Houses

Ebenezer Gay Manse, Suffield, Connecticut

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The Ebenezer Gay Manse on North Main Street in Suffield, around 1935-1942. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, WPA Architectural Survey Collection.

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The house in 2017:

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Ebenezer Gay was 23 years old when he was ordained as the pastor of the church in Suffield in 1742. The Hingham, Massachusetts native had recently graduated from Harvard, and he arrived in the midst of the Great Awakening, which was already sweeping across New England and had resulted in a number of revivals here in Suffield. That same year, he married Hannah Angier, and the following year they moved into this elegant, gambrel-roofed Georgian home in the center of town.

At the time, it was not uncommon for pastors to be hired directly out of college and remain in the same church for the rest of his life. Ebenezer Gay was no exception, and served here for 54 years, until his death in 1796. Towards the end of his ministry, his son, Ebenezer Gay, Jr., became the assistant pastor, and took over the full duties upon his father’s death. Like his father, the younger Ebenezer lived in this house. He also had a remarkable tenure as the pastor here, serving until his death in 1837, for a total of 95 years between father and son.

As was often the case for more prominent families in colonial New England, several enslaved people lived here with the Gay family, including Genny, Dinah, and Titus. They were enslaved by Ebenezer Gay, Sr., and later inherited by his son, who eventually emancipated them in 1812.

When the first photo was taken, the house was already about 200 years old, and its historical significance was well-recognized. It was owned by the Suffield School for Boys, which would become Suffield Academy. At the time, it was vacant, but would eventually be put to use as faculty housing for the school. It is still used for the same purpose, and in the early 2000s it was repaired and restored to its original appearance. Along with the other buildings in the area, it is part of the Suffield Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Phelps Tavern, Simsbury, Connecticut

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Phelps Tavern on Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury, in 1926. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.

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The building in 2016:

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This house was built in 1771 for Elisha Phelps, a member of one of Simsbury’s most prominent 18th century families. He served in the American Revolution, participating in Ethan Allen’s capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. The following month, he was appointed as a commissary and a captain in the Continental Army, a position he held until his death in 1776 while serving in Albany. His widow, Rosetta, moved out of the house in 1779 and sold it to Elisha’s brother, Noah Phelps.

Like his brother, Noah had participated in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, playing a particularly vital role. Prior to the capture, he had entered the fort disguised as a farmer in need of a shave. While there, he gained valuable intelligence about the vulnerability of the fort, particularly its weakened walls and wet gunpowder. This gave Ethan Allen the confidence to attack, and the fort was taken without a fight, leading to a significant colonial victory in the early days of the war.

Noah Phelps only lived here for a few years before moving to a different house. He went on to serve in several different positions, including as a justice of the peace, a probate judge, a delegate to the state ratifying convention for the US Constitution, and a major general in the state militia. In the meantime, his son, Noah Amherst Phelps, moved into this house. During his ownership, the younger Noah used the house as a tavern. After his death in 1817, his widow Charlotte and later their son Jeffery continued operating the tavern.

The tavern was in a good position to take advantage of traffic on the Farmington Canal, which was completed in 1835 and connected New Haven, Connecticut with Northampton, Massachusetts. It was built directly behind the tavern, only several hundred feet east of here, and the tavern became known as the Canal Hotel. However, the canal was never particularly successful, and its route was converted into a railroad in the late 1840s. Around this same time, in 1849, Jeffery Phelps closed the tavern, although the house would remain in his family for several more generations.

The house was modified in 1879 and again in 1915, but it was owned by members of the Phelps family until 1962, when it was donated to the Simsbury Historical Society. It has been preserved as a museum, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The nearby Farmington Canal route is also listed, although the old railroad is long gone and the right-of-way is now a rail trail.

Walter S. Clark House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 107 Dartmouth Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

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The house in 2016:

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Built in 1885 at the corner of Dartmouth Street and Saint James Avenue, this was originally the home of clothing merchant Walter S. Clark. He lived here with his wife Adeline and their daughters, Lilian and Florence. Adeline’s sister, Cynthia Sawtell, also lived here for many years, appearing in every census from 1900 to 1920. Walter died in 1908, and Adeline remained here until her death in 1921. By 1930, Florence, still unmarried, was the only resident here.

Florence continued living in this house until her death in the early 1960s, more than 75 years after she had moved in as a child in the 1880s. She did not quite live to see her neighborhood become a historic district, but she was not far off. In 1976, the area became the McKnight District on the National Register of Historic Places, which encompasses hundreds of historic homes. Many, including the Clark house, have been restored to their original appearances, and there are few noticeable differences in these two photographs.

George Nye House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 287 Saint James Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

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The house in 2016:

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Located on Saint James Avenue between Dartmouth and Harvard Streets, this house was built in 1889 as part of the development of the McKnight district as an upper middle class neighborhood. It was originally the home of George Nye, Jr. and his wife Mabel, who moved in soon after their marriage. Their son Robert grew up here, but in 1900 the family moved a short distance away to a larger house at 137 Dartmouth Terrace, next to Mabel’s parents’ house.

By 1910, this house was the residence of Dr. James B. Comins, his wife Ada, and their daughters Alice and Barbara, along with a servant. Dr. Comins was a native of Stafford Springs, Connecticut, but after receiving his medical degree he opened up his practice in Springfield as a homeopathic physician. The couple lived here for the rest of their lives, with Ada dying in 1953 and her husband four years later.

The Comins family was living here when the first photo was taken, and very little has changed in its appearance in the nearly 80 years since then. Along with the rest of the historic houses in the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Albert Nason House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 129 Dartmouth Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

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The house in 2016:

Albert Nason came to Springfield in the 1880s with his wife Annie and their children, Mabel and Albert, Jr. Born in Franklin, Massachusetts, Albert was a Civil War veteran, and here in Springfield he became the president of the Bay State Corset Company. At the time, corsets were a near-obligatory part of Victorian women’s fashion, and the prosperity of his business was reflected in his house, which was built in 1888 in the desirable, newly-developed McKnight neighborhood.

The 1900 census shows Albert, Annie, and Albert, Jr. still living here. That same year, their daughter Mabel and her husband George Nye moved into the neighboring house at 137 Dartmouth Terrace. Albert died in 1903, but his family continued living here for decades. By 1910, Annie was still here, along with Albert, Jr. and his newlywed wife, Florence. He died in 1928, but Annie lived into her 90s, having outlived her husband and all three of her children by the time she died in 1934.

Along with Annie, the 1930 census shows Florence here with her 19 year old daughter Anne. Within a few years, Anne would marry Chauncey C. Day, and the couple was living here when the first photo was taken. Their children became the fourth generation of the family to live in this house, which had been in the family for over 50 years. Since then, the house has remained well-preserved, with hardly any noticeable difference from the first photo. It is an excellent example of Queen Anne architecture, and it is part of the McKnight District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Amanda Coolbroth House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 137 Dartmouth Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

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The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1889, around the same time that the rest of Dartmouth Terrace was being developed. Some of the city’s most prominent business leaders moved into the mansions here, including Louis H. Coolbroth, the president of the Standard Button Company. He died six years later in 1895, and his wife Amanda continued living here until her death in 1900.

The house’s next owner was George Nye, a merchant who lived here with his wife Mabel and son Robert. Mabel was the daughter of Albert and Annie Nason, who lived in the house next door from here. George died in 1907 at the age of 41, and Mabel later remarried to Charles C. Wilder. They both died in the 1920s, and by the 1930 census it was the home of Earl and Frances Knight, who lived here with their four children, a servant, and a lodger. By 1940, it had changed hands yet again, though, and was owned by Theodore Bliss, whose occupation was listed as the secretary of a paper company. At the time, he was living here with his wife Margarite and their two daughters.

In the nearly 80 years since the first photograph was taken, the house has not significantly changed. The right side of the front porch is gone, but otherwise its exterior retains its distinctive Victorian appearance, complete with a multicolor paint scheme. Along with the other houses in the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight District on the National Register of Historic Places.