The American Gazetteer

Equitable Life Assurance Building, Des Moines, IA, 1891-92

2012-02-07T12:17:00.000-05:00

The Equitable Life Assurance Company Building (later Bankers Trust Building) , Des Moines, IA.

Constructed 1891-92, demolished 1980. Photo: Library of Congress

For many years my grandfather's law firm was on the top floor of the Bankers Trust Building in Des Moines so when I saw the Library of Congress information about the Equitable Life Assurance Building, I was intrigued. The Bankers Trust Building began its life as the Equitable Life Assurance Company Building and was constructed in 1891-92. The Boston-based architectural firm which designed the building, Andrews, Jacques, and Rantoul, was led by Robert Day Andrews, who had worked in H. H. Richardson's architectural practice before starting his own firm in 1885. The similarities in the Richardsonian Romanesque style of the Equitable Assurance Building and the Ames Building (1889-93, see photo below) built in Boston and designed by the successor firm to Richardson's firm, Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge, are worthy of note although the method of construction differs significantly: the Ames Building is a masonry building, the frame of the Equitable was cast iron. The Boston Evening Transcript deemed the construction of the Equitable Building worthy of notice in January of 1891, noting that each suite of rooms "will have its private vault and all toilet conveniences" and that the building would cost more than $500,000 to construct. Office suites also had open fireplaces, an interesting addition for the time period.

Ames Building. Boston, MA Built 1889-93. Photo: Author's collection.

Equitable Life Assurance Building, Des Moines, IA. 1911 addition.

Photo: Library of Congress

The Equitable Building originally had eight stories but in 1911 four more stories were added. The addition was designed by Proudfoot, Bird, and Rawson, a large Des Moines-based architectural firm notable for their Theodore Roosevelt High School design, among others. An excellent summary of the firm's practice which began in 1882 as Proudfoot and Bird can be found here. Proudfoot, an Indianola native, also took courses at M.I.T. in Boston in 1884-85, where he would have been exposed to the work of H.H. Richardson and other Boston architects. Rawson, a later partner in the firm, was also M.I.T. trained, having graduated in the class of 1896.

Downtown Des Moines, IA. c. 1935

Postcard Author's Collection

Around 1920, Frederick Hubbell acquired the Equitable for Bankers Trust, resulting in a name change for the building. In the 1920s and 1930s other downtown buildings began to exceed the Equitable's height.The postcard above, postmarked 1935, shows downtown Des Moines with the Equitable Life Assurance Company Building, labeled here as Bankers Trust, circled. Late 19th century office buildings like the Equitable generally wouldn't survive until the 21st century, and the Equitable Building was no exception. Bankers Trust moved into the Ruan Building in 1975, and by 1980 the Equitable Life Assurance Building had been torn down. It's a shame that the building didn't hold on until the rebirth of downtown Des Moines: one has to think the Equitable Building would have made ideal condominium or apartment space, given the en suite bathrooms and fireplaces.

Flatiron Building, New York City, 1902

2012-02-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

Panorama of Flatiron Building.

In my previous post I mentioned Daniel Burnham's iconic Flatiron Building in New York City. The Library of Congress has a short film showing that building in 1902.

From the Library of Congress description:

Copyright title: Panorama of Flatiron Building [New York City]
CREATED/PUBLISHED
United States : American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, 1903.
SUMMARY
This shows a view looking south from Madison Square, across the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Twenty-third Street, to the famous Fuller (or "Flatiron") Building. The cameraman elevates his camera, going from street level to the roof. Designed by D.H. Burnham and Company, the Fuller Building is an important early skyscraper and a New York City landmark. Known as the first great steel-framed building, the exterior of the lower three stories is stone, with the remainder clad in terra cotta. Twenty-one stories high, it is considered the first tall building erected north of city hall. Its completion in 1902 marked the beginning of New York City's first skyscraper era.
NOTES
Copyright: American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.; 4June1903; H32387.
Duration: 1:00 at 15 fps.
Camera, Robert K. Bonine.
MAVIS 1629085; Panorama of Flatiron Building.
Photographed October 8, 1902. Location: New York, N.Y.

Filene's Site in Boston Gets New Developer

2012-02-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

Filene's Building and Washington Street, c. 1915

The Boston Globe reports today that the hole in Downtown Crossing left by the demolition of the extension to the historic Filene's Building has a new developer. The extension was demolished in 2008 to prepare for an office/condominium tower which never got out of the ground. The historic portion of the building, seen above in the center of the postcard, was designed by the architect Daniel Burnham as his last commission. He died before the completion of the building in 1912. Burnham is perhaps best known today as the architect of New York City's iconic Flatiron Building and for his work with the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893.

1893 Columbian Exposition, Chicago

Library of Congress Photo

Flatiron Building, New York City

Library of Congress Photo

Football 1903 Style

2012-01-31T19:31:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Super Bowl, football 108 years ago. Princeton vs. Yale, 14 November 1903

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division Washington, D.C.

Fenway Park, 1912

2012-01-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

Fenway Ball Park, in preparation for World Series, 1912

Red Sox tickets went on sale this morning. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park and I think they're still using the same seats seen being installed here for the 1912 World Series (or maybe it just seems that way). This photo is taken from about the same place where I watched the Red Sox win the first game of the 2004 World Series.

Photo from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, Washinton, D.C.

Boston Museum, c. 1903

2012-01-27T19:22:00.002-05:00

The Boston Museum, 28 Tremont Street, Boston c. 1903

Library of Congress Image

Constructed in 1846, designed by Hammatt Billings.

From an 1850 newspaper advertisement:

"The museum is the largest, most valuable, and best arranged in the United States. It comprises no less than seven different museums, to which has been added the present year, besides the constant daily accumulation of articles, one half of the celebrated Peale's Philadelphia Museum, swelling the already immense collection to upwards of half a million articles, the greatest amount of objects of interest to be found together at any one place in America; and an entirely new hall of wax statuary.... and the immense collection of birds, beasts, fish, insects and reptiles;... paintings, engravings and statuary; ... Egyptian mummies, ... family of Peruvian mummies; the duck-billed platypus;... the curious half-fish, half-human Fejee Mermaid;... elephants and ourang-outangs..." Source.

Interior of the Boston Museum

Boston Public Library, Print Department

Bird's Eye View of Boston, 1902.

2012-01-26T19:08:00.001-05:00

A Bird's Eye View of Boston c. 1902

Compliments of Beach & Clarridge Co. of Boston

Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.

At the left edge of the image are the "Base Ball Grounds" on Huntington Avenue where the Boston Americans played in the first World Series in 1903.

Harrison Avenue, Boston 1893 to 2006

2012-01-25T14:50:00.001-05:00

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Top photo: Harrison Avenue before widening, looking north from Beach Street to Essex Street, c. 1892.
Middle photo: Harrison Avenue after widening, looking north from Beach Street to Essex Street, c. 1893.
Bottom Photo: Harrison Avenue, looking north from Beach Street to Essex Street, March, 2006.

A few years ago I took some pictures of Harrison Avenue looking north from Beach Street towards Essex Street in Boston's Chinatown to match up with some photographs taken in the 1890s. In comparing the old with the new, we can see that the three middle buildings on the right hand side of Harrison Avenue have survived, while the building at the head of the street in the modern photo may be the same as the one as the building shown in the old photo, albeit with a makeover. The uppermost photo shows the fronts of buildings being removed so the street can be widened. It appears to me from looking at the side of the building along Oxford Place (the street which interrupts the block, seen most clearly in the bottom photo) that the fronts of the buildings were removed and new facades were attached to remains.

The 1894 Street Laying Out Deparment Report notes: "The section of the avenue which has been thus improved [between Beach and Essex] had formerly a width of 49 feet at Beach Street, 40 feet at Oxford Place, and 37 feet at its angle, near Essex Street. The improvement was secured by widening to the distance of about twelve feet on the westerly side, thereby making a uniform line with that part of Harrison Avenue north of Essex Street, and the widening on the easterly side on a line 67 feet distant from the westerly line, near Beach Street, and 78 feet distant at a point corresponding with the old angle, near Essex Street, from which point the new easterly line diverged and was continued so as to conform substantially to the easterly line of Chauncy Street." The total estimated cost for widening: $298,870.

Map of the Great Boston Fire of 1872

2012-01-25T08:59:00.003-05:00

Map showing the extent of the Great Boston Fire of 1872, burned area in pink.
For reference, the intersection at the upper left corner of the pink area is the location of the Filene's building at Washington and Summer Streets.

Published by Haskell and Allen, 1873

Source: private collection.

After the Great Fire, Boston, 1872

2012-01-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

Boston, after the fire, November 9th & 10th, 1872

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

South End Baseball Grounds in 1888

2012-01-24T00:21:00.002-05:00

South End Baseball Grounds in 1888, Boston, MA.

Photo from: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.