Boston Grain and Flour Exchange Building (Boston, Massachusetts)

 office building, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1892_construction, Richardsonian Romanesque (architecture)

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Similar to the Custom House Tower, the nearby Flour and Grain Exchange building (which dates back to 1890-1892) is another striking example of granite architecture. The building is constructed of a rough-edged brown granite in a Romanesque Revival style, similar to the works of HH Richardson if you’re at all familiar with Trinity Church in Boston’s Back Bay. In fact, it was his successors, who actually designed this building. Each of the corners of the building are rounded and atop the north-west corner is a conical roof that really looks like a big crown. This conical roof along with the rounded edges give the Flour and Exchange Building a castle tower-like appearance that makes it an easy to identify structure along the Boston skyline. As you work your way up admiring the façade you’ll notice a series of round arched windows which get increasingly smaller the higher you get up.

The building was built to house two corporate trade bodies which merged in the late 19th century. These two groups were the Boston Produce Exchange and the Boston Corn Exchange (or sometimes referred to as the Boston Commercial Exchange). Shortly after these two groups merged in 1885, they sought a new headquarters and erected this building which was officially completed in January of 1892. Shortly afterwards these merging organizations became officially known by their current name, the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

The Flour and Grain Exchange building is listed on the National Register for historic buildings. It is, in fact, one of over 10,000 buildings within Boston that are actually listed on the National Register.

www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=flourGrainExchange