HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY BUILDING AND STRUCTURES Norwich Heritage Trust, Inc, P.O.Box 185 Norwich, CT 06360	This Building sponsored by Rose City Renaissance
Building Name: Shannon Building	Historic Name: Shannon Building
Town/City: Norwich	County: New London
Address:183	Street: Main Street
Owners:Myers and Son, Inc.	Private
Present Use: Retail Stores offices	Historic Use Retail Stores offices
Exterior is viewable to public	Interior is accessible	Explain: Open during business hours
Style of Building: Sullivanesque	Construction Date: 1910
Materials Brick	Structural System Load Bearing Masonry
Roof Flat Shed Roll Asphalt roof_explain
Stories: 5	Dimensions: facade curves - 100 frontage abo
Structural Condition: Good	Exterior Condition: Good
Alterations: New storefront on first floor annex
Outbuildings:
Environment: commercial High Building Density

Interrelationship of Building and Surroundings:

The Shannon building is located at the corner of Main and Shetucket Streets. The facade curves to match the street-line. The building relates well to the Norwich Savings Society and the Wauregan Hotel, which occupy opposite corners.

Features:

The facade is of yellow brick divided vertically by brick piers or pylons with rounded corners. The bays created by these brick piers contain one window at either end of the facade, three windows each between these and the center, and four windows at the central bay. The central bay curves to match the curvature of the intersection. The first floor is faced with a darker brick than the rest of the facade. Entrances to the upper floors at either end are in round-arched openings. Spaces between the piers are occupied by storefronts. Casement sash with transoms is used through the second and third and fourth floors. The fifth floor is differentiated by a concrete course between it and the fourth floor. Brackets support the belt course. The piers at the fifth floor level are rusticated. Above the fifth floor windows are dentils. The cornice is supported by brackets. A parapet at the corner bears the date 1910. A plaque between the third and fourth floors bears the inscription, "Shannon Building". An annex on the Main St. side is smaller in scale and later in date.

Architect: Charles H. Preston

Builder:

Importance:

James B Shannon was a liquor dealer who erected several buildings in downtown Norwich. Shannon erected a large building on this site at the turn of the century. After it burned, the present building was constructed almost immediately.

The Shannon Building is important to the street-scape of downtown Norwich because of its corner location, scale, and relationship other buildings such as the Wauregan, directly across Main Street. An excellent example of the influence of the Sullivanesque style, the building displays remarkable similarity to the Mills Building of El Paso, Texas, also built in 1910. Preston, the architect, was trained in Chicago where the Sullivanesque style and commercial style originated.

Sources:

Charles H. Preston, Obituary, Norwich Bulletin, April 2, 1916, p.5

Gilman, William C. Norwich Quarter Millennium, Norwich, CT, 1912, p. 25, 46

Harby, Stephen W. Norwich, Ct. A Guide its Architecture, 1976

Marshall, Benj. Tinkham, A Modern History of New London County, NY: Lewis Hist. Pub. Co., 1922, p. 479, 483

Norwich Assessor's Records.

Evaluations:

Threats None Private