National Register of Historic Places

Lancaster Block

Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
Listed
September 28, 1982
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
82000745

About this property

The Lancaster Block is an historic commercial building in downtown Portland, Maine. Located at 50 Monument Square, it is a fine local example of commercial Romanesque Revival architecture. It was built in 1881 and enlarged in 1908; it is named for Lancaster, New Hampshire, the hometown of its builder, J. B. Brown. it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Lancaster Block is located on the south side of Monument Square in central Portland, at the southeast corner of Center and Congress Streets, anchoring the southwestern end of the square. It is a six-story masonry structure, built mostly out of red brick, with terra cotta and granite trim elements. The main facade faces north, toward Congress Street and the square, and is seven bays wide, with a center building entrance flanked by storefronts of wood and glass. Windows on the second and third floors are paired sash, set in segmented-arch openings, while on the fourth floor the individual sashes, still two per bay, are set in individual arched openings. A band of terra cotta paneling (the former building cornice) separates the fourth and fifth floors, with a gable above the central bay. Fifth-floor windows are set in rectangular openings, while those on the top floor are set in rounded-arch openings, two per bay. The building was designed by the partnership of John Calvin Stevens and Francis Fassett, and was built in 1881 for developer John B. Brown, then one of the city's leading businessmen. Originally only four stories were built; the upper two floors, which are stylistically sympathetic to the original, were added in 1908, their design credited to Fassett's firm. National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine

Location

474 Congress St.
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
43.65697, -70.25915

Categories

COMMERCEARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Listed
0 mi
Maine Historical Society
Industrial
0 mi
Wadsworth-Longfellow House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Greenough, Byron, Block
Industrial
0.1 mi
Portland Waterfront
Listed
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Raid on Falmouth (Casco, Maine) 1690
1690Colonial
0.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Lancaster Block listed on the National Register?

Lancaster Block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 28, 1982.

What type of historic resource is Lancaster Block?

Lancaster Block is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Lancaster Block?

The period of significance for Lancaster Block is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Lancaster Block?

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