The former Lawrence Public Library, designed by Adams and completed in 1892.The Essex County Courthouse in Lawrence, completed in 1903.The Montpelier City Hall, completed in 1911.The Masonic Temple in Lawrence, completed in 1923.
George Gilman Adams was born August 26, 1850, in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, to Benjamin Gilman Adams, a mill superintendent, and Sophia (Nutter) Adams.[1][2] In 1854 the family moved to Lawrence, then a growing industrial city. He was educated in the Lawrence public schools before joining the office of civil engineer Baldwin Coolidge as a drafter in 1870. Two years later he joined the office of local architect Charles T. Emerson as a student.[a] In 1875 Emerson and Adams formed a partnership, which lasted until 1878, when Emerson moved his business to Boston. Adams then opened his own office in Lawrence, from which he practiced for some forty years.[2] From c.1889 to 1891 Adams was in partnership with architect William P. Regan, but only two buildings can be positively attributed to the partnership.
In 1916 Adams, a Mason, was commissioned to design the new Masonic Temple in Lawrence. Though drawings were completed in 1917, the money to build was not available. Adams, then in his late 60s, chose to retire from business.[2] In 1921 funds became available to complete the building, and Adams came out of retirement to execute the project. He associated himself with David M. Brown of Boston, a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3] Once the building was completed, Brown returned to Boston and Adams resumed practice full-time, retiring only shortly before his death.[2]
In 1890 Adams built the Adams Block on Essex Street in Lawrence as an investment property, and maintained his practice there until temporary retirement.[2] In the 1920s he practiced out of an office in the Bay State Building.[3]
In 1875 Adams was married to Mary Maria Leslie of Lynnfield. They had no children.[1] In 1888 they moved into a large house, designed by Adams, at 1 Berkeley Street in Lawrence. Continued business success allowed the couple to move into a new Adams–designed house at 351 Prospect Street in 1907. Adams died November 28, 1932, at home.[2]
During his sixty–year career, Adams was the leading architect in Lawrence and its environs. He was noted throughout New England as an architect of public buildings. In addition to those he designed in Lawrence and Massachusetts, Adams designed a number of courthouses, town and city halls, libraries and other buildings in Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont.[2] At least eight buildings designed by Adams have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.
Christine E. Pfaff, "George G. Adams: A Noted Lawrence Architect Rediscovered" in Essex Institute Historical Collections 116, no. 3 (July, 1980): 176–195.
"The Board of Education of Union Free School, District No. 1, of the Town of Waterford, App'lt, v. The First National Bank of Richfield Springs et al., App'lts, and Alexander G. Cunningham, Resp't" in The New York State Reporter 54 (Albany: W. C. Little & Company, 1893): 46–53.
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