# George M. Harding

George Milford Harding (1827–1910) was an American architect who practiced in nineteenth-century Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.

## Life and career

Harding was born in 1827 in Chatham, Massachusetts. At the age of 17 he began his studies at the Lowell Institute in Boston, probably working in the office of a local architect as well.
In 1851, Harding established a partnership with Thomas W. Silloway. Silloway & Harding was dissolved by April, 1853, and both established private offices. Harding soon set his sights on northern New England, and was practicing in Concord, New Hampshire by 1854. By 1856 he was in Manchester. In 1858, he moved to Portland, Maine. It would also appear that for a time in the late 1860s he was employed as State Architect, and worked on a proposal for an expansion of the State House. He remained there until 1873, when he returned to Boston, though he continued to receive commissions to design buildings in Maine.
In the 1880s he relocated his office to Hyde Park, which was annexed to Boston in 1912.

## Legacy

Harding was one of several architects to rebuild important sections of downtown Portland after the fire of 1866. However, most of his work was made up of private residences and a large number of school buildings.
He was the teacher of several other architects, including Henry M. Francis of Fitchburg, Massachusetts and Charles H. Kimball, also of Portland.
A number of his works are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
thumb

## Architectural works

| Year | Building | Address | City | State | Notes |
| 1854 | Benjamin Grover House | 35 Pleasant St | Concord | New Hampshire | |
| 1857 | First Universalist Church | 30 High St | Danvers | Massachusetts | Remodeled in 1925 into the Masonic Temple, Little & Browne, architects. |
| 1858 | James L. Merrill House | 310 Spring St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1862 | Joseph Drowne Houses | 36-38 State St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1863 | Morrill's Corner School | 808 Stevens Ave | Portland | Maine | Originally in Westbrook, then Deering. |
| 1863 | Portland High School | 284 Cumberland Ave | Portland | Maine | The original building has been obscured by later additions. |
| 1863 | Searsport Union Hall | 1 Union St | Searsport | Maine | |
| 1865 | William Allen Jr. House | 9 Deering St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1865 | First Universalist Church | High St | Portland | Maine | Demolished. |
| 1865 | Frye Grammar School | 140 Ash St | Lewiston | Maine | |
| 1865 | Parsonage, Free Will Baptist Church | 51 Ocean House Rd | Cape Elizabeth | Maine | |
| 1866 | Bailey & Noyes Block | 56 Exchange St | Portland | Maine | Altered by the addition of several floors. |
| 1866 | Searsport Union School | 23 Mount Ephraim Rd | Searsport | Maine | |
| 1867 | Boyd Block | 178 Middle St | Portland | Maine | Altered by the addition of a floor. |
| 1867 | First Parish Congregational Church | 116 Main St | Yarmouth | Maine | |
| 1867 | India Street Fire Station | 97 India Street | Portland | Maine | |
| 1867 | Rackleff Building | 129 Middle St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1867 | Thompson Block | 121 Middle St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1867 | Woodman Building | 75 Pearl St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1868 | Greely Institute | 303 Main St | Cumberland | Maine | |
| 1868 | Houlton Academy | Military St | Houlton | Maine | Later known as Potter Hall, a dormitory. Demolished. |
| 1868 | George M. Harding House | 6 Deering St | Portland | Maine | The architect's own residence. |
| 1869 | Israel Washburn House | 385 Spring St | Portland | Maine | |
| 1871 | Chapel | Maine Insane Hospital | Augusta | Maine | Demolished. |
| 1871 | Saco High School | 34 Spring St | Saco | Maine | |
| 1872 | First Universalist Church | Pequawket Tr | Hiram | Maine | |
| 1872 | Norlands Meeting House | 290 Norlands Rd | Livermore | Maine | A remodeling. |
| 1873 | Haverhill High School | 33 Winter St | Haverhill | Massachusetts | Demolished. |
| 1877 | Masonic Temple | 139 High St | Belfast | Maine | |
| 1878 | Belfast National Bank Building | 108 Main St | Belfast | Maine | |
| 1879 | Gilkey House Belfast | 58 Miller St | Belfast | Maine | Gothic Victorian House |
| 1881 | Jacob E. Spring House, Porphyry Hall | 72 Summer St | Danvers | Massachusetts | Now the administration building of St. John's Preparatory School. |
| 1886 | George M. Harding House | 58 Oak St | Hyde Park | Massachusetts | The architect's own residence. |