Fuller & Delano

Fuller & Delano

Company type	Architectural firm
Industry	Architecture
Founded	1878 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Founder	James E. Fuller, Ward P. Delano II
Defunct	1942
Headquarters	Worcester, Massachusetts , United States
Key people	James E. Fuller, Ward P. Delano II, Robert L. Fuller, Ward P. Delano III

Fuller & Delano was an architectural practice based in Worcester, Massachusetts, operating from 1878 until 1942. Established by architects James E. Fuller and Ward P. Delano II, the firm was responsible for designing more than twenty structures that were subsequently listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, securing a prominent position within the regional architectural market.

Firm history

The firm was founded in 1878 by James E. Fuller, who had previously been a partner with architect Stephen C. Earle, alongside Ward P. Delano II. Fuller & Delano quickly became an influential entity in Worcester's architectural scene. Originally trained as a carpenter, Fuller teamed up with Delano after having worked as his draftsman. Their partnership endured until Fuller's passing in 1901. Between 1895 and 1899, architect Howard Frost joined as a partner before leaving to establish his own successful firm, Frost, Briggs & Chamberlain, contributing further to Worcester's architectural development.

After the founders passed away, their sons—Robert L. Fuller and Ward P. Delano III—took over the firm's management, preserving its legacy until Delano III's death by suicide in 1940 and Fuller's retirement in 1942, concluding the firm's 64 years of operation.

The firm's offices were strategically situated for business prominence, initially housed in the Peoples Savings Bank building at 452 Main Street—a location formerly occupied by Earle & Fuller—and later relocating in 1911 to the Chase Building at 44 Front Street, a structure they had designed in 1886. This remained their base until the firm ceased operations in 1942.

James Edward Fuller

James Edward Fuller (1836–1901), born in Warwick, Massachusetts, began his career as a carpenter before moving into architecture. In 1865, he joined E. Boyden & Son in Worcester and later partnered with Stephen C. Earle to form Earle & Fuller until 1876. After two years practicing alone, he co-established a firm with his draftsman Ward P. Delano in 1878, maintaining this collaboration until his death.

Fuller married Clara Delia Gould in 1859; they had children including James Edward Fuller Jr., a contractor associated with the George A. Fuller Company, and Robert Lesure Fuller. In 1890, he purchased the historic Charles Newton House in Worcester to serve as a family home and investment.

A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects since 1892, Fuller's career was marked by strategic partnerships that defined his architectural work. The Fuller family lineage traces back to Samuel Fuller of the Mayflower, highlighting a heritage of deep American roots significant to the firm's identity and legacy.

Ward Parker Delano II

Ward Parker Delano II (born January 12, 1851, Marion, Massachusetts) started his professional life in the coal industry during Reconstruction before shifting to architecture and construction work in Boston. He was employed by Ware & Van Brunt until 1877 before relocating to Worcester to collaborate with Robert Lesure Fuller. Together they created a business partnership in 1878 that later incorporated following Fuller's death in 1901. Delano incorporated Fuller's son into the company to maintain continuity.

Delano married Elizabeth Holmes Sparrow in 1881; they had five children, including Ward Parker Delano III who became a principal at the firm. He was recognized as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects from 1892 until his resignation in 1902. Delano passed away in Worcester on September 23, 1915.

The Delano family traces its ancestry to Philip Delano, an early immigrant to North America arriving in 1621.

Robert Lesure Fuller

Robert Lesure Fuller (born June 29, 1871, Worcester) completed his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1896 and subsequently joined the firm Fuller & Delano. In 1900, he acted as the representative for the George A. Fuller Company at the Exposition Universelle held in Paris. Following the passing of his father in 1901, Fuller assumed a principal role in the newly established Fuller & Delano Company alongside Ward P. Delano III. He continued his involvement with the firm until his retirement in 1942, two years after Delano's death in 1940.

Fuller was married twice; initially to Mary W. White, with whom he had two children, and later to Luella Morrow. Although he was associated with the Worcester chapter of the American Institute of Architects, he never became a member of the national body. Fuller passed away on October 18, 1950.

Ward Parker Delano III

Ward Parker Delano III (born July 24, 1883, Worcester) was the eldest child of Ward Parker Delano II. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1905, he gained experience with architectural firms in Boston and New York before joining his father's practice in 1908. He became a principal following his father's death in 1915. Delano remained unmarried and died by suicide at his office on January 10, 1940.

Legacy

Fuller & Delano were responsible for designing more than twenty structures that have been recognized on the United States National Register of Historic Places, playing a vital role in shaping historic districts.

In Worcester, Massachusetts

• Residence for George L. Robbins, 104 Vernon St (1880)
• Worcester City Hospital, 26 Queen St (1880-81 and subsequent years, partially surviving)
• Sawyer Building (component of Bancroft Trust Building), 60 Franklin St (1882)
• Robinson and Swan Blocks, 1 and 3 Irving St (1884, listed on NRHP in 1980)
• Moody Shattuck House, 738 Main St (1885, NRHP-listed in 1980)
• Cambridge Street Firehouse, 534 Cambridge St (1886, NRHP-listed in 1980)
• Chase Building, 44 Front St (1886)
• Residence for Edwin A. Kelley, 45 Cedar St (1886)
• Woodland Street Firehouse, 36 Woodland St (1886, NRHP-listed in 1980)
• YMCA Building, 8 Elm St (1886–87, since demolished)
• Apartment building for Thomas H. Hall, 84 Murray Ave (1887, part of Wellington Street Apartment House District on NRHP)
• Otis Putnam House, 25 Harvard St (1887, listed on NRHP in 1980)
• Receiving tomb at Hope Cemetery (1887)
• Brightside Apartments, 2 King St (1888, NRHP-listed in 1980)
• Former Worcester Armory, located at 44 Salisbury and 69 Grove Sts (built between 1888–89 and expanded in 1907), later housed Massachusetts National Guard Museum; ownership transferred to Veterans Inc. in 2014
• Albion Apartments, 765 Main St (1889)
• Former Old South Congregational Church, 714 Main St (1889, partially demolished)
• Salisbury Street School at 50 Salisbury St (1889), later known as North High School; converted into condominiums; part of Institutional District listed on NRHP
• Walker Hall on Worcester Academy campus (1889), included on NRHP
• Residence for Edwin S. Pierce, 272 Highland St (1890)
• O'Kane Hall at College of the Holy Cross (1891–95)
• Dexter Hall at Worcester Academy (1892)
• Greendale School at 130 Leeds St (1893)
• Residence for William H. Burns, 65 Cedar St (1893), within Lincoln Estate–Elm Park Historic District
• Worcester State Hospital Farmhouse (1894–95), listed on NRHP in 2017
• Malvern Road School at 928 Southbridge St (1896), NRHP-listed since 1984
• Residence for S. Foster Goodwin, 9 Germain St (1897)
• William Hogg House at 54 Elm St (1897), registered on NRHP in 1980
• Park Theatre at 12 Front St (1898), altered from original design
• Dwight Foster Building at 33 Waldo St (1899)
• Enterprise Building at 540 Main St (1900), included on NRHP since 1980
• Eastern Avenue Firehouse at126 Eastern Ave (1901)
• Addition to Central Exchange Building at311 Main St (1902), part of Mechanics' Hall District
• Nurses' Home for Worcester State Hospital (1902–03)
• Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Gethsemane Church at43 Belmont St (1908–11)
• Shelter and community house located in Lake Park (1911)
• Former Quinsigamond Branch Library at14 Blackstone River Rd (1913), listed on NRHP since1980
• Norwegian Lutheran Church at54 Highland St (1916–17)
• Zion Lutheran Church located at41 Whitmarsh Ave (1919–20)
• Indian Hill School at155 Ararat St (1924)
• Former Jewish Home for the Aged at1029 Pleasant St(1931–32)

Other Locations in Worcester County

• Clarke School, situated at Cross and East Streets in Whitinsville, Massachusetts (1878, since demolished)
• First Congregational Church, located at 28 Green Street, Gardner, Massachusetts (1878–79)
• First Congregational Church, 36 North Main Street, West Brookfield, Massachusetts (1881, no longer standing)
• Memorial Congregational Church at 16 Elm Street in Baldwinville, Massachusetts (1881)
• Addition to Grove Street School, 22 Grove Street, Spencer, Massachusetts (1883, listed on NRHP in 1996)
• Pleasant Street School, found at 54 Pleasant Street, Spencer, Massachusetts (1883, NRHP 1996)
• Levi Heywood Memorial Library Building, 28 Pearl Street, Gardner, Massachusetts (1885)
• "Marchmont," a residence for Joseph N. White on Glenallen Street in Winchendon, Massachusetts (1888–90; demolished in 1957)
• Bank Block situated at 388 Main Street, Athol, Massachusetts (1889; modified in 1928)
• St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 49 Woodland Street, Fitchburg, Massachusetts (1890–92)
• Holbrook Memorial Chapel within Mount Vernon Cemetery, West Boylston, Massachusetts (1891)
• Columbia Block at 228-230 Main Street in Webster, Massachusetts (1892)
• Haston Free Public Library located at 149 Main Street, North Brookfield, Massachusetts (1893)
• Uxbridge Free Public Library, 15 North Main Street, Uxbridge, Massachusetts (1893)
• Baldwinville School at 733 Baldwinville Road in Baldwinville, Massachusetts (1898)
• Grafton State Hospital, located in Grafton, Massachusetts (1903 onward; NRHP 1994)
• Boylston Public Library situated at 695 Main Street, Boylston, Massachusetts (1904)
• Fobes Memorial Library at 4 Maple Street in Oakham, Massachusetts (1907)
• Keating Building located at 21 East Main Street, Westborough, Massachusetts (1915)
• Holden Hospital at 61 Boyden Road in Holden, Massachusetts (1922)

Additional Sites Across Massachusetts

• Hudson High School, positioned at 20 Felton Street in Hudson, Massachusetts (1882; NRHP 1982)
• Franklin County Jail and House of Correction located at 160 Elm Street in Greenfield, Massachusetts (1886)
• Walker Building, found at 1242 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts (1890; NRHP listed in 1983)
• Warwick Town Hall at 12 Athol Road in Warwick, Massachusetts (1894–95)
• Former Adams Hatchery at 169 Grove Street in Adams, Massachusetts (1899); originally designed as a trout hatchery and now repurposed for retail use
• Mattapoisett Free Public Library located at 7 Barstow Street in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts (1903)
• Strand Theatre situated at 1157 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, Massachusetts (1910; later altered)
• Warwick Free Public Library at 4 Hotel Road in Warwick, Massachusetts (1918–19); adapted from a former Baptist church building

Projects in New Hampshire

• Gordon-Nash Library, positioned at 69 Main Street in New Hampton, New Hampshire (1895; NRHP designation in 1988)
• Residence for Addison G. Cook located at 135 Academy Street in Laconia, New Hampshire (1897)
• Keene Public Library situated at 60 Winter Street in Keene, New Hampshire (1898–99); transformed from Henry Colony’s residence built in 1869 with additional expansions
• "Aldworth Manor," a home for Arthur E. Childs located on 184 Aldworth Road in Harrisville, New Hampshire (constructed in 1905; remodeled by Kilham & Hopkins in 1915; NRHP listed in 1988)