Charles Brigham (June 21, 1841 – July 1925) was an American architect based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Life

Brigham was born, raised, and educated in

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Waterto ...

schools and graduated at age 15 in 1856 in the first class of Watertown High School. He had no formal education in architecture. He apprenticed to Calvin Ryder and later to Boston architect Gridley J.F. Bryant. Brigham served as a

sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...

in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, then returned to working with Bryant. In 1866, Brigham and John Hubbard Sturgis formed a partnership which lasted 20 year. In that times the firm was recognized for its innovative and groundbreaking designs, including the original building for the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

. Brigham subsequently designed the 1898 annex to the

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the state capitol and seat of government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston. The buildin ...

in Boston, the 1906 The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, and many residential buildings especially in the Boston

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

and Newport Rhode Island. Brigham's work reflects the eclecticism and historicism prevalent in the last quarter of the 19th century, initiating fusion of the complex eclectic references of the English Queen Anne revival with American colonial design. The resulting coastal New England houses of the 1880s by Brigham and other Boston architects defined the shingle style in one of the most original and distinguished epochs of American architectural history, from which other notable architects, such as

Henry Hobson Richardson Henry Hobson Richardson, FAIA (September 29, 1838 – April 27, 1886) was an American architect, best known for his work in a style that became known as Richardsonian Romanesque. Along with Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, Richardson is one ...

, emerged. He also designed the Watertown town seal.

Work

With John Hubbard Sturgis

Codman Building The Codman Building is a historic building at 55 Kilby Street (also known as 10 Liberty Square) in Boston, Massachusetts. The first four stories of this six-story brick and stone building were designed by Sturgis & Brigham and built in 1874 in ...

, Boston, 1873 * Church of the Advent, Boston, 1875–1888 *

, 1876 * 86 Marlborough Street, Boston 1872

In solo practice

* Trinity Episcopal Church (Melrose, Massachusetts), 1886 *Hollis Hunnewell Cottage, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 1869 *

Stoughton (MBTA station) Stoughton is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in downtown Stoughton, Massachusetts. It is the current terminus of the Stoughton Branch of the Providence/Stoughton Line. The station has a parking lot to serve local riders and those driving from furt ...

, Stoughton, Massachusetts, 1888 * Unitarian Building, First Parish of Watertown, Massachusetts, 1889 *

Fairhaven Town Hall Fairhaven Town Hall is the town hall of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. It is located at 40 Center Street, between Walnut and William Streets, across Center Street from the Millicent Library. The brick and stone High Victorian Gothic hall was designe ...

Fairhaven, Massachusetts Fairhaven (Massachusett: ) is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor wi ...

, 1892 *

Millicent Library Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts was donated to the town by the family of Millicent Gifford Rogers, the youngest daughter of Abbie Gifford and wealthy industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers. Young Millicent had died of heart failure in ...

, 1893 * Annex to the

in Boston, 1895 * New Bedford Institution for Savings,

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American p ...

, 1897 * Scollay Square and Adams Square station entrances, 1898 * Albert C. Burrage House, Back Bay, Boston, 1899; designated as a

Boston Landmark A Boston Landmark is a designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission for historic buildings and sites throughout the city of Boston based on the grounds that it has historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to New Engla ...

by the

Boston Landmarks Commission The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation i1975 History Urban renewal in the United States started with the Housing Act of 1949, part of Presid ...

in 2003 * Albert C. Burrage House, 1205 West Crescent Avenue,

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of ...

, 1899/1900 * Madison Public Library, now the

Museum of Early Trades and Crafts The Museum of Early Trades & Crafts is a non-profit educational institution in Madison, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The museum's mission is: :''To inspire a connection with New Jersey's history, culture, trades, and crafts.'' The ...

, Madison, New Jersey, 1900 *

Unitarian Memorial Church Unitarian Memorial Church is a historic church on 102 Green Street in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, home to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven. The congregation was founded in 1819, moved into the Washington Street Christian Meetingho ...

, 1901 * Fairhaven High School, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 1905 * Messiah Home for Children,

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 1905–19 hool * Old Watertown High School,

, 1913 *St. Mark the Evangelist Church,

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...

"Bio: Charles Brigham"
David J. Russo website *St. Francis of Assisi Church,

Braintree, Massachusetts Braintree (), officially the Town of Braintree, is a municipality in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a towBraintree is a city, with a mayor-council government, mayor-council form of government, and ...

"St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church 856 Washington St. Braintree, Mass."
David J. Russo website

References

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110611090151/https://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/Burrage%20House%20Study%20Report_tcm3-17373.pdf Burrage House Study Report

Life

Work

With John Hubbard Sturgis

In solo practice

References

Further reading