Wilfred E. Mansur
Wilfred E. Mansur (1855–1921) was the most prominent architect in late 19th and early 20th century Bangor, Maine.
Life and career[edit]
He designed many private and municipal buildings, including the Penobscot County Courthouse and at least seven schools. His masterpieces are probably the Nichols Block and Columbia Building (both 1892), in which he used a Romanesque Revival style with exuberant patterned brickwork, and the Graham Building of 1911, among the most prominent landmarks in downtown Bangor. Mansur's largest number of commissions came following the Great Fire of 1911, which destroyed half of the city's commercial district (and a number of his own buildings). At least eleven Mansur-designed buildings are preserved on the National Register of Historic Places, many in Bangor's Great Fire of 1911 Historic District.
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Personal life[edit]
Mansur's brother George I. Mansur was also an architect. After working in his brother's office for many years, George I. Mansur succeeded to the practice after his death.[1]
Mansur was a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Boston Society of Architects, and the Maine Society of Architects. He was also a prominent Mason.
Mansur married in 1892, to Charlotte Elizabeth Brown of Bangor.[2]
Architectural works[edit]
- Bangor High School, Bangor, Maine (1882, burned 1911)[3]
- Green Mountain House, Acadia National Park, Maine (1883, burned 1884)[4]
- Green Mountain House, Acadia National Park, Maine (1885, demolished 1896)[4]
- Hersey Retreat, Stockton Springs, Maine (1885, burned 1908)[5]
- Howes Block,[a] Belfast, Maine (1885)[6]
- I. O. O. F. Building, Old Town, Maine (1887)[7]
- Brewer High School (former), Brewer, Maine (1888, demolished)[8]
- I. O. O. F. Building,[a] Belfast, Maine (1888)[9]
- Aroostook County Jail, Houlton, Maine (1889–90, NRHP 1990)[10][11]
- First Congregational Church, Brewer, Maine (1889)[12]
- Moosehead Inn, Greenville, Maine (1889, burned 1912)[13]
- House for Frederic H. Parkhurst,[b] Bangor, Maine (1890)[14]
- Y. M. C. A. Building, Bangor, Maine (1890–91, demolished)[15]
- Orono Town Hall, Orono, Maine (1891–92, demolished)[16]
- Columbia Building,[c] Bangor, Maine (1892–93)[17][18]
- House for Frederic H. Appleton, Bangor, Maine (1892–93)[19]
- House for Francis B. Denio,[d] Bangor, Maine (1892–93)[20]
- Nichols Block,[e] Bangor, Maine (1892)[21]
- Superintendent's house, Bangor Waterworks, Bangor, Maine (1892, demolished 2017)[22]
- Shaw Block, Greenville, Maine (1893)[23]
- Frisbie Block,[f] Houlton, Maine (1894–95 and 1905)[24]
- Aroostook County Courthouse, Caribou, Maine (1895)[25]
- Addition to the Aroostook County Courthouse, Houlton, Maine (1895, NRHP 1990)[26]
- Gymnasium,[d] Bangor Theological Seminary (former), Bangor, Maine (1895)[20]
- House for John N. Merrill,[b] Bangor, Maine (1895–96)[14]
- House for Eugene C. Nichols, Bangor, Maine[27]
- Morse & Company Office Building, Bangor, Maine (1895, NRHP 1973)[28]
- Palm Street School, Bangor, Maine (1895, demolished)[29]
- Bangor Hose House No. 5 (former),[g] Bangor, Maine (1897, NRHP 1997)[30]
- Moody Memorial Chapel,[h] Good Will-Hinckley, Fairfield, Maine (1897)[31]
- Niben Club, Pushaw Lake, Orono, Maine (1897, demolished)[32]
- Surgical Building, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, Maine (1898–99)[33]
- Eastport Primary School (former), Eastport, Maine (1899)[34]
- Morse-Oliver Building, Bangor, Maine (1899, burned 1911)[35]
- Lodge, Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Maine (1900, NRHP 1974)[36]
- Bangor Fire Engine House No. 6 (former), Bangor, Maine (1902, NRHP 1988)[37]
- Penobscot County Courthouse, Bangor, Maine (1902–05)[38]
- Addition to house for William M. Shaw, Greenville, Maine (1905, NRHP 2013)[23]
- Mansur Block,[f] Houlton, Maine (1905–06)[24]
- Larkin Street School (former), Bangor, Maine (1906–07)[39]
- M. G. Shaw Lumber Company Office, Greenville, Maine (1906, demolished)[23]
- Houlton Town Office,[f] Houlton, Maine (1907)[24]
- Hersey Retreat, Stockton Springs, Maine (1909)[40]
- Graham Building,[e] Bangor, Maine (1911)[21]
- Central Building,[e] Bangor, Maine (1912)[21]
- First National Bank Building,[e] Bangor, Maine (1915)[21]
- Peirce School (former),[i] Belfast, Maine (1915)[41]
- Preble Hall, University of Maine at Presque Isle, Presque Isle, Maine (1920–21)[42]
Gallery of architectural works[edit]
-
Bangor High School, Bangor, Maine, 1882. -
First Congregational Church, Brewer, Maine, 1889. -
Moosehead Inn, Greenville, Maine, 1889. -
Detail of the Nichols Block, Bangor, Maine, 1892. -
Frisbie Block, Houlton, Maine, 1894-95 and 1905. -
-
Bangor Hose House No. 5, Bangor, Maine, 1897. -
-
Penobscot County Courthouse, Bangor, Maine, 1902-05. -
Graham Building, Bangor, Maine, 1911.
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b A contributing property to the Belfast Commercial Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
- ^ a b A contributing property to the Whitney Park Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
- ^ Now known as the Heritage Building.
- ^ a b A contributing property to the Bangor Theological Seminary Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
- ^ a b c d A contributing property to the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
- ^ a b c A contributing property to the Market Square Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
- ^ Now the Hose 5 Fire Museum.
- ^ A contributing property to the Hinckley Good Will Home Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
- ^ A contributing property to the Church Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Now a private residence.
References[edit]
- ^ "Business," American Contractor 42, no. 25 (June 18, 1921): 42.
- ^ "Married," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, June 17, 1892, 2.
- ^ Mayor's Address; also, the Annual Reports of the Several Departments, and the Receipts and Expenditures offor the Municipal Year 1882-83 (Bangor: City of Bangor, 1883)
- ^ a b Lydia Vandenbergh and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., Revisiting Seal Harbor and Acadia National Park (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 1997)
- ^ "To Contractors," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, MArch 13 1885, 2.
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, July 23, 1885, 3.
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, August 10, 1887, 3.
- ^ "Brewer High School," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, December 17, 1888, 3.
- ^ Belfast Commercial Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1980)
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, July 4, 1889, 3.
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, February 14, 1890, 3.
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, February 2, 1889, 3.
- ^ "New Hotel," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, March 11, 1889, 3.
- ^ a b Whitney Park Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1988)
- ^ "The Corner Stone Laid," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, September 2, 1890, 3.
- ^ "A Handsome Structure," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, February 19, 1892, 3.
- ^ "The New Block," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, February 18, 1892, 3.
- ^ "A Handsome Block," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, December 22, 1893, 3.
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, May 27, 1893, 3.
- ^ a b Bangor Theological Seminary Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1977)
- ^ a b c d Great Fire of 1911 Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1984)
- ^ "Local Matters," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, May 13, 1892, 3.
- ^ a b c William M. Shaw House NRHP Registration Form (2013)
- ^ a b c Market Square Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1980)
- ^ "Building Intelligence," American Architect and Building News 47, no. 1002 (March 9, 1895): xiii.
- ^ Aroostook County Courthouse and Jail NRHP Registration Form (1990)
- ^ "The Nichols Residence," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, September 24, 1895, 1.
- ^ "New Office Building," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, January 28, 1895, 3.
- ^ "Notice to Builders," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, July 9, 1895, 2.
- ^ Bangor Hose House No. 5 NRHP Registration Form (1997)
- ^ Hinckley Good Will Home Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1987)
- ^ "Notice to Builders," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, September 4, 1897, 4.
- ^ "Notice to Builders," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, March 19, 1898, 3.
- ^ "Eastport News," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, October 16, 1899, 7.
- ^ "One Thing Sure," Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, March 29, 1899, 3.
- ^ Mount Hope Cemetery District NRHP Registration Form (1977)
- ^ Bangor Fire Engine House No. 6 NRHP Registration Form (1988)
- ^ "Buildings," Engineering News 45, no. 21 (May 23, 1901): 180.
- ^ "New Schools," School Board Journal 33, no. 5 (November 1906): 26.
- ^ A Brief History of French’s Point
- ^ Church Street Historic District NRHP Registration Form (1978)
- ^ "Buildings," Engineering News-Record 84, no. 25 (June 17, 1920): 426.
Deborah Thompson, Bangor, Maine, 1769-1914: An Architectural History (Orono: U. of Maine Press, 1988)
Gregory Clancey (Me. Historic Preservation Commission), "Great Fire of 1911 Historic District", National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, on file at Maine Historic Preservation Commission, 55 Capitol St., Augusta, Maine