George Fullington Loring was born March 26, 1851, in Boston to George and Harriet Abba (Stoodley) Loring.[1] He was educated in the public schools, with supplementary classes in the free drawing school of the Lowell Institute under the direction of George Hollingsworth.[2] From 1868 to 1882 he was employed in the city surveyor's office of Boston. From 1882 to 1884 he was employed in the office of architect George A. Clough.[3] In the latter year Loring established his own architecture practice.[4] In 1889 he formed a partnership with Sanford Phipps, formerly employed in the Boston office of Worcester architect Stephen C. Earle.[3] The firm of Loring & Phipps became notable, in particular, for their designs for large school buildings throughout the northeast United States.[4]
This partnership continued until Loring's death in 1918. Phipps continued to practice until his own death in 1921.
Loring married in 1873 to Sarah Frances Johnson of Somerville, a descendant of Edward Johnson of Woburn. The couple lived in Somerville, from 1895 occupying a large family home built from Loring's design. They had four children.[1] Both of their sons followed their father into the business. His eldest son, Ernest Johnson Loring (1874-1926), attended the architectural school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1895. He worked for his father's firm from them until 1901, and for Earle & Fisher until 1902, before changing careers.[5] Their third child, Ralph Stoodley Loring (1879-1948), also attended MIT and would go on to be an architect of some note in Idaho and California.[6]
Loring was prominent in Masonic circles, and was architect of the Masonic Temple in Boston and the Masonic Apartments in Somerville. He was also a founding member of the Somerville Historical Society, now the Somerville Museum, in 1898. Mrs. Loring was also a member of the society.
Loring died February 1, 1918, in Somerville at the age of 66.[6] He was a distant relative of fellow Boston architect Charles Greely Loring, partner of Joseph D. Leland in the firm of Loring & Leland.[1]
Legacy
A number of buildings designed by Loring, alone and in association with Sanford Phipps, have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.[7] Others contribute to listed historic districts.
^"WAR.39." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed June 23, 2021.
^"SMV.227." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed June 23, 2021.
^"School Building Notes," School Journal 51, no. 9 (September 14, 1895): 228.
^"Loring, George Fullington" in Somerville, Past and Present: An Illustrated Historical Souvenir, ed. Edward A. Samuels and Henry H. Kimball (Boston: Samuels and Kimball, 1897): 582.
^"HPK.189." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed June 23, 2021.
^"SMV.36." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed June 23, 2021.
^"BOS.2309." mhc-macris.net. Massachusetts Historical Commission, n. d. Accessed June 23, 2021.
