Harding and Seaver was an architectural firm based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, active from 1902 to 1947. It was the partnership of architects George C. Harding (1867–1921) and Henry M. Seaver (1873–1947).

Biographies of founders George C. Harding George Campbell Harding was born May 18, 1867, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He attended the public schools in Pittsfield and Phillips Academy in Andover before entering the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. He graduated in 1889 and worked in the offices of several Boston architects. He later returned to Pittsfield, where in 1894 he formed a partnership with Charles T. Rathbun, Pittsfield's oldest architect. This partnership, Rathbun & Harding, was dissolved upon Rathbun's retirement in 1899. Harding then practiced under his own name, establishing his partnership with Henry M. Seaver on January 1, 1902."News From the Classes," Technology Review 4, no. 2 (April 1902): 246. He maintained his partnership with Seaver until his death in 1921."News From the Classes," Technology Review 23, no. 3 (July 1921): 445-446.

Harding died April 23, 1921, in Pittsfield. He never married.

Henry M. Seaver Henry Morse Seaver was born March 8, 1873, in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, now part of Boston. He attended the public schools, graduating from Boston English High School in 1890. He entered the office of Boston architects Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, and also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a two-year architecture program, graduating in 1897. After traveling in Europe, Seaver returned to Boston in 1899 and briefly established an architecture practice. He was selected to design the new Theodore Parker Church in West Roxbury, the congregation of which his parents were members. In 1900, after the church was completed, he moved to Pittsfield, where he became head drafter in the office of George C. Harding. After a year, they formed a partnership which was maintained until Harding's 1921 death. Seaver continued the firm alone under the same name until his own death in 1947."Henry Seaver, Architect, Dies at 74," Berkshire County Eagle, December 10, 1947, 1.

Seaver was a member of the Planning Board of Pittsfield from its 1924 establishment until his death.

In 1904 Seaver married Alice V. W. Wentworth of Pittsfield."News From the Classes," Technology Review 6, no. 3 (July 1904): 474. He died December 9, 1947, in Pittsfield.

Legacy In 1948, the firm was purchased by architects Prentice Bradley (1906–1997) and Douglas T. Gass, who reorganized it as Bradley & Gass. They dissolved their partnership in 1955, Bradley continuing the practice alone. In 1971 he further reorganized the firm as Bradley Architects."Firm & History", berkshirebradley.com, Bradley Architects, n. d. Accessed February 15, 2021. The firm is still in business in Pittsfield.

Harding and Seaver "designed a great many public buildings in the Pittsfield-Berkshire County area, and did many other private commissions throughout New England and in New York State."

Some of their works are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.

Architectural works Saint Andrew's Chapel, Washington, Massachusetts (1899, NRHP-listed 1986) Martin Memorial Chapel, Pittsfield Cemetery, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1900)Pittsfield Cemetery NRHP Registration Form (2007) Lenox Town Hall, Lenox, Massachusetts (1901–02)"Public Buildings," Engineering Record 44, no. 9 (August 31, 1901): 214. Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1902–03)Edward Boltwood, The History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, From the Year 1876 to the Year 1916 (Pittsfield: City of Pittsfield, 1916) "Mount Pleasant" for W. Murray Crane, Windsor, Massachusetts (1903)"WND.30", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. House for Henry M. Seaver, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1905)"PIT.359", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Lathrop Hall, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York (1905–06)Colgate University: Report of the President for the Year 1904-1905 (Hamilton: Colgate University, 1905) Pittsfield Boys' Club, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1905–06) House for William C. Plunkett, Adams, Massachusetts (1907)"ADA.26", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. "Sugar Hill" for W. Murray Crane, Dalton, Massachusetts (1907)"DAL.6", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Currier Hall, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1908)"WLL.113", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. William R. Plunkett School, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1909, demolished 2014)"PIT.702", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Y. M. C. A. Building (former), Dalton, Massachusetts (1909)"Business Buildings," Engineering Record 59, no. 13 (March 27, 1909): 46b. Y. M. C. A. Building, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1909–10) Colgate Hall, Colby–Sawyer College, New London, New Hampshire (1911–12)Bryant F. Tolles Jr. and Carolyn K. Tolles, New Hampshire Architecture: An Illustrated Guide (Hanover: University Press of New England, 1979) House for Richard H. Stearns, Brookline, Massachusetts (1912)"BKL.1498", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Masonic Temple, Bennington, Vermont (1912)Downtown Bennington Historic District (Boundary Increase) NRHP Registration Form (2008) Colgate Memorial Chapel, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York (1916)"Public Buildings and Schools," Engineering Record 73, no. 14 (April 1, 1916): 153. "Point O'View" for George D. B. Bonbright, Nantucket, Massachusetts"NAN.1636", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Z. Marshall Crane School and Library, Windsor, Massachusetts (1919–20)"WND.1", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Alterations to the South Congregational Church, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1919)"PIT.73", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Clapp Memorial Building, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1924)"PIT.W", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Edward A. Jones Memorial Building, Berkshire Medical Center, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1932)

Gallery of architectural works

See also George M. Harding (1827–1910), an architect of Portland, Maine and Boston

Notes

References