Horticultural Hall (Boston, 1865)

Horticultural Hall (1865–1901) of Boston, Massachusetts, was the headquarters of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in the later 19th century. It stood at no.100-102 Tremont Street, at the corner of Bromfield Street, opposite the Granary Burying Ground.^[1] Architects Gridley J.F. Bryant and Arthur Gilman designed the building.^[2][3] Sculptor Martin Milmore created horticulturally-themed statuary for the building's exterior: "three ancient Roman goddesses ... Ceres, goddess of agriculture; Flora, goddess of flowers; and Pomona, goddess of fruit trees."^[4] In the 1880s: "the ground floor [was] occupied by stores; the second story by the Library Room of the society and a hall for the weekly exhibitions; and the upper story by a large and elegant hall used ... at the annual and other important exhibitions. Both of these halls [were] often used for concerts and the better class of entertainments. The society's library, comprising over 4,000 volumes, [was] the most valuable collection of horticultural works in the United States. The halls [were] adorned with portraits and busts of the presidents, founders, and benefactors of the society."^[5]

By 1899 the society's rooms in the building seemed old-fashioned, small, inconvenient, and expensive to maintain.^[6] After internal debate the society sold Horticultural Hall in 1900 and leased space there for some months thereafter.^[7][8] In 1901 the society transferred to its new building in the Back Bay,^[9][10] and the building on Tremont Street was demolished the same year.^[11] At the time, Milmore's architectural statues were removed to the home of society president Albert C. Burrage (later the Glen Urquhart School) in Beverly, Massachusetts. In the mid-1990s the society restored Milmore's statues (only torsos survived) and installed them in their new headquarters in Wellesley, Massachusetts.^[12][13][14]

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  Horticultural Hall, unknown date
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  Interior, from Stranger's Illustrated Guide to Boston and its Suburbs
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  Harper's Weekly, 1867; cover story about Horticultural Hall
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  Seating chart of auditorium, 1887
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  Tremont Street in 1891, with Horticultural Hall (left), Studio Building (center), Park Street Church (right)
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  Detail of 1896 map of Boston, showing Horticultural Hall, opposite Granary Burial Ground
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  Advertisement, Cat show, 1883
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  Advertisement, Novel exhibition, 1888
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  Advertisement, Hypnotism show, 1891
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  Advertisement, Chinese village, 1897
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  Statuary by Milmore, restored in 1990s (photo 2007)

• Horticultural Hall, Boston (1845), School Street, Boston
• Horticultural Hall, Boston (1901), corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue, Back Bay, Boston

• "Horticultural Hall, Boston". Harper's Weekly. 11. April 13, 1867.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Horticultural Hall, Boston (Tremont Street).

• Bostonian Society. Photos:
  • 100-122 Tremont Street, July 12, 1895
  • Tremont Street, 1895, Dec. 14, 1:45 pm ("the columns on the right are Horticultural Hall")
  • Tremont Street, c. 1896-1901, Tremont Temple (center), Horticultural Hall in distance (at far right)
  • Tremont Street, c. 1907-1915, shows new building on site of former Horticultural Hall

42°21′25.96″N 71°3′40.01″W / 42.3572111°N 71.0611139°W / 42.3572111; -71.0611139