National Register of Historic Places

Municipal Building

Rumford, Oxford County, Maine
Listed
May 12, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80000242

About this property

The Rumford Municipal Building is located on Congress Street in the central business district of Rumford, Maine. Built in 1915 to a design by Lewiston architect Harry S. Coombs, it continues to house the town's municipal offices today. It is a fine example of Colonial Revival architecture, representing the town's growth in the early decades of the 20th century, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The town of Rumford, Maine experienced rapid growth with the arrival in the 1880s of industrialist Hugh J. Chisholm and the railroad in the 1890s. Chisholm in 1893 established the paper processing industry that still dominates the town, and its population and central business district grew rapidly in the following decades. This growth prompted the need for a new town hall, and in 1915 the town retained Harry S. Coombs, a Maine architect based in Lewiston, to design a new municipal building, with a projected cost of $25,000. The building Coombs designed ended up costing $95,000 to complete. The building Coombs designed is a 2-1/2 story Colonial Revival structure, faced in brick with granite trim. The main block is five bays wide, set on a raised foundation, with a hip roof topped by a clocktower with a coppered cupola. The main entrance, centered on the front facade, is accessed via a small flight of stairs, and is sheltered by a portico supported by Doric columns. The portico has an entablature topped by an extended dentillated cornice. First floor windows are rectangular sash windows with a decorative granite keystone. The second floor window above the entry is a Palladian window, its sections separated by engaged columns, with a swag decoration above. The remaining second floor windows are rectangular, with a recessed round-arch section above. There is a cornice line separating the second floor from the attic level, which has groups of smaller windows just below the roof. National Register of Historic Places listings in Oxford County, Maine

Location

Rumford, Oxford County, Maine
44.54665, -70.54589

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

Mechanic Institute
Industrial
0 mi
Strathglass Building
Industrial
0 mi
Rumford Commercial Historic District
Listed
0 mi
Rumford Falls Power Company Building
Industrial
0.1 mi
Rumford Public Library
Industrial
0.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Municipal Building listed on the National Register?

Municipal Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1980.

What type of historic resource is Municipal Building?

Municipal Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Municipal Building?

The period of significance for Municipal Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Municipal Building?

Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Municipal Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.

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