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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 1822 Mass. Ave. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. Constructed in 1930,the former Lexington Trust Company building is a Colonial Revival structure modeled after a Federal-style dwelling. The two-story, 5 x 2-bay, side-gabled structure displays a Flemish bond brick pattern, slate roof with parapet end chimneys and a modillion cornice. The double-hung windows contain 6/6 sash and are capped by flat arch brick lintels and flanked by paneled wooden shutters with cutout"Minute-man"motifs. The center entrance is set within a paneled recess and capped by a wooden fan with keystone. It is sheltered by a broken pediment porch/portico supported by Doric columns and decorated by other classically-inspired ornament including rosettes. To the west of the main block is a single-story, flat-roofed section which is two bays wide. Behind the main block is a single-story ell with arched window openings and a second portico which now contains an ATM. At the south end is another single-story section set at right angles, culminating in a single-story drive-through with roof balustrade. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. This building was constructed in 1930 for the Lexington Trust Company which was incorporated on January 8, 1914. The bank stands on the site of the old Monument House hotel which was demolished in 1929 to make way for the new building. A rendering of the proposed bank appeared in the Minute-man on November 1, 1929,with credit given to Thomas M. James Co. architects. The Lexington Trust Company was acquired by Shawmut Bank in 1974. Several banks have operated in this location since that time. The firm of Thomas M. James & Company, architects and engineers, specialized in the design of bank buildings. It was founded in 1909 by Thomas M. James (1875-1942)who was educated in Boston and received architectural training under Samuel J. Brown. The firm's important works included the Phenix National Bank in New York,the National Bank of Commerce in New London, Conn., and the First National Bank at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Massachusetts works' include the National Bank at Springfield(1920),the Commonwealth Atlantic National Bank in Boston(1924),the Union Trust Building,the office building at 75 Federal Street in Boston and the Shubert Theater in Boston. The MACRIS data base of the Massachusetts Historical Commission includes numerous banks designed by the firm including the Arlington Co-Operative Bank(ARL.602; 1935); Brookline Trust Company(BKL.1436; 1919); East Cambridge Savings Bank(CAM.93; 1931); Everett Savings Bank(EVR.15; 1930); Framingham National Bank(FRM.411; 1933);Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank(NWB.2182; 1928); Winchendon Savings Bank(WIN.127; 1929); and the Woburn Five Cents Savings Bank(WOB.149; 1931). BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Boston Herald, July 9, 1942,p. 19 [Obituary Thomas James]. Lexington Minute-man,November 1, 1929 Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System,Massachusetts Historical Commission,Boston,Mass. Massachusetts State Archives,Boston, Mass. Withey,Henry F. and Elsie Rathburn Withey. Biographical Dictionary ofAmerican Architects (Deceased). Los Angeles: Hennessey& Ingalls,Inc., 1970. Worthen, Edwin B. A Calendar History of Lexington, Massachusetts, 1620-1946. Lexington: 1946. Continuation sheet 1