HomeMy WebLinkAboutbedford-street_0177 AREA FOLM N0.
FORM B - BUILDING
412
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
F� wn Lexington
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dress 177 Bedford Street
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— 9 � = storic Name Lexington and Boston
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6treet Railway Company Powerhouse
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F _ - e: Present Knights of Columbus Hall
Original Street Railway Powerhouse
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DESCRIPTION:
to c. 1899
Source Lexington Minute Man, Dec. 30, 1971
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style; Classical Revival
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric brick
Indicate north.
Outbuildings
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Major alterations (with dates)-smokestack
Oremoved, one-story additions on right side
and rear (after 1960)
Moved Date
_. Irm sr STT Approx. acreage 67992 ft.`
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Recorded by t�zne"Grady Setting Behind several recently
Organization Lexington Historical Commission constructed office buildings; adjacent to
Date April, 1984 Lexington D.P.W. complex.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This building combined fireproof construction and utilitarian function
with graceful Classical Revival design. There are eight corbelled brick arches
on the front and rear facades and six on the side elevations. The arches
surmount the .large arched windows which light the major story of the building.
Above is an accenting string course of several corbelled rows or brick, the
outermost row of which is comprised of semicircular bricks forming a continuous
half-round molding. The basement story is defined by a high water table.
(see Continuation Sheet)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
Approval was finally granted by Town Meeting to lay tracks for electric
trolley cars in Lexington in 1897. These replaced the horse cars which had
been in operation since 1859. In 1900 the first trolleys of the Lexington and
Boston Street Railway Company began to run. The company constructed car houses
for summer and winter cars (demolished) and a fireproof powerhouse on Bedford
Street. Electric power to run the cars was made by coal-fired steam dynamos,
and stored in a storage battery house (demolished) .
The last trolleys ran in 1926 and the tracks were torn up in 1927.
Several businesses occupied the premises thereafter and during World War II a
navy school was held here. The Knights of Columbus purchased the building in
1960, renovated it for their purposes and added one-story additions along the
right side and rear.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
"100th Anniversary Edition," Lexington Minute Man, December 30, 1971.
Personal communication from James Cataldo.
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Camxmity: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCH,,IISSION Lexington 4.12
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 177 Bedford Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Bricks are fashioned into a quarter-round molding where the wall is offset.
A pronounced metal cornice caps the facade and left side of the building, having
been removed from the other sides. Window sills and lintels are of rough-cut
granite. owing to its use as a powerhouse, the walls of the building and even
the interior partitions are three feet thick.
This building is almost in a class by itself in Lexington. Few examples
of such monumental architecture exist in Lexington and this is the only one of
Classical, Beaux Arts derivation.
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Staple to Inventory form at bottom