1970Boston, MassachusettsFinancial

First National Bank Building / 100 Federal Street

Boston knows this 1970 job by a much less formal name: the 'Pregnant Building.'

First National Bank Building / 100 Federal Street — The First National Bank Building at 100 Federal Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known as the "Pregnant Building" due to its. Photographed in 2014; a current view, not a construction-period photograph.

The First National Bank Building at 100 Federal Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known as the "Pregnant Building" due to its. Photographed in 2014; a current view, not a construction-period photograph.

Current view · 2014 · Photo: Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

01The story

Why this project matters

Project identity
Verified
Kelly connection
Family source
Masonry scope
Probable

Rita’s list

Rita Bartscherer’s handwritten entry: First Bank of Boston — 1970

Transcription: First Bank of Boston — 1970

Recorded by Rita Bartscherer · Bartscherer family record

Entry

KM-076

Sheet

1 of two

As written

“First Bank of Boston — 1970”

100 Federal Street was under construction from 1968 to 1971, exactly spanning Joseph's 1970 entry.

Why it matters

Boston nicknamed 100 Federal Street the 'Pregnant Building' because several lower floors swell outward. The bulge gave the bank more office space while preserving wider views along the street—an odd-looking compromise that made the 1971 tower unforgettable.

02What Kelly did

What Kelly did here

Kelly connection

Family source

Scope confidence

Probable

Likely: most plausibly interior CMU/block at the core, stairs, shafts, service rooms, fire separations and support spaces. Do not attribute the tower's visible dark red granite cladding to Kelly without a stone/masonry trade record; the granite exterior may have been a separate specialty package.

This scope is recorded as probable, not documented. It is a disciplined reading of the building and the trade practice of the period, not a contract-level record of Kelly’s work.

03Who built it

The construction team

  1. 01Architect

    Campbell, Aldrich & Nulty

04What happened

What happened to it

Still standing

On the map

100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110

Still standing

Sources

4 citedOpen →
What this record rests on
  1. 01
  2. 02
    boston.com

    then and now building bostons skyline

  3. 03
    commons.wikimedia.org

    File:100 Federal Street Boston Massachusetts.jpg

  4. 04
    bxp.com

    100 federal street

Image credits
  • Tim Pierce · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · 2014-03-06

    The First National Bank Building at 100 Federal Street in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known as the "Pregnant Building" due to its. Photographed in 2014; a current view, not a construction-period photograph.

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