{"nrhp_refnum":"74000393","name":"Youth's Companion Building","other_names":["Sawyer Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 Columbus Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.34843597500003,"lon":-71.07237816399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story brick and red sandstone commercial building at 140-144 Berkeley Street and 195-217 Columbus Avenue in Boston, built 1890-1892 as the home of the Youth's Companion periodical, also known as the Sawyer Building.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a modified Richardson Romanesque design influenced by Louis Sullivan, built as a monument and advertisement for its publisher. It housed the Youth's Companion, a leading literary weekly for young people, and is described as the birthplace of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892.","narrative":"Rising five stories above a basement on Columbus Avenue and Berkeley Street in Boston, this brick and red sandstone building was constructed between 1890 and 1892 for the publishers of the Youth's Companion. Architects William Cummings Richardson and Henry W. Hartwell adapted the manner of Henry Hobson Richardson toward the style of Louis Sullivan, giving it a monumental arched entrance, banded floors and an arcade on the third and fourth levels. Norcross Brothers of Worcester built it, and Fiske, Coleman, and Co. produced 426 patterns and mouldings for its ornament. Cast iron columns rest on a foundation set over thousands of Maine spruce trees. The Youth's Companion, founded in 1827, was a weekly illustrated paper for young people that reached more than 540,000 copies and ended in 1929. The building was also where the Pledge of Allegiance was written and first printed in 1892. Later changes include shop windows, a replaced parapet and altered interiors.","period_of_significance":"1890-1892","architect_builder":"William Cummings Richardson and Henry W. Hartwell, architects; Norcross Brothers of Worcester, builders; Fiske, Coleman, and Co. designed the ornamental patterns and mouldings","architectural_style":"Modified Richardson Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and altered; the form marks it both occupied and unoccupied. A reviewer note suggests present use is commercial office space.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.660388-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7968/63796820/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/74000393.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000393/804561ea95-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000393/804561ea95-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Youth%27s_Companion_Building_Boston_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Youth%27s_Companion_Building_Boston_MA_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796820","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth%27s_Companion_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8059131"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/youths-companion-building-74000393/"}