Lewiston City Hall
Pine and Park Sts., Lewiston, METhis impressive Baroque Revival structure replaced Lewiston's Old City Hall which burned in a fire in January of 1890. The building had only been standing for thirty years and its destruction was a great loss to the city. The architectural firm of Brigham and Spofford from Boston was chosen to design a new City Hall. On October 1, 1890, the cornerstone was laid and almost two years later, on May 19, 1892, the completed building was dedicated. It stands on the site of the previous hall in downtown Lewiston. The cost to the city was $180,000.
John Calvin Spofford, the architect, was born in 1854 in Webster, Maine. He was a student at Maine's Wesleyan Seminary and later the Maine State College. He held a job as the principal of Smith's Business College in Lewiston from the years 1876 to 1877 and later spent some time in the carpentry and masonry trades before entering the architectural office of Henry Preston in 1879. From 1881 to 1886 he held a position as a draftsman for the Boston firm of Sturgis and Brigham. During this time he was in charge of the construction of the Commonwealth Building and the Massachusetts Life Insurance Company Building in Boston.
Spofford entered into many partnerships in the years 1887 to 1908. Among them was the four-year partnership with his former employer Brigham. The firm of Brigham and Spofford was responsible for the additions to the Maine State House in Augusta and for the design of the residence of J. Manchester Haynes, also in Augusta. This house was said to be the finest in Kennebec Valley. Unfortunately, it burned in 1893. Spofford designed many public buildings in both Maine and Massachusetts.
He made his home in Everett, Mass, where he was active in town government.
There was much criticism voiced when the Boston firm was named. Many citizens thought George M. Coombs, a Lewiston architect, did not have a fair opportunity for the commission. They also felt the building would cost too much money. The final result, however, was a City Hall of unusual distinction, bespeaking the aspirations of this thriving manufacturing city.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.