Bedford Block

The Bedford Block is a historic commercial building on Bedford Street in downtown Boston, built in 1875 in the rare Venetian Gothic style. Architects Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears designed the building as a shoe warehouse following the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Its facade stands out for its colorful bands of red granite, marble, and terra-cotta, and it was the first building to use this type of granite. Today, visitors admire the rusticated ground-floor blocks, the arched niches, the wrought-iron balconies, and the decorative grilles on the gables. A striking feature is the five-story tower on the northeast corner, which houses a glazed clock face. The landmarked building was renovated in 1983 and now sits in the historic Church Green district.