Church Green Buildings Historic District

Two adjoining commercial buildings at 101-113 Summer Street in downtown Boston form this district. The larger, 105-113 Summer Street, was built in 1873 at the point where Summer, Bedford and Lincoln Streets meet. It is a 4½-story granite structure with a slate mansard roof, canted corner bays and carved Neo-Grec detail. Next door, 101-103 Summer Street is a five-story marble building that combines Italianate and Neo-Grec elements. Both went up after the Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed hundreds of downtown buildings, and they reflect the quick rebuilding of the area. The larger building housed the Shoe and Leather Exchange, run by a trade association central to one of Boston's leading industries, and later hosted shoe dealers, tailors, banks and shops. Its designer, John Lyman Faxon, was a young architect trained at M.I.T. Storefronts and interiors were rebuilt in 1981 and 1998, but the upper facades remain largely as built.