Built 1909 (1909) Opened 1909 Architectural style Neoclassical architecture | NRHP Reference # 86001690 Area 1,200 m² Added to NRHP 2 May 1986 | |
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MPS Augusta Central Business District MRA Similar Messalonskee Lake, Fort Western, Viles Arboretum, Bay of Fundy, The Blaine House | ||
The D.V. Adams Co.-Bussell and Weston Building is a historic commercial building at 190 Water Street in downtown Augusta, Maine. Built in 1909, it is one of the state's best early examples of a department store building. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Description and history
The D.V.Adams Co.-Bussell and Weston Building is located on the west side of Water Street, Augusta's principal business thoroughfare, on the block south of Bridge Street. It is a three-story brick structure, with a flat roof adorned by an ornate projecting cornice. It is five bays wide, with the bays articulated by pilasters, and the first-floor display windows separated from the upper floors by a stylized entablature. The central bay is wider than the others, housing the recessed building entrance on the ground floor, and three-part windows on the upper floors with slender pilasters dividing the sections. The interior retains original decorative features, including iron columns, a wooden staircase, and pressed metal ceilings.
The building was designed by the Boston, Massachusetts firm of Freeman, Funk and Wilcox, and was built in 1909 for Bussell & Weston, a dry goods retailer. The building is a notable departure from the commercial Italianate architecture that predominates on Water Street. It originally had a stepped parapet, which was replaced c. 1919-1926 with the present Italianate cornice, bringing it more in sympathy with its neighbors. The building housed a department store until 1985.