The Adams-Pickering Block is a historic commercial building at Main and Middle Streets in Bangor, Maine . Built in 1873, it is one of the major surviving works of local architect George W. Orff in the city, and one of the few of the period to survive Bangor's Great Fire of 1911 .
8-465: The Adams-Pickering Block is located in central Bangor, just south of West Market Square , at the northwest corner of Main and Middle Streets. It is a four-story, Second Empire -style building, which is distinctive for its granite facade, cast iron trim, and mansard roof. The Pickering Block, at the corner with Middle Street, is six bays wide, while the Adams Block, to its right, is seven. Windows on
16-490: The buildings are Second Empire in style, including the individually-listed Wheelwright Block , which anchors the square at the northern end. All of these buildings are brick with stone and wood trim elements, and are four stories in height, except the five-story Wheelwright Block. The oldest building, the E.P. Baldwin Building at 10-12 Broad Street, is the oldest building in the district; it was built sometime before 1843, and
24-498: The junction of Main and Broad Streets, it has been a focal point of Bangor's economy and business since the city's incorporation in 1834. The district includes seven buildings reflective of its appearance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. When Bangor was incorporated in 1834, the junction of Main and Broad Streets, just west of Kenduskeag Stream,
32-505: The second and third floors are set in segmented-arch openings, with decorative key-stoned hoods. When built in 1871, its ground floor had mostly cast iron elements, but the storefronts have been modernized, and only fragments of the original trim remain. The twin blocks were built in 1871 to a design by Bangor native architect George W. Orff , and was built on the site of "The Main Street Fire" of 1872, which killed one and injured 8. It
40-536: The square is lined by six, built between c. 1834 and 1870, with the seventh building in the historic district, the Merrill Trust Company building at 2 Hammond Street, located just off the square to the northeast. It is a Classical Revival structure, designed by New York architect Frank E. Newman and completed in 1907. The six buildings lining the square were all built before 1870, and are reflective of commercial Victorian architectural styles. Three of
48-404: Was already known as "Market Square", and was the site of an open-air market. It became known as West Market Square later, to distinguish it from East Market Square, located across Kenduskeag Stream at the junction of Central, Harlow, and Park Streets, which developed later. West Market Square was a central focal point of Bangor's commercial business activity into the 20th century. The east side of
56-583: Was one of a number of high-profile commissions Orff executed in downtown Bangor in those years, of which this is a rare survivor of both the Great Fire of 1911 and urban renewal of the 1960s. The building was one of the largest local commissions for Orff, who subsequently migrated to Minnesota. George W. Pickering (1799-1876) was a prominent local merchant and President of the Kenduskeag Bank (incorporated 1847). His maternal grandfather Jacob Dennett
64-810: Was one of the original settlers of Bangor, part of a group which arrived in 1771. Pickering was also the 12th Mayor of Bangor (1853–54), and Vice President of the Bangor Theological Seminary . Pickering Square in Downtown Bangor is named for him. According to historian James Vickery he "was called the best businessman in Bangor by his contemporaries" It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1974. West Market Square Historic District The West Market Square Historic District encompasses one of Bangor, Maine 's central urban business districts. Located at
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