newton, Massachusetts (Newton, MA: 1901)
  52. American Architect and Building News 9, no. 271 (March 5, 1881): 120.
  53. Charles S. Damrell, A Half Century of Boston Building (Boston: Louis P. Hager, 1895)
  54. Daphne Spain, How Women Saved the City (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001): 192-193 and 274.
  55. S. H. Day, "The New House of the Massachusetts Bicycle Club," Outing 5, no. 6 (March 1885): 435.
  56. "Eliot Church, Newton, Massachusetts," Church-Building Quarterly 7, no. 3 (July 1889): 142-144.
  57. Engineering and Building Record 19, no. 26 (May 25, 1889): xiv.
  58. "NWT.3917", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  59. Architectural Review 1, no. 6 (June 13, 1892): ii. [advertisement for J. F. Pease Furnace Company]
  60. "Newton," Newton (MA) Graphic, June 9, 1893, 1.
  61. Greenlawn Cemetery NRHP Registration Form (2015)

Further reading
  • Curb, stone or fence: what is the best plan for enclosing the Common? Hearing on the Subject in the City Hall, Yesterday. Boston Daily Globe, May 26, 1875. p. 8.
  • "George F. Meacham (1831-1917)". A Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Maine. 1984.
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