Category: Worcester

Ransom F. Taylor House (1907)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Houses, Worcester

The house at 6 Oak Street in Worcester was built in 1906-1907. It was the home of Ransom F. Taylor, son of Ransom C. Taylor (d.1910), a wealthy real estate developer who became Worcester’s largest property owner. According to Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Vol. II (1907), Ransom Frederick Taylor

was born in Worcester[.] He married Virginia Byrd Chapman, of York, Pennsylvania. He was educated at the Highland Military Academy, Worcester, and Phillips Andover Academy. He has for a number of years been associated with his father in business and has shared the management of his property largely. In recent years he himself has been a large investor in real estate and is accounted as one of the shrewdest and most accurate judges of the values of real estate in the city.

The house was purchased by Becker College in 1955 and is now a dormitory called Merrill Hall, named for civic leader and trustee of the college, Everett E. Merrill.

Worcester Memorial Auditorium (1932)

by Dan//Art Deco, Neoclassical, Public Buildings, Theaters, Worcester

Built to honor the 9,000 citizens of Worcester who served in the First World War, the Worcester Memorial Auditorium was constructed in 1931-1932 and is located in Lincoln Square. The Classical Revival building was designed by Lucius W. Briggs of Worcester and Frederick C. Hirons of New York. The exterior features Art Deco-inspired bas-relief ornament. Inside are murals by Leon Kroll, installed in 1941. The interior has a large auditorium and a “Little Theatre” which share a single stage that can be opened up to join the rooms together. Recently used as an auxiliary courthouse, the Auditorium has been the subject of many renovation and redevelopment discussions over the years (see pdf), the city eventually plans to sell the building. Continue reading “Worcester Memorial Auditorium (1932)”

Park Building (1914)

by Dan//Commercial, Neoclassical, Worcester

The Park Building, at 507 Main Street in downtown Worcester, was built in 1914-1915 by the Park Trust Company, organized in 1915, which merged with the Worcester County Trust Company in 1927. The eleven-story structure was designed by two firms, Cross and Cross and D.H. Burnham & Company, both of New York. The Park Building is the largest of several office blocks that were constructed in downtown Worcester in the early twentieth century.

Worcester National Guard Armory (1889)

by Dan//Military, Romanesque Revival, Worcester

The Worcester National Guard Armory at 44 Salisbury Street was built in 1889-1890 to replace the earlier Waldo Street Armory, which had developed structural problems. Facing what was then called Armory Square, the new Armory was designed by Fuller & Delano, who also later designed the rear addition of 1907. The building’s central tower was later shortened from its original height. In 1994, the Armory was renovated to house the National Guard Museum and Archives. It is also home to the Americal Division’s World War II Museum.