Bureau of Charities and Temporary Home
33-35 Chardon Street
Boston, Mass.
Year Built: 1868
Year Demolished: 1924
This design was composed of two separate but connected buildings, one the Bureau of Charities and the other the Temporary Home. They were built in 1868 and demolished in 1924.
At the time the building was built, Brigham expressed concerns that the design was somewhat plain. He would have preferred to have a more complex design or include more ornate design elements. Brigham specifically remarked, “The design is rather plain but I have so grouped the buildings as to give great effect of massing and outline.” However, budgetary constraints limited Brigham’s designs.
Interestingly, as designed, the administration portion of the building faced Hawkins Street and the portion that served patrons faced Chardon Street.
References
• Letters (25) from Charles Brigham to John Hubbard Sturgis, 9/18/1866 - 9/30/1868, Sturgis Papers, Boston Athenaeum Library.
• “Architecture of H.H. Richardson and His Contemporaries in Boston and Vicinity: 1972 Annual Tour,” Society of Architectural Historians, Philadelphia, 1972, Margaret Henderson Floyd, (Sturgis & Brigham, Bureau of Charities, 1872)
• "Kings Handbook of Boston," M.F. Sweetser, Moses King, Cambridge, Mass, 1882, pp. 207-208 (Sturgis & Brigham designed the Bureau of Charities; illustration).
• "Charles Brigham," MacMillan Encyclopedia of Architects, Adolph Placzek, entry written by Margaret Henderson Floyd, 1982, p. 288-9 (Bureau of Charities, 1868, Charles Brigham architect).
• Letter from Charles Brigham to John Hubbard Sturgis, 5/29/1867, Sturgis Papers, Boston Athenaeum Library.
• Cornerstone of new building on the site reads 1924.
• “Razing Chardon St. Home and Old Charity Building,” Boston Globe, September 19, 1924, p. 28a.
• "Charles Brigham," Boston of To-day, Richard Herndon, Post Publishing, Boston, 1892, pp. 156-157 ("Among the principal buildings designed during his association with Mr. Sturgis . . . the Bureau of Charities on Chardon street . . . .").
Links
• www.helloboston.com/bookfiles/ch_10_11_and_12_heart_pulse_and_bones_of_the_city1.pdf
Images
1915
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