Dorchester Illustration 2597 Fields Corner Municipal Building
From the National Register nomination::
Visible from the Fields Corner intersection, looking northwestward along Adams Street is the architecturally significant, High Victorian Gothic Municipal Building at 1 Arcadia Street and 193 Adams Street. This 3.5 story H-shaped building is constructed of red brick with granite trimmings, its roof line characterized by a series of steeply pitched gables. Built as Police Station #1 ca. 1875, this building is one of the most important landmark buildings in the area.
Additionally, the building is an example of the work of Boston’s first City Architect, George A. Clough, and is significant for its role in community development. Although the building permits and records no longer exist for the Municipal Building, it is generally thought that Clough (l843-ca. 1916) – who began designing schools for the City in 1872 and became the first City Architect in 1873 – is the building’s architect. Clough learned drafting from his father, who was a Maine shipbuilder, and studied under George Snell of the Boston firm of Snell & Gregerson. He opened his own firm in 1869.
Clough’s most prominent buildings are the Suffolk County Courthouse in Pemberton Square 1888-89) and Boston Latin and English High School (l877). He worked in a number of eclectic styles and is credited with introducing “the German system, which provides for constructing the building around open courts, thus affording ample light and ventilation to all parts of it…” Although not built around an open court as were the Courthouse and High School, the Municipal Building does provide generous 1ight and ventilation through its H-p1an and paired fenestration. Symmetry and balance — of plan, scale, and massing — also characterize most of Clough’s work. George Clough is credited with designing over 25 schools for the City of Boston, several local churches, and numerous other municipal buildings and public charitable institutions in the Boston area.
Besides being significant for its architectural merit and association with the first City Architect, the Municipal Building is important for its strong community identity and for its contribution to the civic and cultural history of Dorchester. The building was originally constructed as a replacement for the old District 11 Police Station that was located on Hancock Street. The eastern wing of the Municipal Building, facing Adams Street, housed the new police station, with jail cells (still remaining) in the basement. The rear (western) wing was designed as the Dorchester branch of the Boston Public Library, the first such branch system in the United States. The building also served for a time as a district court.