From Past to Present

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Boston’s Quincy Market has evolved over its near 200-year history to continue to serve the people of Boston and visitors to the birthplace of the American Revolution. Quincy Market (c. 1826) is part of Faneuil Hall Marketplace which also includes Faneuil Hall (c. 1742), North Market (c. 1826), South Market (c. 1826), and Pavilion (c. 2016). Located along Boston’s Freedom Trail and adjacent to the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Faneuil Hall Marketplace is an example of successful adaptive reuse. Quincy Market has transformed from a market pavilion of vendor stalls at the center of trade in Boston to a mixed-use shopping and dining festival style marketplace. Over that time, the structure has been repaired, reinforced, and replaced to support the changing building function while the overall form and historic appearance has been preserved.

In 1734, market buildings were established in Boston near Orange Street, Dock Square, and the Old North Meetinghouse. Within three years, one building was converted into retail stores, the second disassembled and the third destroyed by a mob. Peter Faneuil, a wealthy merchant realized the need for a proper market building to support the Boston economy and offered to build one at his own expense. Designed by artist John Smybert, the 40 foot by 100 foot building was constructed in 1742, destroyed by a fire in 1761, and rebuilt in 1763. Supplementing Faneuil Hall was a long wood-framed vegetable market to the north. The first floor of Faneuil Hall held vendor stalls while the second floor held a town hall assembly room. In addition to serving as a market, the building was the site of speeches by the Sons of Liberty to protest taxation without representation between 1765 and 1775, used by the British as a theatre in 1775 during the siege of Boston and held town meetings until 1822. Faneuil hall was expanded in 1806 by Charles Bulfinch by adding a third floor and increasing the width from three to seven bays.

By the early 1820s, it became clear Faneuil Hall and the surrounding market square were insufficient to support the needs of the growing city. Newly elected Mayor Josiah Quincy proposed an ambitious plan to extend the market district east of Faneuil Hall by filling in the harbor and reclaiming land. This required purchase of private land, buildings, and wharves to make way for the new market. The plan included widening the streets and constructing three new buildings: the North and South Market buildings with the main Quincy Market building at the center.

Designed by Alexander Parris, Quincy Market is two stories tall, 535 feet long and covers 27,000 square feet. Constructed in the Greek Revival style, the market consists of a center 55 foot x 70 foot center rotunda with 50 foot x 232 foot east and west wings. A 12-feet wide colonnade runs east-west down the center of the market and is lined with Doric columns at 7 feet 6 inches spacing on either side. Retail merchant stalls lined the north and south sides of the colonnade. The center rotunda housed larger stalls and served as a receiving area. The second floor of the east and west wings remained unfinished while a center elliptical dome rose above the center rotunda second floor.

The facade load-bearing walls of Quincy Market were constructed of white granite from quarries in Chelmsford, MA, and shipped down the Middlesex Canal. Four monolithic granite columns, each standing 26 feet tall, supported the roof at both the east and west entrances, echoing the design of Greek temples. Walls were supported with granite foundations consisting of large granite block strip foundations bearing on the natural sand/clay (Marine Deposit) soil. The cellar floor was underlaid by a system of timber cribbing and silty/sand fill to raise the grade. Over 16 feet of miscellaneous fill (sand, clay, organic silt, shells, wood) was brought in to infill the harbor and raise the surrounding grade.

To minimize the number of columns in the basement, provide an open space for merchants to prepare and store goods, and limit foundations, Parris designed a unique structural system to hang the first floor from the second-floor structure. Cast-iron columns at the ground floor were located at every third colonnade column and sat on brick-masonry walls in the cellar. Tension iron hangers were located at the two colonnade “columns” between to hang the ground floor timber from timber trusses at the second floor, which spanned between cast-iron columns. Cast-iron columns and iron hangers between were clad in slender wooden Doric column cladding to give a uniform look to the ground floor colonnade. The result was an open cellar floor plan that maximized head-height while locating the cellar floor above the ground water elevation.

Parris used heavy timber trusses at 8 foot 6 inches on center to span the 55-foot width of the east and west wings to support the roof, creating an open second floor. The center rotunda was capped with a 55 foot x 70 foot elliptical dome. Parris leveraged the Delorme Method, invented by 16th-century inventor, Philibert Delorme, which laminated timber to create the double dome structure. Three layers of pine planks were laminated to create 77 arches at the exterior dome and 48 at the inner dome. The dome was stiffened with timber bracing connecting the upper and lower dome ribs. A tension ring at the base of the dome, atop the masonry walls, resisted the arch thrust.

In 1925, a significant fire tore through the east wing, compromising the existing roof framing and heavy timber roof trusses. The east roof structure was completely removed to the center rotunda. A new roof structure was provided, consisting of 2-inch tongue-and-groove timber decking spanning between steel channel purlins, stabilized with sag rods. New steel trusses were installed, approximately doubling the original spacing to 15 feet on center, and were comprised of steel angle chords and diagonals.

By the early 1930s, the age and neglect of Quincy Market had resulted in the deterioration of the building structure. As part of the New Deal, the Public Works Administration awarded the City of Boston a project to repair Quincy Market. Designed by McLaughlin & Burr and John M Gray Co. architects, the scope included replacement of the cellar, first, and second floor structure, de-coupling the first and second floor framing. In addition, canopies were added on the north and south sides of the building.

The first-floor structure was completely removed and replaced with a two-way 10 ½-inch concrete waffle slab supported by steel I-girders cast within the slab, eliminating the need for hangers to extend the second-floor structure. The second-floor wood framed trusses and cast-iron columns were replaced with steel I-girders spanning to new concrete filled steel columns.
Steel trusses were added to reinforce the dome. The trusses were located below the dome coffered ceiling, with a new flat ceiling installed to hide the dome.

By the 1950s, urban sprawl put into question the need for a market as commuters into the city retreated to the suburbs after work. Supermarkets had emerged as the favored shopping destination for the public over the individual vendors of Quincy Market. The result left Quincy Market and the neighboring North and South Market buildings in disrepair and not fully utilized. Since 1855, alterations, renovations and additions resulted in a mess of changes to Parris’s original design, prominently at the North and South Market buildings, where the original slate gable roofs were now a mismatch of flat shaped roofs from additions to units. The land was deemed by some to be more important to future growth which is reflected in the demolition of nearby Scollay Square and West End in the 1950s, relocating over 10,000 residents to make way for public buildings including Boston City Hall, Massachusetts State Hurley, Lindemann buildings, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy Federal building.

Walter Muir Whitehill, director of the Boston Athenaeum, championed the need to preserve Faneuil Hall Marketplace, helping to convince the Boston Chamber of Commerce and Boston City Planning Board. Ed Logue, Direct of the Boston Redevelopment Authority commissioned Frederick “Tad” Stahl, board member of The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, and Roger Webb, founder and president of the Architectural Heritage Foundation to study a plan to save and repurpose all three buildings of the marketplace. During the study, public discussion was led by two groups. One led by Tad Stahl proposed returning the buildings to their original style. The other, led by Ben Thompson advocated for the continued evolution of the buildings and embracing the alterations from the previous 140 years. The City’s aspirations to revitalize Quincy Market received a significant push forward in 1966 when it was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Boston mayor John Collins, and Ed Logue choose to move forward with the restoration and adaptive reuse concept from the 1960’s study with implementation falling to incoming Boston mayor Kevin White. In 1969, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the City of Boston funding for market stabilization and restoration of roof lines and facades back to their 1826 appearance. Market stabilization and restoration was performed by Stahl Associates, architects and LeMessurier Associates, structural engineer.

Work on Quincy Market included replacement of a 90-foot length of the west-wing roof structure to address the 1971 fire damage. The existing timber roof trusses were replaced with steel trusses similar to the east roof reconstruction. The dome framing was repaired. Granite from the original Chelmsford quarry was used to reconstruct the facades of the North and South Market buildings and rebuild two units of the South Market that were destroyed by fire. Additions were removed and portions of buildings rebuilt per Parris’s original design.

In 1973, the Rouse Company of Columbia, MD, was awarded developer and management company for Quincy Market and the North and South Market buildings with a 99-year lease. Benjamin Thompson & Associates were appointed Architect with Nichols, Norton & Zaldastani, structural engineer. The project was one of the first urban renewal project of its kind and is considered the original “Festival Marketplace” with food vendors located at the ground floor of Quincy Market and specialty shops and retail lining the North and South Market buildings with office space above. A greenhouse “Flower Market” was added north of Faneuil Hall.

Elevators and stairs were added for accessibility. An elliptical floor opening was created at the second floor in the center rotunda, exposing the dome ceiling to the ground floor marketplace for the first time. The dome was strengthened with a steel frame inserted between the two domes and exposed tie-rods. Glass arcades with exposed steel HSS framing were added along the north and south sides of Quincy Market to expand space for indoor market vendors. The project was a success and in 1977 was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal for most beautiful building in Boston.

Modifications to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall Marketplace have continued over the nearly 50-year period after the conversion to a Festival Market. Monumental stairs between the first and second floors were added at the rotunda to complete Benjamin Thompson’s original vision. Ben Thompson’s Flower Market greenhouse was replaced in 2015 with a retail pavilion. Vendors have come and gone requiring multiple tenant fit-out projects and modifications to the building. Mechanical systems have been replaced and upgraded requiring modifications for system distribution and dunnage framing for unit support.

Visitors are welcomed to Boston and encouraged to embark on the Freedom Trail, taking in the sites of the birthplace of the American Revolution. The journey begins at Boston Common, the oldest public park in America. Along the way, taking in the steeple of the Old North Church, one can reflect on where Paul Revere’s midnight ride ignited the flames of independence with the signal, “One if by land, two if by sea.” Boarding the USS Constitution, known as “Old Ironsides,” offers a chance to stand in awe of the oldest commissioned warship still afloat. The journey concludes at Bunker Hill, where the echoes of the first major battle of the Revolutionary War still reverberate through time.

Amidst this journey, a stop at Faneuil Hall Marketplace where a visit to the Quincy Market is a must. Here, visitors can shop at local retail vendors, watch street performers, and grab a bite to eat at one of the many diverse food stalls, all while marveling at a building whose structural evolution mirrors the spirit of resilience and vibrant history of Boston. ■

About the Author

Nathan Roy, PE, is a Principal with LeMessurier. Nathan has continued the long history of LeMessurier working at Faneuil Hall Marketplace including Quincy Market, with over 30 projects completed in the last 12 years. (nroy@lemessurier.com)