Bank Street Historic District (Waterbury, Connecticut) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Bank Street Historic District
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West elevations, 2009.
From left: Pritchard, Whittemore, Griggs and Republican buildings. |
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | Waterbury, CT |
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| Area | 0.25 acres (1,000 m2) |
| Built | 1883–1904 |
| Architect | Joseph A. Jackson, Robert W. Hill, Griggs and Hunt |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival, Richardsonian Romanesque, Queen Anne, eclectic |
| NRHP reference No. | 83001277 |
| Added to NRHP | 1983 |
The Bank Street Historic District is a cool group of four old brick buildings in Waterbury, Connecticut. They are all connected and stand on Bank Street. These buildings were constructed between 1883 and 1904. This was a time when Waterbury was a busy and growing city, known for its factories.
In 1983, these buildings were officially recognized as a historic district. This means they are important because of their history and unique architecture. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places. You can see different building styles here, like a rare Queen Anne Style commercial building. There's also one of only three Richardsonian Romanesque commercial buildings in Waterbury. Some of the city's best architects from that time helped design them. Even with new buildings around them, these four have stayed mostly the same.
Contents
Exploring the Buildings
These four buildings and their land cover about a quarter of an acre. That's about a thousand square meters! They are located at 207–231 Bank Street, on the east side. This area is between Grand Street and the highway, Interstate 84. The ground here slopes a little bit to the south.
This neighborhood is very urban and has many buildings close together. There's a big modern building across the street. Driveways on the north and south sides lead to parking lots behind the buildings. These driveways also separate the historic buildings from other modern ones.
At the ends of the block, small rows of trees separate the area from Grand Street and the highway. To the northeast, there's a small park. The intersection of Bank and Grand is also part of the larger Downtown Waterbury Historic District. This area has many buildings from the same time period as the Bank Street buildings. Just a block to the west, you can find five public and private buildings, including City Hall. These were designed by a famous architect named Cass Gilbert.
All four buildings in the district are at least four stories tall. Three of them are made of brick, and one is made of brownstone. They all have glass storefronts at street level. Small trees are planted along the sidewalk. All these buildings are considered "contributing properties," meaning they help make the district special.
Pritchard Building
The Pritchard Building is the northernmost of the four, located at 207–211 Bank Street. This four-story building is unique because its front is made of brownstone. It has a rough surface with granite details, showing off its Richardsonian Romanesque style. The main entrance is in the middle, between two storefronts. It has cool iron plates with flower-like designs called rosettes on top.
The upper floors have two sets of paired windows. They have modern one-over-one double-hung sash windows. The first and second floors are separated by thick brownstone ledges. The third and fourth floors have a fun checkerboard pattern of small granite and brownstone blocks. The second and third floors also have small terra cotta decorations below the windows.
On the fourth floor, the rounded windows have arched tops. At the very top, there's a parapet (a low wall) with two rows of panels. At each end, you can see small pyramid-shaped towers with decorative finials. Inside, the building has been updated a lot. But some original wood panels and window frames are still on the third floor.
Whittemore Building
The Whittemore Building is next to the Pritchard, at 213–219 Bank Street. It was the last of the four to be built. This four-story brick building is in the Georgian Revival style. On the street level, there are two storefronts. The entrances are in the middle and on the south side. Original cast iron columns with a cool, curvy design support a decorative ledge above.
Above the storefronts, all three upper floors look similar. The two middle windows are wider than the ones on the ends. All windows have stone sills and wide lintels (the pieces above the windows) with noticeable keyblocks. They have eight-over-one double-hung sash windows. The three-part center windows have four-over-one on the sides. A continuous decorative ledge forms the sill of the fourth-story windows. Raised brickwork at the corners looks like quoins.
At the very top of the building, there's a wide decorative band with a fancy frieze below a molded, overhanging ledge. Inside, the Whittemore Building connects to the Pritchard Building. Only the molded window frames on the upper floors are original inside.
Griggs Building
The Griggs Building, at 221–227 Bank Street, is the largest and most decorated of the four. It has a steeply pitched hipped roof, which gives it a fifth story. This feature, along with its mix of shapes and very decorated front, makes it a rare example of the Queen Anne Style for a commercial building. This style was usually used for houses in the late 1800s.
On the ground floor, much of the Griggs' original cast iron storefront is still there. Ionic columns with fluted tops and detailed carved panels support a stone ledge. The northernmost column even has the first owner's monogram (his initials). The entrances have arched windows above them with carved fan designs.
A decorative ledge with an "egg and dart" pattern separates the ground floor from the upper stories. On the next three floors, the front has three windows on each side of a slightly set-back central area. This central area has a large terra cotta sign on the second floor that says "Griggs Building." Above it, on the third floor, another sign shows the building's construction date, 1884, in a frame with a pointed top.
Corinthian columns divide the windows on all three stories. They support a plain decorative band that runs across all three. Below the third and fourth-story windows are terra cotta panels with a festoon (a carved garland) design. This design continues in the column tops. The window ledges have an unusual wavy curve on their bottom edge. All upper-story windows have one-over-one sash with stained glass borders in the top section.
The fourth story's round-arched windows are similar but have different details. The panels below them are more detailed, with a spiral leaf design and owls on the sides. The columns are similar, with a row of small blocks at the arch line and decorative molds over the arches. These break the main ledge, along with the brick pillars at the corners and center. The windows themselves have stained glass borders in the top section.
From large scrolls on the arch tops, three columns rise. These frame the two recessed windows in each of the pointed gabled dormers that stick out from the roof. The roof is covered in fish-scale slate. Similar large stone scrolls form the sides of the dormers. The columns support a decorative ledge, creating a pointed top with a fancy carved vine pattern. Brick chimneys rise above the roof from both ends.
Like the other buildings, the inside has been changed a lot over time. Most of the original details that remain are on the upper floors. Two staircases, lit by skylights, have turned railings and newel posts. They lead to the upper floors. The hallways have simple wood panels on the lower walls. Fireplaces in the front rooms have a mix of classical, Italianate, and Eastlake decorative touches.
Republican Building
The Republican Building is the southernmost building in the group, at 229–231 Bank Street. It's named after one of Waterbury's daily newspapers from that time. This newspaper later joined with another to form the Republican-American newspaper we know today. The building used to be the newspaper's office. It's the shortest of the buildings, made of brick, and is three and a half stories tall. It has four wide sections and mixes different styles. Today, a popular restaurant called Diorio is on its ground floor.
Its modern storefront has fluted (grooved) and paneled columns around the main entrance. The ledge above has geometric designs. The two floors above have nine-over-one double-hung sash windows. These windows are set between granite sills and lintels in all four sections. In the middle of the third floor, there's a three-part semicircular window. Its middle section has two-over-two sash windows.
The simple front of the building is balanced by a decorative peaked parapet (a low wall) above the semicircular window. It starts with a band of terra cotta panels that have alternating circular and leaf designs. Above these are decorative brick layers.
Inside, the building is mostly used for the restaurant and offices. The ground floor has been changed a lot for the restaurant. However, its pressed-metal ceiling is original. The turned railings on the stairway are also original.
History of the District
In the 1880s, Bank Street south of Grand Street was mostly empty. It acted as a space between the industrial areas to the south and the main downtown area to the north. Some of Waterbury's wealthy citizens owned these empty lots. They planned to build large houses there. But as the city grew, they realized that downtown would keep expanding. They decided the lots would be better for commercial buildings. So, they built their houses in a different neighborhood called Hill.
Henry C. Griggs, who co-founded a company that made small brass items, sold part of his land in 1883. He sold it to J. Henry Morrow, the editor of the Republican newspaper. Morrow built the Republican Building, which was the first of the four in the district. He built it to hold the newspaper's printing presses, offices, and printing business. Its style shows different influences from that time. The decorative brickwork and terra cotta panels are typical of Victorian designs. The fanlight windows and overall window style hinted at the Colonial Revival style that became popular later.
The next year, in 1884, Griggs developed the rest of his property. He hired Robert W. Hill, a well-known Waterbury architect. Hill designed the Griggs Building. This building was a rare example of the Queen Anne style used for a commercial building. Its varied surfaces, rich decorations, and mix of curved and straight shapes make it a great example of this style.
Also in 1884, the Pritchard family built on their land to the north. They hired Joseph A. Jackson, another leading Waterbury architect. The rough stone front and round arches of the Pritchard Building are typical of the Romanesque Revival style. This style was popular at the time and was influenced by architect Henry Hobson Richardson.
Griggs had hoped his building would be a very popular place for businesses in Waterbury. But he never quite got the tenants he wanted. Soon after it opened, the Franklin Hotel moved in. The ground floor had a piano tuner, a photographer's studio, and a billiards hall. Next door, the Republican newspaper moved out in 1896. Morrow continued to rent out the building, and it eventually became known by his name.
The Pritchards sold their building in 1901. John Whittemore, the new owner, was another successful Waterbury businessman who also bought and sold real estate. In 1904, he added the south part of the building. This part was designed by Henry Griggs' son, Walter. Walter was also a part-owner of his father's building by then. He became one of the city's most skilled architects. He later designed famous downtown buildings like the nearby county courthouse, the Elton Hotel, and the Lilley Building. The Lilley Building was Waterbury's first commercial building with a steel frame. The Georgian Revival building he designed for Whittemore is a good example of a simple commercial building. Its brick front, small-pane windows, and classic-style ledge are typical of a style he didn't usually work in.
Later, a northern addition was built, but it has since been taken down. The entire building was known as the Pritchard Block. Diorio's Restaurant opened in the Republican/Morrow Building in the early 1920s. In the 1980s, the restaurant closed for a while and the building was restored to look like it did originally. When the district was added to the National Register in the early 1980s, there was a large billboard on the outside of the fourth floor of the Griggs building. It has since been removed.
