The Pierce Building, Dorchester

The Pierce Building was constructed on the site of the former Samuel Bowen Pierce homestead at the intersection of Dudley Street and Columbia Road. Sameul Bown Pierce was born in Vermont in 1894 and worked in the crockery business selling goods throughout New England.

Following Pierce’s death in 1896 his son J. Homer demolished the family homestead and constructed the current structure for commercial and residential use naming it the S.B. Pierce Building for his father. By the 1970s the building had become vacant and suffered from deferred maintenance. In 1985 the building was rehabilitated for retail, artists’ lofts, and office space.

Prompted by a piece of marble falling from the façade onto the sidewalk in 2020, the owner completed a substantial rehabilitation of the building for continued commercial and office use. The rehabilitation included masonry repairs, reconstruction of the cornice, new windows, new mechanical systems, ADA upgrades, and restoration of historic coffered ceilings. The building is now occupied by a bank on the first floor, an incubator space for creative businesses and local entrepreneurs on the second floor. The upper floors continue to house office spaces.