Massachusetts Archives - Page 178 of 247

Union Church of Christ, Ludlow Mass

June 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Union Church of Christ on Center Street in Ludlow, before 1904. Image from The History of Ludlow, Massachusetts (1912).

The church following its 1904-1905 renovation, photographed sometime between then and 1912. Image from The History of Ludlow, Massachusetts (1912).

The church in 2015:

When the town of Ludlow was established in he 1700s, the center of the town was located in what was approximately the geographic center of Ludlow, at the corner of present-day Church Street and Center Street. It was there that the first meetinghouse was built, and the location served as the religious and civic center of the town. However, with the start of the Industrial Revolution, the town’s economic center began to shift to the southwest, along the Chicopee River. The development of factories along this area, and the subsequent increase in population, meant that the workers needed a local church, and the owners of the Springfield Manufacturing Company decided to provide such a church.

The building was completed in 1845, and at first was used both by Congregationalists and Methodists. However, neither group stayed long – the Methodists built their own church in 1847, and a year later the Springfield Manufacturing Company went bankrupt. The Congregationalists disbanded, and the church was used only occasionally until 1867, when a new Congregational church formed.

As seen in the difference between the first two photos, the building was extensively remodeled in 1904-1905, with the addition of stained glass windows, a cupola, and a front porch, among other decorative elements to the exterior. Another change came in 1961, when a wing was added to the south (left) side of the building; it is partially visible behind the small tree on the left. Today, the building still looks very similar to its post-renovation appearance, and it continues to be an active United Church of Christ congregation.

First Church, Ludlow Mass

June 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The First Church of Ludlow, at the corner of Church and Center Streets, around 1912. Image from The History of Ludlow, Massachusetts (1912).

The church in 2015:

The building in the first photo was the third meeting house for the First Church of Ludlow. The first one stood right about where I took the second photo from, but was moved across Church Street in 1841, when the second church building was completed. This one didn’t last long, though – it burned in 1859, and was replaced later in the year with the one seen above. The third building stood for over 120 years, but it too burned, in a suspicious fire in 1980. It was rebuilt on the same spot in 1982, and today, like many other “First Churches” in New England, it is part of the United Church of Christ denomination.

First Meetinghouse, Ludlow Mass

June 25, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The First Meetinghouse building on Church Street in Ludlow, around 1912. Image from The History of Ludlow, Massachusetts (1912).

The building in 2015:

Built in 1783, this is one of the oldest church buildings in the Connecticut River Valley, although it hasn’t functioned as a church in over 170 years. It doesn’t look much like a church, but it actually hasn’t changed much in exterior appearance over the years. The white, steepled churches that we commonly associate with New England towns were not yet universally adopted in the late 1700s. Particularly in small towns, simple structures like this were still common, as seen in other places like Rockingham Vermont, where a similar-looking meeting house was built around the same time.

A steeple wasn’t the only thing that many of these early meeting houses lacked, though – another one was heat. Some, like the one in Rockingham, still don’t have heat over 225 years later. However, here in Ludlow a stove was finally installed in 1826. Fifteen years later, a new church was built, and the old one was sold to Increase Sikes for the princely sum of $50 and moved across Church Street to its present location; it had previously been in what is now the triangle of land between Church Street and Center Street. Sikes soon sold it back to the town, and it was used for town meetings until 1893, when the town offices were moved to the rapidly-growing industrial village along the Chicopee River in the southwest corner of town.

For many years, the building was used as a Grange Hall, until the town purchased it again in 2000. Since then, the building has been restored, and it forms an important part of the Ludlow Center Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Gaylord Library, South Hadley Mass

June 25, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Gaylord Library on College Street in South Hadley, around 1904-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The library in 2015:

The epitaph on William Shakespeare’s grave warns that, “cursed be he that moves my bones,” so I suppose it is a good thing that he was never buried here in South Hadley, where the old town cemetery was moved back in 1902 to build a library. Perhaps Shakespeare would’ve approved in the name of literature, but either way the first photograph shows the site of the former cemetery, soon after it was redeveloped as the Gaylord Memorial Library.

This site was originally home to the First Congregational Church of South Hadley as well as the adjoining cemetery, but in 1894 the church burned, along with a small library that was housed inside the church. Local philanthropist William H. Gaylord offered to donate money to build a library if the graves were moved, and the plan was approved. The library opened in 1904, and later in the year both William Gaylord and his wife Betsey died, on the same day. They left an endowment to maintain the library, which operated independently until 1968, when it became a branch of the South Hadley Public Library. Because of costs, however, it reverted to an independent library in 1995, and is open to the public on a limited schedule, Thursdays through Saturdays.

Pearsons Hall, South Hadley, Mass

June 25, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Pearsons Hall on the campus of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Pearsons Hall in 2015:

Mount Holyoke College was established in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, and for most of the 19th century a single building, known as the Seminary Building, housed most of the classrooms and dorm rooms, as well as the library and gymnasium. However, it burned in 1896, and the following year the school built four new dormitories, one of which was Pearsons Hall. It is named for Dr. D.K. Pearsons, who donated money to the school to help rebuild following the fire. Today, the building is still there, and it continues to be used as a dormitory for the college.

Civil War Monument, South Hadley, Mass

August 23, 2023June 23, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Civil War monument on the town common in South Hadley, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The monument in 2023:

There are several things that almost every New England town center has: some sort of a town common, and a Civil War monument on that common. South Hadley is no exception, with its granite statue honoring “the loyalty and patriotism of our citizen soldiers who fought for liberty and the Union in the great rebellion of 1861-1865,” as the inscription on the front reads. South Hadley had 224 of its citizens fighting in the war, many of whom were probably still living here when the monument was dedicated in 1896.