Loring & Phipps architectural collection

Historical/Biographical Note

Historical/Biographical Note

Loring & Phipps was an architectural firm formed in circa 1889 by George F. Loring (1851-1918) and Sanford Phipps (1850-1921). The firm was renowned for building numerous large school buildings across the northeast United States, and were regarded as a preeminent architectural firm in New England. According to Loring's biography in volume 11 of The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, the firm had "erected about fifty public buildings and many of the private residences in Newton and the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts." Some of the buildings they designed are, the Flint Public High School in 1890, Everett High School in 1893 and 1905, Hopkinton Public Library, the Charles Owens House in 1906, Walpole High School in 1907, and Bridgewater, Massachusetts', William H. McElwain School in 1912.

Loring was born in Boston in 1851 to George Loring (1824-1908) and Harriet Abba (Stoodley) Loring. He was educated in public school, but was able to take supplementary classes in the free drawing school of Lowell Institute under the direction of George Hollingsworth (1813-1882). In 1873, he married Sarah Frances Johnson (1854-1930) of Somerville, Massachusetts. The couple had four children. Loring was employed by the city surveyor's office of Boston from 1868 to 1882. From 1882 to 1884 he was employed by architect George A. Clough (1843-1910), and upon his departure he started his own architectural firm. Circa 1889 he partnered with Phipps to open Loring & Phipps. He died on February 1, 1918 in Somerville.

Phipps was born in 1850 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to Isaac Bonney Phipps (1812-1907) and Achsah (Allard) Phipps (1814-1890). Before becoming an architect, he worked as a draftsman in Milford, Massachusetts. In 1870, he briefly worked in the offices of Peabody & Stearns. From 1874 to 1882, he worked for Earle & Fisher before starting his own architectural firm. He worked on his own until partnering with Loring to start their own architectural firm, Loring & Phipps. Phipps married Alice Ardella Comstock (1850-1913) in 1873 in Milford, Massachusetts. The couple had three children. Following Loring 1918 death, he continued to practice independently. He died on January 18, 1921 in Hopkinton.

Sources

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Being the History of the United States as Illustrated in the Lives of the Founders, Builders, and Defenders of the Republic, and of the Men and Women who are Doing the Work and Moulding the Thought of the Present Time (Vol. 11). (1921). James T. White & Company. https://archive.org/details/nationalcyclopae17newy/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater.