John Hancock Building
Four buildings in
176–178 Devonshire Street
The first John Hancock Building was built on Devonshire Street in 1891. It was designed by
120 Franklin Street, Stone & Webster Building
In 1909, John Hancock began work on a new addition to the building on the corner of Franklin and Devonshire Streets.[5] The addition was designed by Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in the French Renaissance architecture style. The "H type" design allowed for almost every office to have outside windows. Each floor contained marble flooring and wainscoting as well as a fireproof bank vault. The Wells Bros. Co. of New York City were the general contractors. John Hancock occupied the top three floors of the ten-story building and the Library Bureau, Eliot National Bank of Boston, and E. H. Rollins & Sons were among the first tenants.[6] The addition gave the building frontage on Devonshire Street (176–200 Devonshire St.), Franklin Street (120 Franklin St.), and Federal Street (49–75 Federal Street). On January 3, 1920, the remainder of the building was purchased by Massachusetts Trust Company, which renamed it the Massachusetts Trust Company Building.[7] In 1926 the building was purchased by Stone & Webster and became known as the Stone & Webster Building. In 1965, the First National Bank purchased the building with plans to construct their new headquarters there. The Stone & Webster Building was torn down once Stone & Webster moved out.[8] The property was acquired by National Shawmut Bank, which constructed a temporary building to aid in their transition to One Federal Street. The temporary building was torn down and replaced by One Federal Street.[4]
197 Clarendon, Stephen L. Brown Building (1922)
The next John Hancock building was designed by
Originally, the Planned Development Area (PDA) agreement for the building of the 60-story John Hancock Tower called for 197 Clarendon to be demolished to make way for open space or a public square. In 1982, the
200 Berkeley Street, Old John Hancock (1947)
The Berkeley Building (also known as the Old John Hancock Building) is a 26-story, 495-foot (151 m) structure located at 200 Berkeley Street, the second of the three John Hancock buildings built in Boston. The building, located in Boston's Back Bay, was designed by Cram and Ferguson and completed in 1947. It is known for the weather beacon at its summit, which displays light patterns as weather forecasts.
200 Clarendon Street, John Hancock Tower (1976)
The John Hancock Tower, on the southeast corner of
601 Congress Street
In 2002,
On April 28, 2004, the then-head of Manulife's Boston operations announced that the building would be renamed the "John Hancock Building."[11] According to Manulife, this is not quite correct; the building, completed in fall of 2004, will house the John Hancock Wealth Management Group and will bear conspicuous "John Hancock" exterior and interior signage featuring the John Hancock logo. However, the company will refer to the building simply as "601 Congress."
As of 2018[update], Emporis lists the official name of the building as the "Manulife Tower".[12]
References
- ^ "BUILDERS FOR ALL TIME – AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS IN ANNUAL SESSION – HON. A.J. CALDWELL VOICES THE CITY'S WELCOME – Many Interesting Papers and Reports Read and Discussed – The Programme – Some of the People Here". The Nashville American. XXI (7287): 3. October 21, 1896.
- ^ "Real Estate Transactions". The Boston Daily Globe. October 3, 1919.
- ^ "First National Bank of Boston". Bankers' Magazine. May 1922.
- ^ a b White, Donald (November 3, 1966). "Shawmut Buys First National Building". The Boston Daily Globe.
- ^ "Real Estate". The Boston Daily Globe. January 20, 1909.
- ^ "Insurance Company's Home to be Extended". The Boston Daily Globe. February 5, 1909.
- ^ Restarick, Chas. W. (January 4, 1920). "Real Estate Transactions". The Boston Daily Globe.
- ^ Yudis, Anthony (April 23, 1965). "Planned First National Bank Skyscraper May Go 40 Stories". The Boston Daily Globe.
- ^ "John Hancock Tower". Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ "Twenty Five Year Award Recipients". American Institute of Architects. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Jay (2004), "Hancock signs off independence," The Boston Herald, April 29, 2004, Business section: "Proving that Manulife intends to keep and promote the famous John Hancock brand name, D'Alessandro said Manulife's Southie tower will be renamed the "John Hancock Building."
- ^ Manulife Tower, Boston