The Chester Harding House is an historic building located at 16

Beacon Street Beacon Street is a major east–west street in Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs of Brookline, Massachusetts, Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, includ ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, across from the

Massachusetts State House The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...

on Beacon Hill. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1965 for its association with the noted portraitist Chester Harding, whose home it was from 1826 to 1830. The building has since 1963 been home to the Boston Bar Association.

History

The four-story town house was built in the Federal architectural style as a private home by real estate developer Thomas Fletcher in 1808, at a time when Park Street and Beacon Street were lined by run-down public buildings. State officials decided to build replacements in other parts of the city, financing the construction of the new public buildings from the sale of the Park Street lots. In 1826, the famous American portrait painter Chester Harding bought the house, which he occupied until 1830. According to the Lawyers Pictorial Register, published by the Boston Bar Association in 1981, in the middle of the 19th century, the building was bought by Dr. Henry C. Angell, an art collector. As the neighborhood began to change from residential to commercial, many old houses were torn down and replaced by larger buildings which dwarfed the Chester Harding House. One such building is the 1884 six-floor Claflin Building. In 1919, the house was given by Martha B. Angell to the

American Unitarian Association The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian ...

, which housed offices there until 1933. The American Unitarian Association loaned the house to

Universalist Church of America The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the nam ...

until 1961, when the two

merged Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

. In January, 1962, the Boston Bar Association bought the house and moved its headquarters there from 35 Court Street. The Chester Harding House remains home to the Boston Bar Association. Image:Harding House Alternate 05Feb2008.jpg, Side view from the opposite street corner Image:Harding House Door 05Feb2008.jpg, Front door with Boston Bar Association emblem As commemorated on a plaque hanging on the left-hand side of the building, the Chester Harding House was declared a U.S.

in 1965.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts National Historic Landmarks in Boston Houses completed in 1808 Houses in Boston Beacon Hill, Boston Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts 1808 establishments in Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Boston

History

See also

References