The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-03
~ GpGluA HUH
Norcross Bros. Havo
Many Large Con-
tracts on Hand.
AGGREGATE TOTAL $3.50,
Few Firms in the Country
Can Compete With
Them.
AGGREGATE TOTAL Sc, 100000.

Worcester little realizes the extent
and scope of the enormous building
contracts annually handled by the firm
of Norcross Bros. So quietly and I'M
ostentatiously does the immense ma
chinery of the firm operate that al
thought the reputation of the company
is as wide as the country, there is little
local conception of the immense build
ing operations annually undertaken and
successfully terminated from Worcester
as a center.
NorcroSs Bros. are now erecting pub
lie buildings and business blocks on
contracts aggregating $6,250,000. This
sum is equal to the assessed valuation
of many thrifty Massachusetts town.
The scope of the building operations of
the immense Worcester firm includes
all parts OF the great country.
The Worcester plant is but an mimi
tesimal part of the business equipment
of the firm. The East Worcester fac
tory is but the carpenter shop of d
long list Of plants, factories and stone
quarries that are capable of producing
all the building materials of the most
costly structure-all but the lumber.
The business is directed from this city,
and here is located the main drafting
rooms and offices, but large portion
of the immense business is conducted
from offices in Providence, Boston, New
York and Cleveland.
At Cleveland, Norcross, Bros. have
one Of the largest and best marble
working plants in the country. 1t is
thoroughly equipped with machinery
polishers and planners not second to the
famous mills of Vermont, where the
tremendous product of the Green noun
tain quarries are handled. The entire
plant is owned and operated by the
Worcester firm, and is capable of han
ding all the marble used in construc-
ton on the company's contracts.
The famous Milford pink granite of
which the new City hall and its mag
nificent approach is constructed, is cut
by Norcross Bros. at its quarries in
| Milford, Mass Some of the most magni-
ficent ano stately buildings in America
have beer erected of this granite, which
for quality and beauty is unsurpassed
The quarrieS are enormous in extent
and capacity, and are owned and con-
trolled in Worcester.
At Stony Greek, Conn.,, Norcross
Brothers control and operate the fam
Gus Quarries which produce the famous
| Bradford rock or Stony Creek granite
Among the costly buildings erected by
the Worcester contractors of this stone
are the Newberry Library at Chicago
and the Southern Terminal station in
Boston. Some of the most beautiful
polished work in the United states
| today is of this famous stone From
a block of this graninte was cut the
famous battle monument at West Point
N. Y. Some conception of the extent
and capacity of the Stony Creek quar-
ries may be gained from the statement
that the block from which this shaft
was cut weighed 1876 tons when it left
| the quarry.
| Three almost inexhaustible sandstone
quarries are owned by the firm. They
are at East Longmeadow and furnish
three shades of brownstone, than which
no finer is to be found in the country
The quality of the stone is such as to
admit of the most exquisite of carving.
and some of the finest stone work in the
most famous buildings is of this stone.
| Norcross Brothers also operate quar-
ries at Troy, n. H., and at Marble Hill,
| Ga, from the latter of which came the
stone of the State Mutual building, as
well as the state house at Providence.
| R. l., and the Corcoran Gallery of Art
at Washington, D. C.
By no means the smallest Of the
many plants scattered in bewildering
array all over the United States, and
operated by Norcross Brothers, is the
immense cLone-cutting plant on the
Charles river, in Cambridgeport. AT
/ Providence, r. l., the firrA operates a
large plant for the working of marble,
lin which all the marble and stone of
the Rhode Island state house and other
New England buildings have been cut.
These immense quarries, owned and
Operated by Norcross Brothers, are but
the beginning of a business of almost
Iincomprehensible magnitude The stone
Iquarries and marble-cutting works are
equRl to the finest that are worked by
corporations of considerable size, vet
with the Worcester builders it is but
an auxiliary part of the business. The
| woodworking and carpenter shops OF
the company are capable of turning out
the finest of work for any contract.
The firm annually handles contracts
that are beyond the scope of any con-
| tractor, with the exception of a few
of the largest builders in the United
States. Six and one-quarter millions OF
dollars is the aggregate cost of the
| buildings now being erected by the firm
in all parts Of the country.
Foremost among them is the mag.
nitcent new state house for Rhode Is
land at Providence, which is now near.
ing completion. The building will cos
| $2,000,000, and will stand as one of the
|
ed States. The dome is now beins
erected, and the long contract that has
been pushed with vigor by Norcross
Bros Is nearing the final stages. The
building is of Georgia marble from Nor.
cross Bros own quarries, and is after
plans by Architects McKim, Mead &
White of New York.
In Boston the firm is building the
new Music hall at a cost of $3.50 O0O
| NnY1oY1 10 L..
foundations which will support the i'm.
mense structure. The hall is to be OF
Harvard. brick and limestone, afte,
plans by McKim, Mead & White.
Work has just been commenced in
tearing down the old foundations on
which stood the old Boston public Ii.
brary to make way for the Ames the.
atre building, which will be erected BY
the Frederick L. Ames estate. and Is
intended to be the finest theatre build.
ing in the city Of Boston and in New
England. 1t viii be second to few ir
the country. The contract held by Nor.
cross Bros. estimates the cost at $500
900, and the plans were drawn by g
II. Blackhall. The front portion is Il
be 10 stories Of offices, and the facade of
the building is to be of the famous Mil
ford pink granite. The theatre occu.
pies the entire rear half Of the immense
structure, and is to be sumptuous In
Interior finish. The entrance is to be
Of solid mahogany, and all the public
rooms will be finished in satin wood
The interior marble work is to be of
the finest and most expensive stone oh
tainable, and all In all the contract
calls for the best of material and finish
throughout.
On the site of the old express build
ing Norcross Bros. are driving piles and
laying foundations of the ALBANY
building for Shoe and Leather ex-
change, which will face the old Boston
| & Albany depot. The contract is n $500 !
900 job, and the building will be of terra
Gotta brick and limestone. Plans are