Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge

Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry Hobson Richardson.

History

George Foster Shepley

Charles Hercules Rutan

Charles Allerton Coolidge

The firm grew out of Richardson's architectural practice. After Richardson's death at age 47 in 1886, a trio consisting of George Foster Shepley (1860–1903), Charles Hercules Rutan (1851–1914), and Charles Allerton Coolidge (1858–1936) gained control of the firm and completed all of its nearly two dozen pending projects, including the John J. Glessner House in Chicago. Many of Richardson's projects were completed and modified in stages over years, making exact attribution difficult for such buildings as the Ames Gate Lodge in North Easton, Massachusetts, and even Richardson's masterwork Trinity Church, Boston.

Two of the principals had been educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Shepley (class of 1882) and Coolidge (class of 1883). Shepley married Richardson's daughter; and Coolidge later married Shepley's sister.

In 1888, the firm was commissioned by Senator and Mrs. Leland Stanford to join landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in planning the campus for Stanford University. For major commissions in Chicago and the World's Columbian Exposition, Coolidge moved to Chicago and the firm opened its branch office there in 1893, in which many Prairie School architects received their early professional training, notably Hermann V. von Holst who was head draughtsman. A St. Louis branch office began the career of John Mauran; a Pittsburgh branch office developed into several firms, including Rutan & Russell formed by Frank E. Rutan, the younger brother of Charles. Other Pittsburgh firms developed by branch office employees include Longfellow, Alden & Harlow and Frank Irving Cooper; Pasadena architect Myron Hunt spent three years with them in Boston as draftsman.

Stylistically, the firm continued to work mainly in the architectural vocabulary of Richardsonian Romanesque, although with less imagination—for instance, Richardson's asymmetry disappears. The firm continued as Shepley Rutan and Coolidge through 1915, then became Coolidge and Shattuck (Boston) and Coolidge and Hodgdon (Chicago) concurrently from 1915 through 1924, then Coolidge Shepley Bulfinch and Abbott from 1924 through 1952, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott from 1952, and is still in operation as Shepley Bulfinch.

Work

Image	Building	Location	Year	Notes	Ref
	Franklin MacVeagh Residence	Chicago, Illinois	1885–1887	Completed work started by Richardson. Razed in 1922.
	Stanford University Main Quad	Stanford, California	1887–1906	Also designed Encina Hall and the Leland Stanford Residence.
	Bell Telephone Building	St. Louis, Missouri	1889
	Hartford Union Station	Hartford, Connecticut		Executed a design by George Keller	[1]
	New London Public Library	New London, Connecticut	1889
	Shadyside Presbyterian Church	Shadyside, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1890
	Williams Memorial Institute	New London, Connecticut	1891
	Chicago Public Library	Chicago, Illinois	1892	Now the Chicago Cultural Center
	Flour and Grain Exchange Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1892
	Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Station	Sandusky, Ohio	1892		[1]
	Medfield State Hospital	Medfield, Massachusetts	1892
	Montreal Board of Trade Building	Montreal, Quebec	1892	Destroyed in 1902.
	Ames Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1893
	Art Institute of Chicago			Built as the "World's Congress Auxiliary Building" for the World's Columbian Exposition.
	North Union Station		1893	Razed in 1927.
	Conant Hall	Cambridge, Massachusetts	1894	Built on the Harvard University campus
	Trinity Church	Boston, Massachusetts	1894–1897	Completed work started by Richardson.
	Tilden-Thurber Building	Providence, Rhode Island	1895
	Coraopolis Station	Coraopolis, Pennsylvania	1896		[1]
	Guardian Bank Building	Cleveland, Ohio	1896
	Glassport P&LE Railroad Station	Glassport, Pennsylvania	c. 1896
	Medill/McCormick Residence	Cantigny Park, Illinois	1896
	New Castle Junction P&LE Railroad Station	New Castle, Pennsylvania	c. 1896	Destroyed
	Third St. Joseph County Courthouse	South Bend, Indiana	1897
	Congregational Library & Archives	Boston, Massachusetts	1898
	South Station	Boston, Massachusetts	1898		[1]
	Albany Union Station	Albany, New York	1899		[1][2]
	Chestnut Hill Pump Station	Boston, Massachusetts	1900	Built for the Metropolitan Water Board.
	Sedalia Public Library	Sedalia, Missouri	1900
	Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building and Agriculture Building	Buffalo, New York	1901	For the Pan-American Exposition,
	University of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1901–1915	Master plan and designs for more than fifteen buildings.
	Bartlett Gymnasium	Chicago, Illinois	1904	Built for the University of Chicago.
	John Carter Brown Library	Providence, Rhode Island	1904	Built for Brown University.
	All Saints Episcopal Church	Appleton, Wisconsin	1905
	Hildene	Manchester Center, Vermont	1905	Mansion built for Robert Todd Lincoln.
	Harvard Medical School		1906
	Langdell Hall		1907	Commissioned by James Barr Ames of the Harvard Law School.
	Corn Exchange Bank Building	Chicago, Illinois	1908	Also known as National Republican Bank. Razed c. 1985.
	Boston Safe Deposit Building	Boston, Massachusetts	1908–1911
	Hampden County Courthouse	Springfield, Massachusetts	1908–1912	Additions to building designed by Richardson.
	John Hay Library	Providence, Rhode Island	1910	Brown University library.	[3]
	Union Station	Springfield, Massachusetts	1910
	Harper Memorial Library	Chicago, Illinois	1910–1912	University of Chicago library.
	YMCA Boston	Boston, Massachusetts	1911
	First Congregational Church of Fall River	Fall River, Massachusetts	1912
	Dallas Hall	University Park, Texas	1915	On the campus of Southern Methodist University.
	Ida Noyes Hall	Chicago, Illinois	1916	Located on the University of Chicago campus.
	Rockland Station	Rockland, Maine	1917	As Coolidge and Shattuck.	[1]
	Freemason's Hall	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania		Destroyed
	Washington Building	Washington, D.C.	1927	Contributing property to the Financial Historic District

Boston & Albany Railroad stations

Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge also designed 23 stations for the Boston & Albany Railroad (1886 through 1894):^[4]

• Newton Highlands station, Newton, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Union Station, Chatham, New York (still standing)
• Brighton station, Brighton, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Newton Lower Falls station, Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Ashland station, Ashland, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Reservoir station, Brookline, Massachusetts
• Dalton station, Dalton, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Springfield Union Station, Springfield, Massachusetts
• Wellesley Square station, Wellesley, Massachusetts
• Newton Centre station, Newton, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Huntington station, Huntington, Massachusetts
• Warren station, Warren, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Charlton station, Charlton, Massachusetts
• Brookline Hills station, Brookline, Massachusetts
• Hinsdale station, Hinsdale, Massachusetts
• Canaan station, Canaan, New York
• Millbury station, Millbury, Massachusetts
• Riverside station, Auburndale, Massachusetts
• Longwood station, Brookline, Massachusetts
• East Brookfield station, East Brookfield, Massachusetts
• Wellesley Farms station, Wellesley, Massachusetts (still standing)
• Saxonville station, Framingham, Massachusetts
• East Chatham station, Chatham, New York

Sources

• online biography at University of Nebraska
• Lyndon, Donlyn. (1982) The City Observed: Boston, A Guide to the Architecture of the Hub. Vintage Books
• Pridmore, Jay, and Kiar, Peter, The University of Chicago: an architectural tour
• *Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge at archINFORM
• Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, H.H. Richardson, Complete Architectural Works
• photos of 1890 Bell Telephone Building, St. Louis

References

1. Potter, Janet Greenstein (1996). Great American Railroad Stations. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 66, 81, 85, 92, 97, 190, 396. ISBN 9780471143895.
2. Liebs, Chester H. (July 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Albany Union Station". Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2009. and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1905 and undated
3. Lovecraft, H. P. (October 1, 2013). The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories. Penguin. ISBN 9781101663035.
4. Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl (June 1988). "Architecture for the Boston & Albany Railroad: 1881-1894". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. 47 (2): 109–131. doi:10.2307/990324. JSTOR 990324.

External links

• Media related to Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge at Wikimedia Commons