Vamp Building

Vamp Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Lynn, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°27′45″N 70°56′50″W
Built	1903
Architect	Henry Warren Rogers
Architectural style	Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	83000587 [1]
Added to NRHP	March 31, 1983

The Vamp Building is a historic factory building at 3-15 Liberty Square in downtown Lynn, Massachusetts. The eight-story brick building was built in 1903 as the Lynn Realty Company Building #4[2] to a design by local architect Henry Warren Rogers,[3] and was extended over the next four years to occupy the entire city block bounded by Washington Street, Union Street, and Liberty Square. The "flatiron" V-shape of the building was the basis for its name, as it resembles the shape of the vamp of a shoe.[4] The building served in its early years as a home for all manner of businesses related to the manufacture of shoes.[2] At the time of its construction it was the largest brick building of its kind in the world.[4]

The building suffered relatively little damage in the fire of November 28, 1981, losing only its top floor.[5] The strong construction and newly installed sprinkler system were credited with limiting the scope of destruction of the fire, preventing the blaze from reaching farther into the city.[4]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983,[1] and is one of three registered buildings in Lynn designed by Henry Warren Rogers.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lynn, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts
• Vamp (shoe), the upper part of a shoe

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. "MACRIS inventory record for Vamp Record". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
3. The Register of the Lynn Historical Society for the Year 1915. Lynn Historical Society. 1916. p. 31.
4. Clendinen, Dudley (1982-12-01). "Gumption And Cash Put Lynn Back On Its Feet A Year After Fire". New York Times. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
5. Mahoney, Frank (1981-12-04). "How they fought the Lynn fire". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2018-09-10.