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Martin & Hall

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Martin & Hall
Practice information
FoundersFrank W. Martin;
George Frederic Hall
Founded1893
LocationProvidence, Rhode Island
Significant works and honors
BuildingsBelton Court; Classical High School; Museum of Natural History; Rhode Island Normal School; Shepard Stores; Squantum Association
Shepard Company Building, Providence, 1903
Belton Court Elevation George F. Hall 1927-28

Martin & Hall was an American architectural firm based in Providence, Rhode Island. It was established in 1893 as the partnership of architects Frank H. Martin and George Frederic Hall. After Martin's death in 1917 Hall practiced alone until his own death in 1928.

History

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The firm was founded February 1, 1893, when the two men, who were senior employees of the leading local firm, Stone, Carpenter & Willson, opened their own practice. They took several clients with them, resulting in a rift with their former employers. Likely as a result of this, both were denied membership in the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) until after the deaths of Alfred Stone and Edmund R. Willson. Martin & Hall developed a successful general practice and did not specialize in any one type of building.[1]

The firm's first office was located on Custom House Street. In 1894 they moved into the just-completed Industrial Trust Building, now demolished.[2] In 1901 they again moved to the new Union Trust Company Building, where they would remain. Both of these buildings were designed by their former employers, Stone, Carpenter & Willson.

Martin died unexpectedly in 1917. Hall continued the firm as a sole proprietorship until his own death in 1928.[1]

Partner biographies

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Frank H. Martin

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Frank Howard Martin AIA (March 9, 1863 – February 2, 1917) was born in Seekonk, Massachusetts, to Sylvester G. Martin and Susan B. Martin, née Padelford. He was educated in the Providence public schools and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then worked in New York City for architects including Renwick, Aspinwall & Russell. In 1888 he returned to Providence and joined the office of Stone, Carpenter & Willson.[1][3]

Martin was married in 1887 to Annie W. Burgess of Lynn, Massachusetts.[4] They had one child, Maude Potter Martin. In 1915 she married William Low Studley, son of J. Edward Studley of the William H. Low Estate Company, a repeat client of the firm.[5] Martin was a member of the AIA, the Architectural League of New York and the Providence Art Club. He also served as senior warden of the vestry of S. Stephen's Church. He died at home in Providence after a brief illness at the age of 53.[3][6]

George Frederic Hall

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George Frederic Hall AIA (June 11, 1866 – September 6, 1928) was born in Providence to Alvin E. Hall and Martha Louise Hall, née Andrews. He was educuated in the Providence public schools before joining Stone, Carpenter & Willson.[1] While employed by the firm he independently designed a building on the Seekonk River for the Narragansett Boat Club (1891), of which he was a member.[7]

Hall was married in 1897 to Mary Woodbury Polleys of Providence. They had no children. Hall was a member of the AIA, the Narragansett Boat Club, the Wannamoisett Country Club and the Providence Art Club, of which he was president for six consecutive terms. In 1928 he was appointed secretary of the commission responsible for erecting a statue of Oliver Hazard Perry at the Rhode Island State House; it was dedicated about two weeks after his death. While superintending construction of the Industrial Trust Building he became ill, and died several weeks later at the age of 62.[1][8]

Major works

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In Providence, Rhode Island:

  • Museum of Natural History, Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island (1893)[9]
  • St. Maria's Home for Working Girls, 125 Governor St., Providence, Rhode Island (1893) - Now apartments.[10]
  • Elbert E. White House, 214 Olney St., Providence, Rhode Island (1894)[11]
  • William H. Low, Jr. House, 243 Knight St., Providence, Rhode Island (1894)[12]
  • St. Francis Xavier Academy, 60 Broad St., Providence, Rhode Island (1894) - Now Xavier Hall of Johnson & Wales University.[13]
  • Champlin Building, 291 Weybosset St., Providence, Rhode Island (1895) - Demolished.[14]
  • Joseph Banigan House, 500 Angell St., Providence, Rhode Island (1895) - Demolished.[15]
  • Rhode Island Normal School, Promenade St., Providence, Rhode Island (1895) - Demolished.[16]
  • Broad Street Grammar School, Broad & Eddy Sts., Providence, Rhode Island (1896)[17]
  • Classical High School, 124 Pond St., Providence, Rhode Island (1896) - Demolished.[17]
  • Dalrymple Boathouse, Roger Williams Park, Providence, Rhode Island (1896)[12]
  • Hope Street High School, 331 Hope St., Providence, Rhode Island (1897) - Demolished.[18]
  • Nathan B. Barton House, 63 Orchard Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1897)[19]
  • William H. Low Building, 229 Westminster St., Providence, Rhode Island (1897)[12]
  • Winslow Building, 183 Mathewson St., Providence, Rhode Island (1897)[20]
  • Alice Building, 250 Westminster St., Providence, Rhode Island (1898)[12]
  • Parish House/Rectory for St. Joseph's R. C. Church, 92 Hope St., Providence, Rhode Island (1898)[12]
  • Frank H. Martin House, 43 Orchard Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1899) - The home of the architect.[19]
  • George C. Lyon House, 93 Arlington Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1899)[12]
  • George F. Hall House, 49 Orchard Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1899) - The home of the architect.[19]
  • Webster Memorial Guildhouse (St. Stephen's Episcopal Church), 114 George St., Providence, Rhode Island (1899)[12]
  • Frederick A. Ballou House, 366 Olney St., Providence, Rhode Island (1900)[19]
  • Walter L. Preston House, 249 Hope St., Providence, Rhode Island (1900)[12]
  • Central Fire Station, 1 Exchange Ter., Providence, Rhode Island (1901) - Demolished.[21]
  • Irons & Russel Building, 95 Chestnut St., Providence, Rhode Island (1903)[12]
  • Shepard Stores, 255 Westminster St./80 Washington St., Providence, Rhode Island (1903)[12]
  • Receiving Tomb, North Burial Ground, Providence, Rhode Island (1903)[12]
  • Webster Avenue Grammar School, Webster Ave. & Clarence St., Providence, Rhode Island (1905)[22]
  • Harkness Building, 46 Aborn St., Providence, Rhode Island (1906)[14]
  • Branch Avenue Primary School, 425 Branch Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1909)[23]
  • Emma K. Jewett House, 259 Wayland Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1909)[12]
  • Providence City Hospital, 151 Eaton St., Providence, Rhode Island (1910) - Later renamed Charles V. Chapin Hospital, now part of Providence College.[12]
  • Edwin A. Smith Building, 1 Fulton St., Providence, Rhode Island (1912)[12]
  • Kinsley Building, 334 Westminster St., Providence, Rhode Island (1912)[14]
  • Comfort Stations, Weybosset St. and Kennedy Plaza, Providence, Rhode Island (1913)[12]
  • Robert J. B. Sullivan House, 350 Wayland Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1914)[24]
  • O'Connor Apartments, 234-242 President Ave., Providence, Rhode Island (1916)[25]

Elsewhere in Rhode Island:

In Massachusetts:

Style

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Stylistically, Martin & Hall were very typical. They were very capable, but not very original. They favored the popular styles of the day: the Colonial and Gothic Revivals. When faced with a major civic commission, they would use an aggrandizing Beaux-Arts design.

Their commercial buildings are among their most refined, the Shepard and Smith Buildings in particular. The Smith, especially, used a very sophisticated interpretation of the Chicago School, in the manner of Holabird & Roche.

Other than this, the work of Martin & Hall trends toward wooden residences, usually Colonial Revival. Though plain and unremarkable, they add to the essence of the city.

Associated Architects

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e William H. Jordy and Christopher P. Monkhouse, Buildings on Paper: Rhode Island Architectural Drawings, 1825-1945, ed. William McKenzie Woodward (Providence: 1982): 222.
  2. ^ "Industrial Trust Company Building," Providence News, May 3, 1894.
  3. ^ a b "Martin, Frank Howard" in Who's Who in New England, ed. Albert Nelson Marquis (Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company, 1909): 635.
  4. ^ "Martin-Burgess," Daily Item, June 3, 1887.
  5. ^ "Alumni notes" in Yale Alumni Weekly 24, no. 22 (February 19, 1915): 605.
  6. ^ "Frank H. Martin, architect, is dead," Providence Journal, February 3, 1917.
  7. ^ Engineering Record (April 25, 1891): 352.
  8. ^ "George F. Hall, architect, dead," Providence Journal, September 6, 1928.
  9. ^ Engineering Record 30 Sept. 1893: 292.
  10. ^ Engineering Record 15 July 1893: 116.
  11. ^ American Architect and Building News 6 Oct. 1894: 6.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Woodward, Wm. McKenzie. Providence: A Citywide Survey of Historic Resources. 1986.
  13. ^ Engineering Record 16 June 1896: 49.
  14. ^ a b c Downtown Providence Historic District NRHP Nomination. 1984.
  15. ^ American Architect and Building News 30 March 1895: xvi.
  16. ^ Engineering Record 15 June 1895: ix.
  17. ^ a b Engineering Record 23 Nov. 1895: ix.
  18. ^ Engineering News 17 Dec. 1896: 218.
  19. ^ a b c d Historic and Architectural Resources of the East Side, Providence: A Preliminary Report. 1989.
  20. ^ American Architect and Building News 14 Nov. 1896: xv.
  21. ^ Annual Report of the Board of Fire Commissioners for 1900. 1901.
  22. ^ Annual Report of the State Board of Education, January, 1906. 1906.
  23. ^ Engineering Record 12 Dec. 1908: 42c.
  24. ^ "PPS honors 6 houses with Historic Property Markers". http://www.pbn.com/. 2 July 2008. Web.
  25. ^ American Contractor 3 June 1916: 80.
  26. ^ American Architect and Building News 14 Aug. 1897: xiii.
  27. ^ Jordy, William H. Buildings of Rhode Island. 2004.
  28. ^ Historic and Architectural Resources of Bristol, Rhode Island. 1990.
  29. ^ Architectural Review Sept. 1902: 203.
  30. ^ Historic and Architectural Resources of Barrington, Rhode Island. 1993.
  31. ^ Annual Report of the Board of State Charities and Corrections, 1911. 1910.
  32. ^ American Contractor 6 May 1916: 73.
  33. ^ American Contractor 24 June 1916: 70.
  34. ^ American Architect and Building News 25 Sept. 1897: iii.
  35. ^ "Capron Park - Casino - Refreshment Stand". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d. Web.
  36. ^ American Contractor 3 June 1916: 81.
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