72 Marlborough Street, Residential Hydraulic Elevator, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

Significance: The elevator was representative of an important mechanical development in vertical transportation. According to the Smithsonian, "The rope-geared hydraulic elevator was introduced to the United States about 1868 and quickly superceded the steam elevator with its numerous economic and functional disadvantages...With improvements by many inventors and manufacturers, the rope-geared elevator by about 1880 was the mainstay of the industry, in a variety of configurations. By the end of its useful life, about 1910, displaced by the direct-plunger hydraulic and the electric, it was the system of choice for the largest installations in terms of lifting capacity, rise, speed, and smoothness of operation. It is, in fact, the rope-geared hydraulic elevator that is 'the elevator' so commonly cited as being at least the co-equal with the iron/steel skeleton frame in having made in skyscraper possible. The Marlborough Street installation incorporates every important feature of the system in its basic configuration and system of control..."
Survey number: HAER MA-56
Building/structure dates: 1902 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1985 Demolished