2017 Flour and Grain Exchange Building from west

The Flour and Grain Exchange Building is a 19th-century office building in

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 ...

. Located at 177 Milk Street in the Custom House District, at the edge of the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

near the waterfront, it is distinguished by the large black slate conical roof at its western end. It is referred to as the Grain Exchange Building and sometimes as the Boston Chamber of Commerce Building.

History and architecture

The Flour and Grain Exchange Building was built from 1891 to 1893 for its original occupant, the Boston

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

on land donated for that purpose by Henry Melville Whitney. It was designed by the firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge (now

Shepley Bulfinch Shepley Bulfinch (Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott Inc.) is an international architecture, planning, and interior design firm with offices in Boston, Hartford, Houston, and Phoenix. It is one of the oldest architecture firms in continuous pra ...

), founded by the successors of

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 ...

, and in the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

style often associated with Richardson. The building exterior is of Milford pink granite. The Flour and Grain Exchange Building is seven stories tall, with two additional stories in a cylindrical turret at the west end. The ornate façade features three-story roundheaded windows at the middle floors. Triangular attic

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

s topped by

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

s at the turret give a crown-like aspect to the conical roof. The Boston Chamber of Commerce was created by the merger of two bodies, the Boston Commercial Exchange and the Boston Produce Exchange, in 1885. Whitney, an industrialist and Chamber member, donated land for a building for the new body. Construction by the Norcross Brothers firm began in 1890 and the building was dedicated in January 1892. The Chamber occupied part of the building (the remainder was let to banks and other concerns) until 1902, when it was occupied by the Flour and Grain Exchange. A plaque in the building commemorates its hosting of the 5th International Congress of Chambers of Commerce and of Commercial and Industrial Associations in 1912, attended by American President

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

and delegates from fifty-five countries. A restoration of the Flour and Grain Exchange Building façade was undertaken in 1988 by The Beal Companies. The building is a designated Boston landmark.

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Christopher Kimball's Milk Street is a multimedia, instructional food preparation organization created by Christopher Kimball. The organization comprises a weekly half-hour television program seen on public television stations, a magazine called ...

moved into the building's ground floor in 2016. Other organizations which have occupied the building in the 21st century include Perry Dean Rogers Architects,

Global Rescue Global Rescue is a crisis response, Medical evacuation, Medical Evacuation and security evacuation company. Founded in partnership with Johns Hopkins Medicine International, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Global Rescue identifies, monitors, and respond ...

, International Specialists, Inc. and the Beal Companies. The building was designated 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 in 1994.

Influence

The former Chamber of Commerce Building was the model for the Toronto Board of Trade Building, designed by the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

firm of James & James and completed in 1892.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.celebrateboston.com/architecture/grain-exchange.htm , title=Grain Exchange, 1892 , work=Celebrate Boston , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=flourGrainExchange , title=Flour and Grain Exchange Building , author=Brandon Gary Lovested , work=iBoston , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/The%20Flour%20and%20Grain%20Exchange%20Study%20Report%20117_tcm3-52778.pdf , title=The Flour and Grain Exchange – Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report , author=Boston Landmarks Commission , date=October 5, 1993 , publisher=City of Boston , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMHN9A_Flour_and_Grain_Exchange_Boston_MA_USA , title=Flour and Grain Exchange — Boston, MA, USA — Massachusetts Historical Markers on Waymarking.com , work=Waymarking.com , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=https://www.boston.com/culture/food/2016/05/31/why-christopher-kimball-is-moving-on-from-americas-test-kitchen , title=Why Christopher Kimball is moving on from America’s Test Kitchen , author=Kim Severson, New York Times News Service , date=May 31, 2016 , work=Boston Globe , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.thevoiceofdowntownboston.com/downtown-time-machine-boston-architecture-tells-a-story/ , title=Field Trip :: Flour and Grain Exchange Building , author=Steve Marcelin , date=November 7, 2013 , work=BAC Student Life Blog , accessdate=May 7, 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.thevoiceofdowntownboston.com/downtown-time-machine-boston-architecture-tells-a-story/ , title=Downtown Time Machine: Boston Architecture Tells a Story , author=Scott Kearnan , date=May 28, 2013 , work=The Voice of Downtown Boston , accessdate=May 7, 2017 1892 establishments in Massachusetts Office buildings in Boston Office buildings completed in 1892 Romanesque Revival architecture in Massachusetts