John Lyman Faxon (1851–1918) was an American architect practicing in Boston, Massachusetts, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Three of his buildings, the First Baptist Church of Newton (1888), the First Congregational Church of Detroit (1889–91) and the former East Boston High School (1898–1901), have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.
Life and career John Lyman Faxon was born July 19, 1851, in Quincy, Massachusetts, to Francis Gray Faxon and his first cousin, Elizabeth (Faxon) Faxon.George L. Faxon, The History of the Faxon Family, Containing a Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Faxon of Braintree, Mass. (Springfield: Springfield Printing Company, printers, 1880) He attended the architectural school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1874. He then formed a partnership with his uncle, J. Warren Faxon, a grocer turned real estate developer. This partnership, known as J. W. & J. L. Faxon, was formed to design and develop buildings in downtown Boston. This was dissolved in 1876, with Faxon turning to private practice."Dissolution of Partnership," Boston Daily Advertiser, November 15, 1876, 2. In 1877 Faxon briefly relocated to Saint John, New Brunswick, prompted by the fire of that year. In practice as Currier & Faxon with Springfield architect James M. Currier, Faxon was one of many architects who participated in the rebuilding of St. John. Faxon returned to Boston in January 1878."Currier, James Monroe," dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021.
In 1909 Faxon formed a partnership with New York architects Danford N. B. Sturgis, a son of architect Russell Sturgis, and Norman McGlashan."Personal," American Architect 96, no. 1775 (December 29, 1909): 4. The new firm of Sturgis, Faxon & McGlashan, known as Sturgis & Faxon from 1910, had offices in New York and Boston, but was cut short by the death of Sturgis in 1911."Obituaries," Yale Alumni Weekly 21, no. 4 (October 13, 1911): 90-92.
Personal life Faxon married in 1882, to Mary Jane Carr of Quincy.History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, ed. D. Hamilton Hurd (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Company, 1884) They separated circa 1888, and she died in 1894. They had one daughter."Faxon's Child," Boston Daily Globe, October 4, 1894, 4.
Faxon died March 13, 1918, in Newton."News from the Classes," Technology Review 20, no. 2 (April 1918)
Legacy Faxon was the author of Byzantine Art and the New Old First (1891), written to explain his architectural philosophy as well as his design of the First Congregational Church of Detroit. He also wrote extensively on art and design in the architectural press. After his retirement, Faxon prepared a manuscript entitled The Ancient Theatres of Europe, which was completed but unpublished at the time of his death. It was gifted to the Boston Public Library in 1925.Seventy-fourth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston, 1925 (Boston: Boston Public Library, 1926)
At least three buildings designed by Faxon have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, and others contribute to listed historic districts.
Architectural works Holbrook Town Hall, Holbrook, Massachusetts (1878)"HLB.131", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. Emerson School (former), Concord, Massachusetts (1880)"CON.367", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. Mansfield Town Hall, Mansfield, Massachusetts (1882–83, demolished)History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, ed. D. Hamilton Hurd (Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Company, 1883) Leonard School (former), Malden, Massachusetts (1884)"MAL.53", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. Rollins Chapel, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (1884–85)Scott Meacham, Dartmouth College: An Architectural Tour (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2008) Hotel Victoria, Boston, Massachusetts (1886)"BOS.3948", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. First Baptist Church, Newton, Massachusetts (1888, NRHP 1982)"NWT.2947", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. First Congregational Church, Detroit, Michigan (1889–91, NRHP 1979)First Congregational Church NRHP Registration Form (1979) Dod Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (1890)Raymond P. Rhinehart, Princeton University: An Architectural Tour (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000) Brown Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (1892) Ferdinand Building, Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts (1895, mostly demolished 2012)"BOS.11401", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. Twelfth Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts (1895–96, demolished)"New House of Worship," Boston Daily Globe, January 26, 1895, 5. Mayhew School, Boston, Massachusetts (1896–97, demolished)"A New School Building," School Journal 57, no. 1 (July 2, 1898): 12. Mount Olive Baptist Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1896–98, demolished 1920)"Real Estate," Cambridge Tribune May 16, 1896: 7. East Boston High School (former), East Boston, Boston, Massachusetts (1898-1901, NRHP 2006)"BOS.71", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed April 29, 2021. Knights of Columbus Building, New Haven, Connecticut (1904, demolished)"Building Intelligence," American Architect and Building News 84, no. 1483 (May 28, 1904): ix. James Otis School, East Boston, Boston, Massachusetts (1904)Documents of the City of Boston for the Year 1904, vol. 2 (Boston: City of Boston, 1905)
Gallery of architectural works
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