Trip to Historic N.E.

(This post is part of a series about my research of Fitchburg architect H.M. Francis)

On Wednesday, I took a field trip to Historic New England, specifically the Otis House on Cambridge Street in Boston.
The house was designed by Charles Bulfinch and was situated in one of Boston's early elite neighborhoods.

The purpose of my visit was to view their collection of H.M. Francis drawings and add them to the inventory of known structures he designed.

Some of the highlights included:

A design for Monadnock National Bank in East Jaffrey, New Hampshire
A design for the Baxter-Whitney Mill in Winchendon, Massachusetts (see image below)
A design for a bank on Miller's River, possibly in Miller's Falls, Massachusetts
A design for a commercial block in Somerville, Massachusetts

A student drawing by Francis as well as a design for a house for Charles Harding made it into the Historic New England book, Drawing Toward Home which was published in 2010.

It was a real treat to talk to the curatorial staff at Historic New England and share in their curiosity for Francis drawings. Although Francis is often thought of as a Fitchburg-centered architect (which is true) it's beneficial and important to understand that his body of work extended past the Nashua River and into other communities.

Fig. 1: Drawing of the Baxter-Whitney Mill in Winchendon, MA. Image from the American Architect and Building News magazine.

Cellphone Photos, part 2

(This post is part of a series about my research of Fitchburg architect H.M. Francis)

A few more photographs from my cellphone:

Fig. 1: Entryway to the Wallace Building (razed in 1979)

Fig. 2: Some drawings waiting to be processed.

Fig. 3: Cover sheet to specifications for the Model Training School in Fitchburg.

Cellphone Photos

(This post is part of a series about my research of Fitchburg architect H.M. Francis)
I was recently able to transfer some photographs from my cellphone to my computer.

These three are some of the more recent photographs of some intriguing Francis ephemera:

Fig. 1: This is a stamp design found on many of the drawings to ensure the architect's ownership.

Fig. 2: A small business card found amongst the drawings.

Fig. 3: A drawing for a proposed Cleghorn school house.