Derek Strahan

Aside from running the Lost New England blog, Derek Strahan is the author of two books: Lost Springfield, Massachusetts and New England Then and Now, along with being the host of the Western Mass History podcast. Derek is a graduate of Westfield State University, with degrees in English and Regional Planning, and he currently works as a land use and environment planner in Western Massachusetts. Derek also serves on the board of directors of the Springfield Preservation Trust, and he lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife Melissa and their two sons.

Flynt Store, Monson Mass

January 11, 2016June 17, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The company store for Flynt Granite Company on Main Street in Monson, around 1892. Photo from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

The scene in 2015:

This location in Monson has been used for a variety of commercial purposes over the years, beginning in the 1860s when E.E. Towne opened a general store in the building in the first photo, which was known for some time as Towne’s Block. By the time the first photo was taken, though, the store had changed hands, and was owned by Flynt Granite Company. It was the company store for the quarry, which was located a little north of the center of town and was one of the town’s largest employers, with nearly 500 workers in 1900. The original building burned in 1914, and the following year the store reopened in the present-day building. It was owned by the granite company until 1935, when the quarry closed. Since then, the building has been used as a tavern, bowling alley, and currently as an antique store.

The one thing that has remained the same since the first photo was taken is the Flynt Memorial Fountain, which was given to the town in 1882 by quarry owner William N. Flynt, as a watering trough for horses. Today, it is still in the same location, at the intersection of Main and Fountain Streets, although it is now used for decoration rather than as a place for horses to drink water.

Main Street, Wilbraham Mass

June 15, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Main Street from Springfield Street, probably around 1900. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

Main Street in 2015:

This scene along Main Street in the center of Wilbraham hasn’t changed much in the past century or so. At least one of the buildings from the first photo is gone, and Main Street is now paved, but overall the center of Wilbraham retains much of its 19th and early 20th century character. The first photo shows several historic buildings that survive today. On the far left is the steeple of the Memorial Chapel, built in 1870 and now part of the Wilbraham & Monson Academy campus. In front of it is the 1793 Old Methodist Meeting House, and in the left-center of both photos is the 1836 Rev. John W. Hardy House. The house in the right-center of the first photo is no longer there, and the store on the far right looks like the one in the present-day scene, but there are some differences. Either it is a completely different building today, or it has been expanded, because it appears to be much close to the Hardy house than in the first view.

First Congregational Church, Wilbraham Mass (3)

June 15, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The old meeting house for the First Congregational Church in Wilbraham, around the 1860s or 1870s. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

The site of the church in 2015:

There aren’t too many photos of the church in the first scene, in part because of the building’s short lifespan. It was built in 1857 to replace Wilbraham’s original First Congregational Church, which had been built in 1748 on Wigwam Hill, near the corner of present-day Tinkham Road and Bolles Road. Given its rather inconvenient location, though, the building was brought down the hill and into the center of town in 1794. It stood here until 1857, when it was moved again and converted into stables near the new church. The new building would’ve been the home church for many of of Wilbraham’s 228 men who served in the Civil War, and the first photo was probably taken during or soon after the war. However, both the old and the new churches were destroyed in a fire in 1877, and a new building was built on the site; this also burned down, after being struck by lightning in 1911. Today, Gazebo Park is located on the spot where a total of four generations of Wilbraham churches once stood, from 1794 to 1958.

First Congregational Church, Wilbraham Mass (2)

June 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Main Street in Wilbraham, with the First Congregational Church in the center, taken around 1900-1911. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

Main Street in 2015:

Taken from a similar angle as the ones in this post, these photos show some of the changes on Main Street in Wilbraham over the past century. I don’t have an exact date for this photo, but it was taken sometime between 1896, when the Allis House just beyond the church burned down, and 1911, when the church itself burned. Today, the site of the church is now Gazebo Park, and the house in the right foreground is also gone, although many similar historic houses still exist on Main Street.

First Congregational Church, Wilbraham Mass (1)

June 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The First Congregational Church on Main Street in Wilbraham, probably around 1900. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

The church on fire after being struck by lightning on July 5, 1911. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

The site of the church in 2015:

In many New England towns, one of the main features of the town center is a historic 19th century Congregational church, usually painted white and complete with a tall steeple. However, that isn’t the case in Wilbraham, in part because of a series of fires that destroyed the first three meetinghouses that were located on this site. The First Congregational Church in Wilbraham was established in 1741 as an offshoot of the Springfield church. As was the case in many other towns, however, the location of the meeting house became a major political issue. In the days before automobiles, it was particularly advantageous to live near the meeting house, and in Wilbraham the settlers in both the northern part of town (present-day Wilbraham) and the southern part (present-day Hampden) wanted a meeting house location that was convenient for them. Eventually, a compromise was reached and the meeting house was built on Wigwam Hill, halfway up a mountain in a sparsely-populated location that presumably only worked because it was equally inconvenient to everyone.

Eventually, however, it began to make sense to have a meeting house in the center of town, so in 1794 the church moved to this location on Main Street. It wasn’t just the congregation that moved, though. In true Yankee frugality, the building itself was moved down the mountain and over to this site, where it stood until 1857, when a new church building was completed. The old meeting house was moved and used as a stable until 1877, when both generations of Wilbraham churches were destroyed in a fire.

The third meeting house, which is shown in the first photo here, was completed in 1878 and was used until 1911, for reasons that the second photo makes very clear. On July 5, 1911, the steeple was struck by lightning, and the resulting fire consumed the entire church. I don’t know how long it had been burning by the time the photograph was taken, but it is a ghostly image, with the skeletal remains of the steeple silhouetted against the flames in the background.

Following the fire, the church merged with the Methodist church to form the Wilbraham United Church. They alternated between the rebuilt church at this site and the Methodist church next to the Wilbraham Academy campus until 1935, when the church here became their full-time home. However, the congregation began to outgrow that building, so a fifth-generation Wilbraham church was built a short distance away in 1958; this building is still in use today. The 1911 church was demolished in 1962, and today the site of the first four Congregational churches in Wilbraham is now a public park.

Allis House and First Church, Wilbraham Mass (2)

June 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Another Main Street view of the Allis House and the First Church, sometime in the 1880s or 1890s. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

Main Street in 2015:

As mentioned in this post, both of these buildings in the first scene were destroyed in separate fires, not too long after the photo was taken. The Allis House to the left was a hotel and tavern, offering accommodations for salesmen and other business travelers as well as providing food and entertainment for locals. It burned in August 1896, but the 1964 History of Wilbraham book suggests that it may not have been accidental; business was apparently declining, and according to a local rumor the resident handyman ran out of the burning building yelling at Mrs. Allis for not telling him when she was planning on burning the place down.

Just under 15 years later the Congregational Church just to the right of the Allis House was also destroyed in a fire, although there was unquestionably no insurance fraud involved here; the steeple was struck by lightning and the church burned to the ground. Today, Gazebo Park is located on the spot where the old church once stood, along with its two predecessors and its successor, before the present-day church was built in 1958 a short distance down Main Street.