Frederick Stickney

Born, raised, and educated in local schools, Frederick Stickney (1853-1918) was one of Lowell’s most prolific architects, designing many public buildings in the city during his lifetime.  Stickney studied architecture at MIT and apprenticed with architects Hartwell and Swazey, H.H. Richardson, and Henry Van Brunt in Boston.  He graduated in 1877 at the top of his class and received the Boston Society of Architects award for best student work of the year.  Returning to Lowell, he began work in the office of local architect Otis Merrill.  By 1881, Stickney opened an office in Boston followed by an office in Lowell two years later.  Stickney designed in a variety of styles including Queen Anne, Shingle, Romanesque Revival, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Colonial Revival.

In 1892, Stickney began an eight year partnership with William Austin of Boston. Stickney then operated his own office in Lowell until his death in 1918.  His early work consisted of primarily small residential and public projects in Lowell but by 1887, he was receiving commissions far and wide, achieving a national reputation by designing buildings in Chicago, Cincinnati, and New York.  Included in these commissions are the Rev. H.T. Rose House aka Rosemary Lodge (1884, Southhampton, New York) and the Kennebunk River Club Boat House (1890).

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His Lowell designs are too numerous to mention but include the Vesper Boathouse (1879, Pawtucket Street), Oliver Cushing House (ca. 1885, 48 Wannalancit Street), Cook & Taylor Building (1884, 231 Central Street), John Howe House (1887, 85 Fairmount Street), Herbert Jefferson House (ca. 1888, 7 Fairmount Street), Pollard Exchange (1891, 55 Middle Street), Moody School (1892, 158 Rogers Street), and Memorial Hall/Pollard Memorial Library (1893, 401 Merrimack Street).  With partner William Austin, Stickney designed Lowell High School (1892, Kirk Street) and Lowell Normal School's Coburn Hall (1897, Broadway Street) on the present-day UMass-Lowell South Campus.