Crawford House (Boston, Massachusetts)

Crawford House

The Crawford House (center, with window awnings), 1877
General information
Type Hotel
Location 81-85 Court Street, 9-17 Brattle Street
Boston, Massachusetts
United States
Opened 1865
Renovated 1874
1926
Demolished 1950 (Hotel)
1962 (Theater)
Technical details
Floor count 6
Floor area 7,900 sq ft (730 m2)
Design and construction
Architect Joseph R. Richards[1]
Other information
Number of rooms 100 (approx.)
References
[2][3][4][5][6]

The Crawford House was a hotel and restaurant in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Located on Court and Brattle Streets in Scollay Square, it was in operation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and was for a time among the leading hotels in the city.[3][7][8] The building was demolished in 1962 as part of the Government Center project.

History

The Crawford House was originally opened in December 1865, as a café on Brattle Street. In 1873 the owners decided to build a new hotel on the premises and undertook a substantial expansion of the building, adding several stories and extending it west to Court Street.[2][9] The hotel was completed in the following year and opened on March 10, 1874.[10] It was further enlarged around 1886, when it merged with the nearby Carelton House on Hanover Street.[11] Following the merger, the Crawford had a capacity of 450 guests.[12]

In 1926, the portion of the Crawford House facing Court Street was seized by the city via eminent domain in order to widen Cambridge and Court Streets, and the front wall on that side was torn down. As a result, the hotel temporarily closed on April 17, 1926.[7] The remaining part of the building was subsequently taken over by new management and underwent a period of remodeling.[3] The hotel reopened on December 4, at which time the upper floors had approximately 100 guest rooms. The ground floor was occupied by a theater, which opened soon after.[4]

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Crawford House theater was considered a landmark of Scollay Square; it served as a venue for numerous local dancers, musicians and comedians. It gained particular fame during this period as the home of Sally Keith, a prominent burlesque performer in the city.[13] [14]

The Crawford House hotel was permanently closed after the building was damaged by a fire on March 23, 1948.[15] In January 1950 the third through sixth floors of the hotel were demolished, but the first and second floors were retained and the theater was kept open.[16][5] The truncated building remained in operation until the early 1960s, when the city cleared the Scollay Square area to make way for the new City Hall Plaza.[17][2]

References

  1. ↑ Boston of To-day: A Glance at its History and Characteristics. Ed. Richard Herndon. Boston: Post Publishing, 1892.
  2. 1 2 3 Vrabel, Jim. ''When in Boston: A Time Line & Almanac.". Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2004. ISBN 1-55553-620-4. p. 181.
  3. 1 2 3 "Harry Swartz Buys Old Crawford House." Boston Daily Globe. 17 August 1926: p. 1.
  4. 1 2 "New Crawford House Opens Its Doors Tonight." Boston Daily Globe. 4 December 1926: p. 5.
  5. 1 2 "Theatrical Bar at Crawford House to Be Continued." Boston Daily Globe. 18 January 1950: p. 25.
  6. ↑ City of Boston. Office of the Board of Fire Commissioners. "Fire Commissioners Report." Documents of the City of Boston, For the Year 1875, Volume III. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1876. p. 226.
  7. 1 2 "Old Boston Hotel Ceases to Exist." Boston Daily Globe. 18 April 1926: p. A17.
  8. ↑ King's Hand-Book of Boston 9th ed. Buffalo, N.Y.: Matthews, Northrup & Co., 1889. p. 69.
  9. ↑ "Building Improvements." Boston Daily Globe. 7 June 1874: p. 8.
  10. ↑ "A New Hotel." Boston Daily Globe. 10 March 1874: p. 5.
  11. ↑ "Some New Hampshire Bonifaces." The Granite Monthly Jan.-Dec. 1909: 283-95. p. 288
  12. ↑ "Crawford House's New Management." Boston Daily Globe. 2 January 1889: p. 6.
  13. ↑ Kruh, David. Always something doing: Boston's infamous Scollay Square, rev. ed. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55553-410-4. pp. 94 ff.
  14. ↑ Kruh, David. Scollay Square. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7385-3667-9. p. 2.
  15. ↑ "Crawford House Swept by $50,000 Fire; 40 Escape." Boston Daily Globe. 24 March 1948: p. 1.
  16. ↑ "Another Boston 'Institution,' Crawford House, Going Down." Boston Daily Globe. 13 January 1950: p. 15.
  17. ↑ Yudis, Anthony J. "Scollay Sq. on The Move--I." Boston Globe. 29 January 1962: p. 9.

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Coordinates: 42°21′36″N 71°03′34″W / 42.359884°N 71.059539°W / 42.359884; -71.059539

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