Merchants Exchange (Boston, Massachusetts)






Merchant's Exchange, Boston, 1852


The Merchants Exchange building (1842-1890) in Boston, Massachusetts was built in 1841 from a design by architect Isaiah Rogers. Centrally located on State Street, it functioned as a hub for business activities in the city.




Contents






  • 1 History


    • 1.1 Architecture


    • 1.2 Function




  • 2 References


  • 3 Images





History


The Merchants Exchange served as one of Boston's "great gathering-points of the traders -- the marble-paved and frescoed hall ... with its newspaper files, bulletins, wind vane, and ship registry."[1] It was "elegant ... with a fine reading-room, ... and besides accommodations for the post office, and for several insurance and brokers' offices, affords many conveniences for the mercantile community."[2]



Architecture


Built in 1841-1842 by architect Isaiah Rogers, Merchants Exchange was considered "among the best specimens of architecture in Boston"[3] and "a dignified building in its day."[4] Re-modelling occurred after the building "went down" in the fire of 1872.[5][6]


After 1890, the "Exchange Building" occupied the site of the former Merchants Exchange building.[7]



Function


The building housed business activities, such as:



  • Board of Trade (est. 1854)[6]

  • Boston Board of Marine Underwriters (est. 1850)[6]


  • Boston Marine Society[6]


  • Boston Stock Exchange (1844-1853)[6]

  • Commercial Exchange (est. 1871)[6]


  • Post-Office (ca.1860-1872)[8]

  • Soldiers' Messenger Corps[6]



References









  1. ^ Edwin Hodder. Cities of the world. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., 1882; p.278.


  2. ^ Charles Augustus Goodrich. The family tourist: A visit to the principal cities of the western continent: embracing an account of their situation, origin, plan, extent, their inhabitants, manners, customs, and amusements ... together with sketches of historical events. Case, Tiffany and company, 1848; p.57.


  3. ^ John Hayward. A gazetteer of Massachusetts. J. Hayward, 1847.


  4. ^ Edwin Monroe Bacon. Boston: a guide book to the city and vicinity. 1922.


  5. ^ The Nation. Nov. 14, 1872.


  6. ^ abcdefg Bacon's dictionary of Boston. 1886.


  7. ^ Edwin Monroe Bacon. Boston: a guide book to the city and vicinity.


  8. ^ Justin Winsor. The memorial history of Boston, including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880. J. R. Osgood and co., 1881.




Images



Coordinates: 42°21′31.33″N 71°3′22.56″W / 42.3587028°N 71.0562667°W / 42.3587028; -71.0562667







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