Montgomery Ward Building (Burlington, Vermont) facts for kids
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Burlington Montgomery Ward Building
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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2008 photo
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 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
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| Location | 52-54 Church St. Burlington, Vermont |
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| Built | 1929 |
| Part of | Church Street Historic District (ID09000915) |
| MPS | http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/91000673.pdf |
| NRHP reference No. | 91000673 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 30, 1991 |
| Designated CP | July 29, 2010 |
The Burlington Montgomery Ward Building is a special old building in downtown Burlington, Vermont. You can find it on Church Street, which is a busy shopping area called the Church Street Marketplace. This building used to be a big department store called Montgomery Ward. It was built in 1929 and is a great example of a building style called Classical Revival. It's also one of the best-kept original Montgomery Ward stores in Vermont. Because it's so important, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
About the Montgomery Ward Building
This building is located on the east side of Church Street. This part of the street is a pedestrian mall, meaning only people can walk there. The building is about halfway between Cherry Street and Bank Street.
What Does It Look Like?
The building has two stories and is made of strong materials like concrete and brick. The front of the building, called the facade, is three sections wide.
The first floor has modern shop fronts. These are mostly made of brick. The second floor looks like it's made of stone, but it's actually concrete designed to look that way.
Each section on the second floor has a special window. These are called Chicago-style windows. They have three parts and rounded corners at the top. Above each window is a decorative panel made of terra-cotta. Terra-cotta is a type of baked clay.
The middle panel has a special design. It shows the "Spirit of Progress" emblem. This symbol was created for Montgomery Ward by an artist named J. Massey Rhind. You can see this emblem on many Montgomery Ward stores built around that time.
The sections of the building are separated by concrete columns. These columns are called pilasters. They are topped with decorative urns. The very top of the building has a low wall called a parapet. It has designs that look like old Greek or Roman art.
A Bit of History
The Montgomery Ward store in Burlington first opened its doors on December 28, 1929. It was the 515th Montgomery Ward store in the United States.
At that time, Montgomery Ward had a plan. They wanted to open many smaller stores. This helped them compete with their rival, Sears, Roebuck & Company. Sears was opening fewer, but much larger, stores.
Montgomery Ward continued to run this store in Burlington until December 1961. After it closed, many different shops have used the building. Part of the building has even been changed into a bank branch.
