American House (Boston)
The American House (established 1835) was a hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Hanover Street.
Abraham W. Brigham, Lewis Rice (1837–1874), Henry B. Rice (1868–1888), and Allen C. Jones (c. 1921) served as proprietors. In 1851 the building was expanded, to a design by Charles A. Alexander. In 1868 it had "the first hotel passenger elevator in Boston." By the 1860s it also had "billiard halls, telegraph office, and cafe." In the late 19th century it was described as "the headquarters of the shoe-and-leather trade" in the city. Guests of the hotel and restaurant included John Brown, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Whitwell Greenough, Charles Savage Homer, Zadoc Long, and George Presbury Rowell. Many groups held meetings there, among them: Granite Cutters' International Association of America, Letter Carriers' Association, National Electric Light Association, and New England Shorthand Reporters' Association. The hotel closed in 1916, and re-opened under new management in 1918. It permanently closed on August 8, 1935, and the building was shortly afterwards demolished to make room for a parking lot. The John F. Kennedy Federal Building now occupies the site.
References
- ^ "American House Closes Tomorrow." Boston Daily Globe. 7 August 1935: p. 11.
- ^ King's Hand-Book of Boston 9th ed. Buffalo, N.Y.: Matthews, Northrup & Co., 1889. p. 68.
- ^ Ellis, George E. Bacon's Dictionary of Boston. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1886. p. 10.
- ^ Boston almanac. 1837
- ^ "Lewis Rice" [1809-1877]. Memorial biographies of New England historic genealogical society, v.7, 1871-1880. Boston: the Society, 1907
- ^ A.Forbes, J. W. Greene. The rich men of Massachusetts: containing a statement of the reputed wealth of about fifteen hundred persons, with brief sketches of more than one thousand characters. Boston: W. V. Spencer, 1851
- ^ George S. Rice. "Lewis Frederick Rice" [1839-1909]. Boston Society of Civil Engineers, papers and discussions, v.6, no.5, May 1919
- ^ King's Handbook of Boston, 4th ed. 1881
- ^ Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society. "Henry Brigham Rice" [1843-1903]. Acts and by-laws: list of members and officers, and sketches of members deceased, 1892-1904. Boston: University Press, 1904
- ^ Boston register and business directory, 1921
- ^ Edwin M. Bacon (1883), King's dictionary of Boston, Cambridge, Mass: Moses King, publisher, OCLC 838858, OL 25099518M
- ^ James Henry Stark (1882), Stranger's Illustrated Guide to Boston and Its Suburbs ...: With Maps of Boston and the Harbor, Photo-electrotype co, OCLC 36732469, OL 20519797M
- ^ A guide to Boston and vicinity: a complete hand-book, directing the stranger how to find its public buildings, hotels, depots, places of amusement, horse cars, churches, benevolent and religious institutions, newspaper and telegraph offices, cemeteries, etc.; with a map of the city and numerous fine steel illustrations; also, a guide to the principal first-class stores in the various lines of trade. Boston: 1867
- ^ King's Handbook of Boston, 4th ed. 1881
- ^ Walter Muir Whitehill. "John Brown of Osawatomie in Boston, 1857." Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Third Series, Vol. 69 (Oct., 1947 - May, 1950)
- ^ Edward Renehan. The secret six: the true tale of the men who conspired with John Brown. Univ of South Carolina Press, 1997
- ^ Van Wyck Brooks. Life of Emerson. NY: Dutton, 1932
- ^ Barrett Wendell. "Memoir of William Whitwell Greenough" [1818-1899]. Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. 14, Feb. 1901
- ^ Philip Conway Beam. "Winslow Homer's Father." New England Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Mar., 1947), pp. 51-74
- ^ Diary of Zadoc Long, in: Alfred Cole, Charles Foster Whitman. History of Buckfield, Oxford County, Maine, from the earliest explorations to the close of the year 1900. Buckfield, ME: 1915
- ^ George Presbury Rowell. Forty years an advertising agent, 1865-1905. NY: Printers' ink publishing co., 1906
- ^ Granite cutters' journal, April 1921
- ^ Boston Almanac. 1891
- ^ Electrical Review and Western Electrician, Feb. 27, 1915
- ^ New York Public Library. Semi-annual dinner, 1900, menu and program. Dinner, 1901, menu and program.
- ^ "Tried Japanese Bellhops First." Boston Daily Globe. 11 August 1935: p. C8.
- ^ "Begin Razing Monday of American House." Boston Daily Globe. 24 August 1935: p. 19.
- ^ "Boston Proper and Back Bay. Archived 2013-06-29 at archive.today" Map. Atlas for the City of Boston. G. W. Bromley & Co., 1938. Web. 7 May 2013. (shows the American House has been replaced by a parking lot)
- ^ Jones, Leslie. Aerial view of Scollay Square area. 1947 (approximate). Boston Public Library. 7 May 2013. (shows the parking lot occupying the former site)
- ^ David Kruh. Always something doing: Boston's infamous Scollay Square, rev. ed. Northeastern University Press, 1999
Further reading
- New-Yorker, 1838
- "American House". Gleason's Pictorial. 3. Boston, Mass. 1852.
- Ballou's Pictorial, March 5, 1859, p.157
- Molly W. Berger. Hotel Dreams: Luxury, Technology, and Urban Ambition in America, 1829-1929. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to American House (Boston, Massachusetts).
- New York Public Library.
- Boston Public Library
- American House, Boston. 42 Hanover St. Drawn by Hammatt Billings, engraved by G.G. Smith, c. 1835-1850
- Photo of New American House and Rathskeller, 20th century
- Photo of American House, 1930
Images
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American House, 1835 -
c. 1850 -
Map of Boston, showing location of American House, 1883 -
Geo. A. Plummer dry goods shop, in hotel building, 19th century -
Advertisement for new American House, "refurnished," 1920
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