Dickinson Library - Northfield, Mass.

Architecture of the nineteenth century, in public buildings--as well as in many of the private homes of the wealthier class, represented more than practical form and function.  There were monuments.  Most of them were quite beautiful and such structures that remain today grace their communities with a sense of history, heritage, and art.

Even in small towns they remain impressive, and were usually the gift of benefactors.  Above is a postcard published by A.R. Levering of East Northfield dating from about 1903 of the Dickinson Library in Northfield, Massachusetts.  It was gift of  Fitchburg shoe manufacturer Elijah Marsh Dickinson (1816-1902), who was born in West Northfield, left the farm as young man to make his way in the burgeoning Industrial Revolution of nineteenth-century Massachusetts, eventually found success with his E.M. Dickinson Shoe Co., and was able to support his old hometown with this excellent gift.

The Romanesque style was built of granite and limestone, and was dedicated in 1898.  It allowed space for museum rooms, and as with most libraries, became a focal point of the community and a source of pride.

It still serves the community of Northfield.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of:

The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;

States of Mind: New England, essays from New England Travels

A Tragic Toast to Christmas -- The Infamous Wood Alcohol Deaths of 1919 in Chicopee, Mass.; as well as books on classic films and several novels.  

Her Double V Mysteries series is set in New England in the early 1950s.  

Most of her books can be purchased at Bookshop.org here, as well as most online shops.

TO JOIN HER MAILING LIST - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Graduation Day - Holyoke High School - Holyoke, Massachusetts

1906 postcard

With the season of high school graduations upon us, we have a look now at an era where the construction of a high school in town was something akin to the raising of a temple, a landmark, and a symbol of civic pride.  When fewer people went beyond eighth grade, the achievement of a high school diploma was the mark of an educated person and pointed to the rise of a new middle class.  The style of building reflected that prestige.

The first high school in Holyoke was established in 1852.  The first school on Elm Street, built in 1862, was a simple two-story brick schoolhouse design.  The postcard photos here are of the second high school building, built in 1898.   It was used until 1964, when the new and current building was constructed on Beech Street.  

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;

 States of Mind: New England, 

A Tragic Toast to Christmas -- The Infamous Wood Alcohol Deaths of 1919 in Chicopee, Mass.; as well as books on classic films and several novels.  Her Double V Mysteries series is set in New England in the early 1950s.  

TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

 

American International College - Springfield, Mass.

According to this 1930s-era postcard, American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, a private, four-year coeducational school, was first established in Lowell, Mass., in 1885 under the name of French Protestant College.  It moved to Springfield three years later in 1888 and afterward took the current name.  A striking feature of the college is the Georgian Colonial red brick buildings.  The postcard was published by the Springfield News Company and printed by Tichnor Bros. in Boston.

Below, in a postcard from a similar era, but postmarked 1950, shows the library in the top photo, and the D.A.R. building and Owen Street Hall on the bottom.  The postcard was published by Bonneville Card & Paper in Springfield and printed by Curteich in Chicago.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   

Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;

 States of Mind: New England, 

A Tragic Toast to Christmas -- The Infamous Wood Alcohol Deaths of 1919 in Chicopee, Mass.; as well as books on classic films and several novels.  Her Double V Mysteries series is set in New England in the early 1950s.  TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Christian Science Church building - Springfield, Massachusetts

The Christian Science Church of Springfield, Massachusetts, stood on State Street in this 1930s-era colored postcard.  The postcard was published by the Springfield News Company.

The congregation merged with another in Longmeadow sometime around 2000.  The site is now the Progressive Community Baptist Church.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Four aerial views of Springfield, Massachusetts in the 1920s

Here are four aerial views of Springfield, Massachusetts, all probably taken at the same time around the mid-to-late 1920s.  They are from a set of postcards published by the Aerial Service of Hartford, Connecticut.  Above, starting from the southernmost section of the city, we have the Everett Barney mansion, estate, mausoleum and grounds of Forest Park.  The Connecticut River is on the far upper right.

Next, we have the lower State Street area, specifically focused on what the postcard publisher calls The Educational Center, but which we have come to know as The Quadrangle.  The library can be seen, as well as the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, The Springfield Science Museum, and the building which currently houses The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss.  In this photo, the Museum of Fine Arts is absent, as that was not built until the 1930s.  Also absent is the Lyman and Merrie Woods Museum of Springfield History, which was not constructed until 2009.

St. Michael's Cathedral can be spotted, the Springfield Armory, Classical High School, and Springfield Technical High School, which we covered in this previous post.

The next view shows us the city's downtown with Court Square, the City Hall, Campanile, and Symphony Hall prominent in the photo.  The new Memorial Bridge, completed in 1922 spans the Connecticut River on the left.  Horizontal near the top of the photo we have the rail line and train station.  This view gives us a good look at Springfield before Route 91.

Our final view is of the northern section of the city and the expanse of what was the new Springfield Hospital, what would later become the main building of Baystate Medical Center.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

Springfield Technical High School - Springfield, Massachusetts

Here are some postcard views of the former Springfield (Mass) Technical High School.   Built in 1905 on Elliot Street, it served the city for some 81 years before it was closed in 1986.

This above is was postmarked June 1910, probably sent as a keepsake of a graduation ceremony.

Here above is from 1915.  On the back a lady named Marion (?) wrote "We had a very nice trip up and the graduation was a very pretty one well worth seeing.   We went to Forrest Park here to-day.  It is a lovely big park with all sorts of amusements for children..."

Above is postmarked October 1912, with male figures drawn in front of the building.  A student wrote this at what must have been the beginning of the school year, "School in here is quite different.  I like it very much."  He writes to a lady in Monson, Mass.

The building had a capacity of 900 students.  When it closed in 1986, this school as well as Classical High School were joined together in a new school far away from downtown, but still called Central High School.  Perhaps Technical High School's most famous grads were Ernest "Bunny" Taliaferro, its greatest athlete; and Congressman Richard E. Neal.

Most of the building has been torn down, but the front section is used as the facade for the Springfield Data Center, a modern building constructed behind it.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

First Baptist Church - Springfield, Massachusetts

Here are two postcard views of the First Baptist Church of Springfield, Massachusetts.  They are from 1907 and 1908.  The Romanesque building is the fourth church used by this congregation and stood on the corner of State and Spring streets.

The church was used for nearly 20 years, then the congregation merged with the Highland Baptist Church (whose own building on Stebbins Street burned down in 1906) becoming First-Highland Baptist for a time, and afterwards the building was sold and became St. Paul's Universalist Church.  It no longer exists, replaced by a parking garage.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts - A Northern Factory Town's Perspective on the Civil War;   Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts;   States of Mind: New England; as well as books on classic films and several novels. Her latest book is Christmas in Classic Films. TO JOIN HER READERS' GROUP - follow this link for a free book as a thank-you for joining.

The Barney Mausoleum - Springfield, Massachusetts

Two postcard views of the Barney mausoleum in Forest Park, Springfield, Massachusetts.  The first, a photo from 1909; and the second, an illustration from the 1930s.  Inventor and industrialist Everett Hosmer Barney (1835-1916) was probably most famous for two things: inventing the clamp-on ice skate, and for the donation of 178 acres of his extensive estate to be added to Forest Park in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1892, Everett Barney constructed this granite and marble mausoleum for his son on a Laurel Hill, near his Victorian mansion, which we discussed in this previous post. The mausoleum is the final resting place of Everett Hosmer Barney, his wife Eliza Jane Knowles Barney, and their son, George Murray Barney. The mausoleum has two sets of stairs leading up to a temple with twelve pink marble Ionic columns. 

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts; States of Mind: New England (collected essays from this blog); The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts; and Beside the Still Waters - a novel on the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir.

Pecousic Villa - Springfield, Massachusetts

The home of inventor and industrialist Everett Hosmer Barney (1835-1916) - probably most famous for two things: inventing the clamp-on ice skate, and for the donation of 178 acres of his extensive estate to be added to Forest Park in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts.

This Victorian mansion was built in 1890 and had a commanding view of the Connecticut River Valley.  It was called Pecousic Villa.  It was razed during the construction of I-91.  The carriage house, now a restaurant and banquet hall, and the family mausoleum, remain.

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Jacqueline T. Lynch is the author of Comedy and Tragedy on the Mountain: 70 Years of Summer Theatre on Mt. Tom, Holyoke, Massachusetts; States of Mind: New England (collected essays from this blog); The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts; and Beside the Still Waters - a novel on the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir.

 

Customs House - Salem, Massachusetts

Built in 1819, the Customs House in Salem, Massachusetts was once employed author, and Salem native, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who worked here from 1846 until 1849, when he was fired.  It was a politically appointed job, and his being a Democrat apparently did him no good when the Whigs took over in Washington, but Mr. Hawthorne was really more keen on writing.  During his off-time, he wrote, and at this period most probably he had started his novel The Scarlet Letter.

Mr. Hawthorne was not the first writer to work a crummy day job while he wrote at night and dreamed of better things.  He wouldn't be the last.



Latchis Hotel - Brattleboro, Vermont

The Latchis Hotel and Theater in Brattleboro, Vermont is an Art Deco blast from the past, with a confident future and a vital place in this community.


Built in 1938, the hotel and movie theater under one roof is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. The hotel offers modern amenities, and the theater provides a mix of film, lectures and live entertainment.

Have a look at this website for more on the Latchis.

Brick and Mortar, Steel and Glass - Boston Architecture

A bastion of stalwart, stubborn history, a Federalist style building is flanked, almost threateningly, by later 19th century examples of architectural prowess.  I love the flag.  It is like an exclamation point on the little building.

But, the bigger brick buildings shouldn't be too cocky. 

What goes around, comes around, as the 19th century gets dwarfed by the 20th.



Massachusetts Old State House - Original and One Copy

A copy can sometimes tell its own original story. We mentioned the Avenue of States at the Eastern States Exposition a couple of weeks ago in this post. Above is the replica of the Old Massachusetts State House.

Here is the original. Built in 1713, it was the scene of the debate for Revolution by men such as John Hancock, James Otis, John Adams, and Sam Adams. Just outside its door one terrible night, the Boston Massacre roused a colony to rebel.

There had once been the figure of a lion atop the building’s façade, with a unicorn on the other side. These were symbols of the British monarchy. They’re not here now.

But you see them on the replica at the fairgrounds in West Springfield, which was built in 1919.

The Old Statehouse served until 1798, when the new one was built, and this building was turned over to a variety of uses, such as Boston’s city hall, a merchant exchange, and shops. Since 1881 when the Bostonian Society restored the building, it has served as a museum, one of the stops on the Freedom Trail.

The replica, back in western Mass., is noted for selling quantities of maple syrup during the fair, and for this unwieldy but impressive replica of The Mayflower.

No massacre occurred outside its door, but there are quite long lines during the fair. We may have a different sense of hardship in the 21st century.

For more on the Old Statehouse (the real one), have a look at this website.

Hartford's "Boat Building"

Here’s a look at the Boat Building. It’s the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building in Constitution Plaza, Hartford, Connecticut, built 1961 to 1963. It was the first two-sided building in the world.

Now on the National Register of Historic Places, it represents that Modernist architectural style identified with the early 1960s, designed by Max Abramovitz, who also designed the United Nations Building in New York City, as well as Lincoln Center.

It’s 13 stories tall, and its sides face north and south. A couple of months ago, this 47-year-old building became the first historic building in New England to earn certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for environmental achievement. Modern and progressive architecture, indeed, apparently. For more on the award, have a look at this website.

For more on the history of the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Building, have a look here.

Adams Library - Adams, Mass.

The names Washington, Grant, and Lincoln are engraved in stone on the frieze at the top of the Adams Public Library in  Adams, Massachusetts. The Civil War had barely ended when monuments and memorials took the form of Americans’ most fervent and serious expressions of patriotism. In this case, General, later President Grant, and President Lincoln joined Washington in the Valhalla of yet another small town’s consciousness.

NOTE: This post originally mistakenly included information from the Houghton Memorial Library of North Adams with the Adams Library in Adams, Mass.  The Houghton Memorial Library information is now removed and will be reposted with the proper photos in a future post. 

Campanile - Springfield, Mass.

This is the Campanile in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. This neoclassical clock tower stands between the Greek Revival Symphony Hall (formerly Springfield Auditorium - where the Trapp Family performed, see this previous post) and City Hall. The 275-foot tall structure, built from 1911-1913, was the tallest building in Springfield until 1973, when it was surpassed by a modern glass and steel office building, followed by others in the next decade.

Interesting how in the early years of the last century architecture reflected on a classic past even in that era of a self-professed progressive future. Our modern architecture seems less inspiring today, at least the examples of it that seem to deny we even have a past.

First Congregational Church - Gardner, Mass.

The First Congregational Church in the central Massachusetts town of Gardner was built in 1878. This distinctive brick Victorian gothic church and clock tower, in style very much a symbol of its era, replaced what would have been a much more simple-looking, traditional original meeting house, built in 1787.

For more,  have a look at this website.

Lowell City Hall

The Lowell, Mass. City Hall shown above is an imposing structure, dedicated in 1893. The City Hall district in Lowell was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and features Greek Revival and Romanesque Revival architecture. Architect and Lowell native Fredrick W. Stickney designed City Hall.

Lowell, a planned manufacturing center, was established in 1826 and became one of the great wonders of the 19th Century for its industry and rapid rise to economic powerhouse. Lowell was used a model for study by industrialists and economists the world over, and became the destination for thousands of immigrants. The City Hall on Merrimack Street was built in Lowell’s heyday, before the 20th century brought new challenges to the industrial giant struggling to keep pace with the new world it had begun.

Still a source of inspiration, here is a website featuring an artist’s view of the Lowell City Hall from a painting by Linda McCluskey. Next year in 2010, Ms. McCluskey will show some 30 paintings at the Whistler House Museum. Artist James MacNeil Whistler (mentioned in this recent post as one of the temporary residents of Bridge Street in Springfield, Mass.) was born in Lowell.

Bullseye glass - Nantucket

This window is from a shop on Nantucket, but the unusual pane of glass you see here can be found in many buildings of the early 19th century, and earlier. It’s called crown glass, or bullseye glass, and its pattern is the result of the handmade process used before machine-made glass.

When glass was made, it was blown into a hollow globe, or crown. It was flattened by reheating it and spinning it out into a flat disk, up to several feet, then cut to size. The center, called the bullseye, was used for less expensive windows.

Know a building with bullseye windows? Let us know.

Silsby Free Public Library - Charlestown, NH

Here’s a look at the Silsby Free Public Library in Charlestown, New Hampshire.

Designed by Hira Beckwith, the Romanesque structure built in 1891 is typical of its era, constructed of stone and brick, and slate, of course, granite from the Granite State.
Beckwith, a local building contractor from Claremont, erected many other public buildings in the area, and built several homes in Claremont. A contractor, he also attended the Asher Benjamin School of Design to study architecture.
Libraries are the life’s blood of small communities, even if they are small libraries.