Built 1894 NRHP Reference # 89001300 Architectural style Renaissance architecture | MPS Somerville MPS Opened 1894 Added to NRHP 18 September 1989 | |
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Location Somerville, Massachusetts Similar Rosebud Diner, Somerville Theatre, Wellfleet Drive‑In Theater, Stone Zoo, Museum of Science | ||
The Somerville Journal Building is a historic commercial building at 8-10 Walnut Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was built in 1894 as offices and the printing facility for the Somerville Journal, a weekly publication that continues to exist as part of the "Wicked Local" franchise of GateHouse Media. The building, a somewhat typical example of late 19th-century commercial architecture, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Description and history
The Journal Building is set on the west side of Walnut Street, near its southern end in Union Square. It is a two-story brick structure, with a single storefront on the ground floor that has plate glass windows flanking a recessed entrance. The second story has six round-arch openings originally filled with sash windows, which were updated with double hung windows in 2012. A corbelled cornice is set below the roof, and a brownstone stringcourse separates the basement from the ground floor.
The Somerville Journal was founded in 1870, and had this building constructed in 1894 to house a new generation of printing equipment. Its styling is typical of other small commercial buildings built in Union Square, which was then the city's commercial business center. Administrative and editorial offices were on the first floor. Production and typesetting were on the second floor, and printing presses and equipment were located in the basement. The Somerville Journal vacated the building in approximately the 1950s. Through the sixties, the building was used as a Kodak facility offering developing, printing, and enlarging. During the 1970s the building was used as a youth recreation center for the City of Somerville. It has been used as artist studios since the 1970s. It now houses a vintage retail store, in addition to studios.