History

By 1857, it was clear the Worcester County Mechanics Association required a building of its own, having outgrown its rented spaces. Under the guidance of wire industrialist Ichabod Washburn, the Mechanics hired Elbridge Boyden to design and construct the building. When it was finished Mechanics Hall represented the state-of-the-art in mechanical systems and construction techniques. Mechanics Hall is testimony to the skill and ingenuity of the artisans and tradesmen of Worcester County, which defined them as the founders of America's Industrial Revolution.

Mechanics Hall has been judged by architectural historians as the nation's finest pre-Civil War concert hall. For more than 150 years, the Hall has been the cultural cornerstone of Central Massachusetts. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. During the mid-20th Century, other newer venues overtook it as the favored place to host events. The Association resorted to renting out the Hall for professional wrestling matches, roller skating, basketball, dance lessons, 4-H club meetings, and a variety of other sporting and community events. Misuse and neglect of the interior took a serious toll on the health of the Hall, but, when the decision was finally forced to tear it down or to revitalize it, the entire city rallied, raising $5 million to restore the Hall.

Architect: Elbridge Boyden, 1857
1977 building renovation, Anderson Notter Finegold, Inc. Additional renovations, Lamoureux Pagano & Associates, Whipple Construction Co.

Historic Timeline

CELEBRITY LIST Presidents: William Jefferson Clinton Gerald Ford Woodrow Wilson William Howard Taft Theodore Roosevelt William McKinley Sampling of notables: Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Charles Dickens Mark Twain Lt. Robert Peary Kit Carson Jr. Sergei Rachmaninoff Henry Ward Beecher James Russell Lowell Louise Homer Geraldine Farrar Josef Hofmann Fritz Kreisler Ernestine Schumann-Heink Elizabeth Cady Stanton William Ellery Channing Amelita Galli-Curci Ossip Gabrilowitsch Alfred Cortot Jacques Thibaut Horace Greeley Charles Sumner Horace Mann Louis Agassiz Linda Rondstat Marion McPartland Barbara Bush Edward Everett Hale John Gough Wendell Phillips Dan Quayle Governor William Weld Governor Paul Cellucci Governor Jane Swift Governor Mitt Romney Hillary Rodham Clinton Senator Ted Kennedy Senator John Kerry

Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Susan B. Anthony Governor A.H. Bullock Senator Geo. F. Hoar Burton Holmes Enrico Caruso Paderewski John McCormack Jenny Lind General Tom Thumb Walter Mondale Elizabeth Cady Stanton Lucy Stone Abby Kelley Foster Oliver Wendell Holmes Artur Rubenstein Schumann Dvorak John Philip Sousa Beverly Sills Yo Yo Ma Itzak Perlman Seigi Ozawa Isaac Stern Leontyne Price Ella Fitzgerald Judy Collins Mel Torme Midori Vienna Symphony Berlin Philharmonic Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra London Philharmonic National Orchestra of China Spyro Gyra Nana Miskouri Clancy Brothers Chieftans Joe Williams Nancy Wilson Ronan Tynan Emanuel Ax Chick Corea Gary Burton Kingston Trio Bill Cosby Russian National Orchestra John O'Conor