Lucius W. Briggs Explained

Lucius Wallace Briggs
Birth Date:	1866
Birth Place:	Worcester, Massachusetts, US
Death Date:	September 10,
Death Place:	Worcester, Massachusetts, US
Practice:	L. W. Briggs; Frost, Briggs & Chamberlain; L. W. Briggs Company
Significant Buildings:	Greendale Branch Library Worcester Memorial Auditorium

Lucius W. Briggs (1866-1940) was an American architect practicing in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Life and career

Lucius Wallace Briggs was born in Worcester to Cornelius W. and Lucy R. (Wallace) Briggs. His father was a mechanical engineer. He attended the public schools and graduated from Worcester Classical High School. He attended a special course in architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston before coming home to Worcester. He worked as a draftsman for the architecture firms of Barker & Nourse and Fuller & Delano,^[1] and the large contracting firm of Norcross Brothers.^[2] In 1896 he left the firm of Fuller, Delano & Frost and opened his own office.^[3]

In 1899 he joined architects Howard Frost and C. Leslie Chamberlain in the new firm of Frost, Briggs & Chamberlain.^[4] The new firm quickly outpaced Worcester's other architects and became the city's most prominent architects. This firm was, among other projects, responsible for the design of such landmarks as the Slater Building and the former Worcester Technical High School. However, in 1912, after thirteen years, the partnership was dissolved. Frost & Chamberlain continued their practice, and Briggs incorporated the L. W. Briggs Company.^[1] He continued in his former success, and at the time of his death was thought to be Worcester's best known architect. Briggs' death occurred in Worcester, September 10, 1940.^[2]

After his death the L. W. Briggs Company was continued by his son, Stuart Wallace Briggs. The younger Briggs was a graduate of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and had been associated with his father's business since 1920.^[2] In 1949 he changed the firm's name to L. W. Briggs Associates, which practiced through the 1960s.^[5]

Briggs joined the American Institute of Architects in 1902, and was president of the Worcester chapter for some twenty years. He was also a long time member of the Worcester Planning Board.^[2]

Personal life

Briggs married Lillian Fraser Vickers of Portland, Maine.^[1] They had four children together. Stuart Wallace, who would be associated with his father, was the youngest.^[1]

In addition to his professional associations, Briggs was also a member of several social and historical organizations.^{[1] [2]}

Works

L. W. Briggs Company, 1912-1949

• 1912 - Greendale Branch Library, 470 West Boylston St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[6]
  • Now the Frances Perkins Branch Library.
• 1913 - Clubhouse, Worcester Country Club, 2 Rice St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[7]
• 1913 - Mrs. Irving H. Verry House, 4 Military Rd, Worcester, Massachusetts^[8]
  • An Italian Renaissance-style house, published in House Beautiful in 1917.^[9]
• 1916 - Worcester Technical High School (additions), 34 Grove St, Worcester, Massachusetts^{[10] [11]}
  • A major expansion.
• 1920 - Crompton & Knowles Warehouse, 21 Illinois St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[12]
• 1925 - Worcester Fire Alarm Station, 230 Park Ave, Worcester, Massachusetts^[13]
• 1926 - Katz and Leavitt Apartment House, 53 Elm St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[14]
• 1928 - Center School, 11 Ash St, Hopkinton, Massachusetts^[15]
• 1930 - South High School Annex, 14 Richards St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[16]
• 1931 - Worcester Memorial Auditorium, 1 Lincoln Sq, Worcester, Massachusetts^[17]
  • With Frederic C. Hirons of New York.
• 1935 - Auburn High School, 99 Auburn St, Auburn, Massachusetts^[18]
  • Demolished.
• 1939 - Leicester Town Hall, 3 Washburn Sq, Leicester, Massachusetts^[19]

L. W. Briggs Associates, from 1949

• 1950 - Center School Addition, 11 Ash St, Hopkinton, Massachusetts^[20]
• 1954 - Hopkinton High School (former), 88 Hayden Rowe St, Hopkinton, Massachusetts^[21]
• 1954 - Wachusett Regional High School, Main St, Holden, Massachusetts^[5]
• 1954 - Worcester County Courthouse Annex, 2 Main St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[22]
  • In association with Cornelius W. Buckley.
• 1956 - Narragansett Regional High School, 464 Baldwinville Rd, Templeton, Massachusetts^[23]
• 1957 - Pearl-Elm Parking Garage, 20 Pearl St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[24]
  • On the site of the original Worcester Public Library.
• 1957 - Shrewsbury High School (former), Oak St, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts^[25]
• 1958 - Worcester Mutual Fire Insurance Company Building, 49 Elm St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[5]
• 1959 - Burncoat High School, 179 Burncoat St, Worcester, Massachusetts^[26]
• 1963 - Leominster High School, 122 Granite St, Leominster, Massachusetts^[27]

Notes and References

1. Charles Nutt, "Lucius Wallace Briggs," in History of Worcester and its People, vol. 4 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1919): 711.
2. Leon Keach, "Lucius W. Briggs," Pencil Points 21, no. 11 (November 1940): 22.
3. "Personal," Architecture and Building 24, no. 16 (April 18, 1896): 190.
4. "Personal," Architecture and Building 30, no. 23 (June 10, 1899): 192.
5. "Briggs, Stuart Wallace," in American Architects Directory (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1962): 79.
6. "The Carnegie Libraries". Worcester Magazine Dec. 1912: 357. Worcester.
7. "Worcester Country Club". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
8. American Contractor 15 Feb. 1913: 55. Chicago.
9. "In the Italian Villa Style". House Beautiful Sept. 1917: 103. Boston.
10. "Worcester Industrial Technical Institute". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
11. Brickbuilder July 1916: 166.
12. American Contractor 29 May 1920: 48.
13. "Fire Alarm and Telegraph Headquarters Building". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
14. "Katz and Leavitt Apartment House". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
15. "Center School". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
16. Engineering News-Record 26 June 1930: 74. New York.
17. "Worcester War Memorial Auditorium". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
18. Bridgemen's Magazine Jan. 1935: 33.
19. "Leicester Town Hall". mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission. n.d. Web.
20. Engineering News-Record 23 March 1950: 289. New York.
21. Engineering News-Record 12 Aug. 1954: 76. New York.
22. Engineering News-Record 1954: 132. New York.
23. Engineering News-Record 1956: 258. New York.
24. Engineering News-Record 1957: 148. New York.
25. Engineering News-Record 1957: 72. New York.
26. Engineering News-Record 29 Oct. 1959: 74. New York.
27. Fitchburg (MA) Sentinel 12 July 1963: 9.