George P.B. Alderman (1862-1929) Holyoke,Massachusetts

George P. B. Alderman (1862-1929) was an architect with offices at 437 High Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. He specialized in the construction of residential buildings early in his career, before progressing to religious, institutional, and commercial buildings largely in the Massachusetts cities of Holyoke, Northampton, Westfield, Ludlow, South Hadley, Springfield, and Chicopee. Initially trained as a carpenter, Alderman advanced to working as a draughtsman in the office of architect James A. Clough. Considered one of the leading designers during the period of Holyoke's major industrial prosperity, Clough is credited with many impressive buildings in that city, including the Russell-Osborne Building (1885), the Holyoke Public Library (1897), and the Holyoke Home for Aged People (1911). Alderman apprenticed under Clough for five years before moving to Chicago, where he found work in the offices of Cass Chapman. Chapman was most known for his work at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, which included additions to the ca. 1870 William F. King Residence and the College Chapel (1877). Alderman returned to Holyoke in 1885 and opened his own practice. He was later joined by his brother, Henry Holcomb Alderman, and together the two designed residences, churches, schools, and public buildings.

Alderman's overall approach to architecture was synonymous with that of his contemporaries. His early career (1885-1893) featured Italianate, Romanesque Revival, and Queen Anne-inspired designs, while his later works (1890s-1910) expanded to include Beaux Arts, Classical, and Colonial Revival styles. Examples of Alderman's work include the Clovis Robert Block (1881, NRHP 2002) in Holyoke. The Clovis Robert Block, a brick, mixed-use building executed in the Classical Revival and Queen Anne styles, was considered among the more exuberant designs on Main Street at the time of its construction, with a four-part, copper-clad center bay window ornamented with fish scale-pattern copper shingles.

Alderman received a large number of commissions for school buildings in Chicopee and Holyoke, where he was considered a local expert in school building design. In Chicopee, Alderman was responsible for additions made to the Fairview School (1923, extant with additions), George S. Taylor School (1910, razed 1970), Grape Street School (1861, addition in 1905 to become Valentine Kindergarten, extant), and the Spruce Street Primary School (built ca. 1890 and razed 1965). Alderman was also responsible for the Valentine School (1898) in Chicopee, executed in the Renaissance Revival style, and the William Whiting School (1910, Hampden Park) in Holyoke, designed in the Colonial Revival style. The Whiting School, built to serve kindergarten through eighth grade during the day and to function as an evening school, was described in the Holyoke Post Transcript as the first school in Holyoke to make design improvements for children's health. Such improvements included pivoting windows, air shafts built into the core of the building to improve ventilation, and bathrooms in the basement.