Horticultural Hall (Boston)
{{Short description|Building in Boston, Massachusetts, US}}
{{Distinguish|Horticultural Hall, Boston (1845)|Horticultural Hall, Boston (1865)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Horticultural Hall
| image = Horticultural Hall Massachusetts Horticultural Society Boston.jpg
| caption = Horticultural Hall exterior (2018)
| address = Huntington Avenue & Massachusetts Avenue
| location_town = Boston, Massachusetts
| location_country = United States
| coordinates = {{Coord|42|20|35.15|N|71|05|06.38|W}}
| years_built = 1901
| owner = Northeastern University
| architecture_firm = Wheelwright and Haven
| renovation_date = 1984
}}
Horticultural Hall, at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, was built in 1901.Boston Daily Globe, December 22, 1901 It sits across the street from Symphony Hall. Since 2020, it has been owned by Northeastern University.{{cite web |title=Northeastern acquires Boston's 'Horticultural Hall' |url=https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/02/13/northeastern-acquires-bostons-horticulture-hall-plans-innovation-hub/ |accessdate=20 February 2020}} It is the current home to The William Morris Hunt Memorial Library{{cite web|title=The William Morris Hunt Memorial Library|url=http://www.mfa.org/collections/libraries-and-archives|publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |accessdate=18 December 2016}} of the Museum of Fine Arts as well as to offices of Boston magazine, 829 Studios,[https://www.829llc.com/ 829 Studios] and Small Army,[http://www.smallarmy.net/ Small Army] in addition to a performance space of the New England Conservatory of Music.
History
The building was the third "Horticultural Hall" built for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. It was designed in the English Renaissance Revival style in 1901 by architects Wheelwright and Haven on land purchased by the Society. (This firm also designed the whimsical Harvard Lampoon Castle in Cambridge, Massachusetts.)
When the Hall was dedicated in 1901, thousands of members and visitors attended its ten-day opening, during which time the hall was filled with amaryllises, azaleas, Pelargonium geraniums, gloxinias, jasmine, trumpet lilies, palms, rhododendrons, wisteria, and a collection of 1,000 orchids, the finest collection gathered in America to that time.
The building's larger lecture hall could seat 300. It was home to many organizations including the Benevolent Fraternity Fruit and Flower Mission, the Wildflower Society, the Garden Club Federation (whose founding in 1927 was organized by the Society), the Boston Mycological Club, the New England Gourd Society, the New England Gladiolus Society, the Herb Society of America, and the Boston Aquarium Society. The building was renovated in 1984, and sold to the neighboring Christian Science Church in 1992.
This building is currently under study by the Boston Landmarks Commission for landmark status.
Other buildings
=Former buildings (1845–1901)=
The Massachusetts Horticultural Society has built and occupied a series of "Horticultural Halls" in Boston, including the first on School Street (1845), the second on Tremont Street (1865), and this third hall (1901).
=Elm Bank Horticulture Center, Wellesley (2001–present)=
The society's current home is the Elm Bank Horticulture Center, located on the town lines of Wellesley and Dover (2001).McDonald, Matt. "Horticultural Society gets new digs; now, at Elm Bank, they can actually plant things." The Boston Globe, 5 July 2001, p. 1
Images
File:1900 HorticulturalHall Boston.png|1900, sketch
File:1901 library HorticulturalHall MassAve Boston.png|1901, library
Image:1901 chrysanthemum show HorticulturalHall MassAve Boston November.png|1901, Chrysanthemum show
File:1908 ChickeringHall map Boston byBromley.png|1908, map of surrounding area
Image:1911 auto MechanicsBuilding BostonEveningTranscript March2.png|1911, ad
Image:1912 Italian garden HorticulturalHall MassAve BostonUSA.png|1912, Italian garden
Image:Horticultural Hall, April 1920.jpg|1920, exterior
File:Boston Horticultural Society Exhibition, Horticultural Hall, Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. LOC 7535952450 (cropped).jpg|1921, hand-colored glass lantern slide
Image:Horticultural Hall, Boston, Massachusetts.JPG|2005, exterior
Image:Horticultural Hall Boston.jpg|2008, exterior
File:Horticultural Hall Massachusetts Horticultural Society Boston.jpg|2018, exterior
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Horticultural Hall, Boston (Massachusetts Avenue)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Event venues established in 1901