Norcross Brothers

Norcross Brothers Contractors and Builders was a prominent nineteenth-century American construction company, especially noted for their work, mostly in stone, for the architectural firms of H.H. Richardson and McKim, Mead & White.

The Norcross brothers: James Atkinson (b. 24 Mar. 1831) and Orlando Whitney (b. 26 Oct. 1839) were born in Maine to Jesse Springer Norcross, proprietor of Norcross Mills and Margaret Ann [Whitney]^[1] and moved to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1868. Their pedigree descends from Philip Norcross and his wife, Sarah [Jackson], the brothers' paternal great - great grandparents, originally of Watertown, MA.^[2] Skilled construction carpenters, they opened their own construction company and in 1869 contracted to build the new Worcester high school building designed by a young architect, H.H. Richardson. From that point on the brothers became Richardson's primary contractors; ultimately, they were to build more than thirty of his designs, including three that are considered his best work, Trinity Church in Boston, Massachusetts, the Marshall Fields & Company building in Chicago, Illinois and the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Following the death of Richardson, the brothers became the contractor for many of McKim, Mead & White's projects. When MM&W opened a new office in New York City, in 1894, the Norcross Brothers had their own space within it. As had been the case with Richardson, much of the value of the Norcross Brothers to MM&W, and other architects, were Orlands Norcross's engineering skills. Though largely self-taught, he had developed the skills needed to solve the vast engineering problems brought to him by his clients. For example, the size of the dome at the Rhode Island Capitol was expanded very late in the design process, perhaps even after construction had begun, so that it would be larger than the one just completed by Cass Gilbert for the Minnesota Capitol.

Because of their need for stone, a primary building material of the time, was outpacing the supply the brothers eventually acquired their own stone quarries, first in Connecticut (Branford) (now on the National Register of Historic Places) and in Massachusetts, and later in Westchester County, New York and in Georgia.

In all, the company is credited with completing over 650 building projects.

Selected H.H. Richardson projects

• Ames Monument, Laramie, Wyoming, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor, 1882

Projects for other architects

• Juniper Hall, later Masonic Hospital, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, James Earle, architect[1]
• Art Institute of Chicago, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, Chicago, Illinois, 1892
• Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, New York, Robert Gibson, Architect, begun 1884
• Jersey City Public Library, Jersey City, New Jersey, Brite & Bacon, architects, 1901
• Low Library, Columbia University, New York City, McKim, Mead and White, architects,
• Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, McKim, Mead and White, architects, 1900
• Gates for Hope Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1915
• Crouse Memorial College, Syracuse, New York, Archimedes Russell, architect, 1897
• Worcester City Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts, Peabody and Stearns, architects, 1895 - 98
• The Algonquin Club, Boston, McKim, Mead and White, architects, 1886
• Adams Memorial, McKim, Mead and White, architects, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, sculptor, Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C., 1891
• Millicent Library, Brigham & Spofford architects, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, 1893, as well as numerous other public libraries, mostly in the north eastern part of the United States.
• Norcross Mausoleum, Hope Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1903
• Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington D.C.
• Leicester Congregational Church
• New York Public Library, McKim, Mead and White, architects,
• Harvard Medical Building, 1906
• Rhode Island State Capitol Building, McKim, Mead and White, architects, 1895 - 1904
• Gatehouses and Pavilion, Vanderbilt Mansion, McKim, Mead and White, architects, Hyde Park, New York, 1896 - 98

Citations

1. ^ Worcester Society of Antiquity (Mass.) Proceedings of the Worcester Society of Antiquity. Pub. by The Society, 1907, Vol. 21 (1905), p. 36 - 39.
2. ^ Crane, Ellery Bicknell. Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worcester County, Massachusetts, with a History of Worcester Society of Antiquity. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1907, pp. 260 – 262.

References

• Baker, Paul R., Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White, The Free Press, New York, 1989
• Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, H.H. Richardson:Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984
• Roth, Leland M., McKim, Mead & White, Architects, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, NY 1983

External links

• http://college.holycross.edu/projects/worcester/institutions/norcross.htm
• http://norcross.ca