March 2017 - Page 2 of 3 - Lost New England

Julia Wrenn House, Springfield, Mass

March 14, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 421 Maple Street, at the corner of Mill Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This house was built in 1887, and by 1908 it was owned by Julia Burke. That same year, she married George Wrenn, and the couple moved into this house. They were both in their late 30s at the time of their wedding, and neither had been previously married. Julia worked as a decorator, designing illustrations for boxes, while George worked in a cigar shop.

The Wrenns remained here for many years. They never had any children, although in the 1930 census George’s 21 year old niece was living here with them. George died sometime in the 1930s, but Julia was still living here when the first photo was taken. By 1940, the last available year for census data, she was 72, and was living here with her sister, Louise Birnie, who was also a widow.

Today, the house remains mostly unchanged from the days when Julia Wrenn lived here. The decorative woodwork at the top of the gables is gone, but otherwise it has retained its 19th century appearance. It is located at the end of Maple Street, and is part of the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District.

Edward A. Clark House, Springfield, Mass

March 14, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 403 Maple Street, on the northeast corner of Smith Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This house was built around the 1890s, and was the home of Edward A. Clark, his wife Georgia, and their son Saxton. Edward was a bookkeeper in a paper mill, and the family lived here until sometime in the 1910s. By 1920, newlyweds John and Harriet Shuart were living here, but in 1923 they moved their new house next door at 393 Maple Street. The house was subsequently owned by George A. Fox, who lived here with his wife Mildred. A longtime employee of Milton Bradley, George worked as the head of the company’s game department from 1917 until his death in 1946, and was still living here when this first photo was taken.

Along with the rest of the neighborhood, the house is now part of the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District. Its exterior remains in good condition, and is well-preserved from the first photo. The only change is the porch on the second floor, which had been enclosed in the 1930s. However, the present-day appearance is probably its original design anyway, and better matches the first floor porch.

John D. Shuart House, Springfield, Mass

March 15, 2017March 13, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 393 Maple Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This home was one of many large Tudor Revival-style houses that were built on Maple Street in the early 20th century. Completed in 1923, it was the home of John D. Shuart, who was the assistant treasurer for the Springfield Glazed Paper Company. Shuart was born in 1894, and was the son of William H. Shuart, who was the president of the paper company. He attended Williams College. but left during his junior year to enter the Navy during World War I. In 1917, before heading overseas, he married Harriet A. Dickinson, the daughter of former Springfield mayor Henry S. Dickinson. After the war they lived in the house next door at 403 Maple Street for a few years before moving into this house in 1923.

During the time that he lived in this house, John served several terms on the city’s Board of Aldermen, and he was also involved in political and social organizations. However, by the time the first photo was taken, the house was for sale. A year or two later, in the 1940 census, the family had significantly downsized. Perhaps a result of the Great Depression, they were living in an apartment at 169 Maple Street by then. John was no longer working for his father’s paper company, and was instead the vice president of a vending machine company. He was by no means struggling, though, and the census lists his income as being $4,500, or nearly $80,000 in today’s dollars.

Some 80 years after the Shuarts moved out of here, the building is no longer a private residence, and is now owned by the Hampden Berkshire Tuberculosis & Respiratory Disease Association. The porch on the right side has been completely enclosed, and the front lawn was paved over to make a parking lot. However, most of the exterior retains its original appearance, and the house forms part of the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District.

Charles B. Brown House, Springfield, Mass

March 13, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 385 Maple Street, at the corner of George Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This house was built in 1895 for Charles B. Brown, a carriage manufacturer who had worked for Brockett & Tuttle of New Haven for many years before coming to Springfield to work for J.H. Rogers Carriage Company. He lived here with his wife Alice and their three children, but by 1910 this house had been sold to Mary Castle, an elderly widow who lived here with a servant until the 1920s. The next owner of the house was Franklin D. Neale, an attorney who lived here with his wife Orpha and their five children until at least 1940.

Architecturally, the house somewhat reflects a shift in house styles at the end of the 19th century. It includes a tower, which was practically an obligatory feature in Queen Anne-style houses of the era, yet it lacks the excessive ornamentation that was common for such houses. Instead, the rest of the house more closely resembles the much simpler American Foursquare design that was just coming into popularity at the time.

Today, the exterior of the house remains well-preserved from the first photo, which was taken back when the Neale family still lived here. It is one of many historic late 19th century homes along Maple Street, and serves as a reminder of the days when this neighborhood was one of the most desirable residential areas of the city. Along with the rest of the area, it is part of the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District.

John Carroll House, Springfield, Mass

March 12, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 275 Pine Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This house was built sometime around the 1890s, and for many years it was the home of John and Margaret Carroll, two Irish immigrants who married around 1895 and moved into this house about the same time. They had three daughters and a son who grew up here, and John worked as a gardener, although the 1920 census lists him as working at the Armory. It is actually a two-family home, and John owned the entire building, renting one unit out to other families while living in the other.

Margaret died in the 1930s, but John was still living here with his daughter, also named Margaret, when the first photo was taken. In his 80s at this point, he was renting half of the house to another elderly Irish immigrant, Edward Connolly, who lived here with his wife Agnes and their two adult daughters, Rosemary and Alice.

Today, the house is still standing as a two-family home, with few noticeable changes to the exterior. It survived the June 1, 2011 tornado that passed through the area, and it is one of the many historic 19th century homes in the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District.

Frederick Newman House, Springfield, Mass

March 10, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 37 George Street, at the corner of Dexter Street, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

This house was designed by its own resident, Frederick Newman, a prominent local architect who had designed a number of important commercial buildings in downtown Springfield, including the Chicopee Bank Building and the Court Square Building. The house was completed in 1896, and in the 1900 census he was living here with his wife Caroline, along with his niece and two servants. However, the Newmans only remained here until 1903, when they moved to New Hampshire. By 1910, the house was owned by Joseph Shattuck, Jr., a banker who worked as the treasurer of the Springfield Institute for Savings. He was 39 at the time, and lived here with his wife Fannie, their four daughters, and three servants.

Yet another wealthy family owned the house in 1920, when Frank Fuller owned the house. He was the general manager and later president of Springfield’s Moore Drop Forging Company, and in 1920 he lived here with his wife Jessie, three young children, and two servants. They were still here in 1930, and still with two servants living with them, although Frank died by the mid-1930s, and the family appears to have left soon after; this would explain the “For Sale” sign in front of the house in the first photo.

Now over 120 years old, the house is still standing, although it has seen better days. It is part of the Maple Hill Local Historic District, but it was damaged in the June 1, 2011 tornado, and is currently uninhabited. Both neglect and vandalism have taken their toll on the historic house, and several years ago it was listed by the Springfield Preservation Trust as one of the city’s most endangered historic resources.