By Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
Gridley Barrows (1912-1999) was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1912. His father was an engineer, and his mother was an artist. Barrows graduated from Philips Exeter in 1929 and from Harvard in 1934. He then attended Harvard’s School of Architecture, leaving in 1936 to work in New York City on WPA mural projects with such noted artists as Stuart Davis and Philip Guston. Between 1939 and 1942, he assisted in running a school for war refugee boys from Great Britain and Europe.
Gridley Barrows served in the Pacific during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander in the navy. In 1946, he resumed his architectural career, working days for the New York firm of Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith and attending Columbia at night. In 1950, he moved to Boston to complete his architectural education at Harvard while working for Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott.
After receiving his degree from Harvard in 1955, Barrows joined the firm of Alonzo J. Harriman in Auburn, where he worked as a designer from 1956 to 1961. From 1961 until his retirement in 1978, he directed Harriman’s design department. During this period, he oversaw the planning of such notable projects as the Muskie Federal Building in Augusta, the Forest Resources Building at the University of Maine in Orono, the Schaeffer Theater at Bates College in Lewiston, and the John and Sylvia Lund Residence in Augusta. A devout Christian Scientist, he designed the First Church of Christ Scientist in Auburn.
From 1978 until his death in 1999, Gridley Barrows devoted himself to a retirement of public service. He was active in the Lewiston Historic Preservation Review Board, Greater Portland Landmarks, Maine Citizens for Historic Preservation, the Maine Arts Festival at Bowdoin College, and the Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He made an extensive photographic record of Lewiston architecture, using his pictures in lectures and publications to promote awareness of the city’s heritage. In doing so, he became a beloved member of the Lewiston community. In 1982 he was made a fellow of the A.I.A., the highest honor of his profession.
On May 12, 2000, the Lewiston Public Library and the Lewiston Historic Preservation Review Board held a public gathering to recognize the lifework of Gridley Barrows. His longtime friend Philip M. Isaacson paid tribute to him in the following words:
As an architect, Gridley Barrows had taste and high sophistication. He was trained at Harvard, loved building and loved art. My sense is that as a designer he was deliberate, rational, and precise. His buildings - those that I know of - reflect those qualities. When he came to Maine, he brought with him a high level of design achievement that was uncommon in these precincts.