1890s

Main Street, Monson Mass (1)

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Looking south on Main Street in Monson, from Fountain Street, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

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Main Street in 2015:

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Some of the buildings from the first photo no longer exist, but others survive today, despite over 120 years having passed, along with a direct hit from a tornado four years ago.  The Monson Free Library building is visible in the first photo, and is obscured by trees in the second but still there. Next to it is the Soldiers’ Monument, and then in the distance in the center of both photos are two 19th century houses that survive today.  These buildings all sustained some amount of damage from the June 1, 2011 tornado that swept through the center of Monson, and the path of the tornado can still be seen in the hillside in the distance; note the difference between the taller, dark green trees to the left and the shorter, light green trees to the right.

The left-hand side of Main Street, however, has completely changed since 1892, and it didn’t take too long.  The most prominent building in this scene is what appears to be a church.  In fact, it wasn’t a church at the time, but it used to be.  It was built in 1803, across the street and up the hill, and was the second building for the First Church of Monson.  When the time came to build a new building, the old one didn’t go to waste; it was moved down the hill and across the street in 1871, and was renovated with shops on the first floor and a meeting hall on the second floor, known as Green’s Hall.  It was used for a variety of social events until the building burned down in 1895.

Flynt Store, Monson Mass

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

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The scene in 2015:

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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.

Allis House and First Church, Wilbraham Mass (2)

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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.

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Main Street in 2015:

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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.

Allis House and First Church, Wilbraham Mass (1)

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The Allis House and the First Church on Main Street, seen from the intersection of Main and Springfield Streets, sometime around the 1880s or 1890s.  Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

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The scene in 2015:

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This location on Main Street in the center of Wilbraham was the location of a series of fires between 1877 and 1911. In 1877, both the first and second meeting houses were destroyed in a fire, after which the Allis House hotel and the third meeting house were built, as seen in the first photo.  However, less than 20 years later the Allis House also burned, in a rather suspicious fire that conveniently occurred after business started declining in the 1890s.  The church survived the Allis House fire, but it burned in 1911 after being struck by lightning.  Today, the location of the church is part of Gazebo Park, at the corner of Main Street and Burt Lane.

Captain Charles Leonard House, Agawam Mass

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The Captain Charles Leonard House on Main Street in Agawam, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

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The house in 2015:

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This house on Main Street in Agawam hasn’t changed much in the past 120 years, nor had it changed much between its construction in 1805 and the 1890s photo.  It is a very well-preserved example of early 19th century Federal architecture, designed by noted architect Asher Benjamin for Captain Charles Leonard, a local militia officer who operated a tavern out of the building.  At the time that the first photo was taken, it was owned by George Fowler, and in the 1930s it was purchased by Minerva Davis and restored to its early 19th century appearance.  Since then, it has been owned by the nonprofit Captain Charles Leonard House Corporation, and has been rented for weddings, banquets, receptions, and a variety of other gatherings.

American Whip Company, Westfield Mass

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The American Whip Company building and the old Westfield Library building on Main Street, probably in the early 1890s. Image courtesy of the Westfield Athenaeum.

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The location in 2015:

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The American Whip Company was one of many whip manufacturers located in the “Whip City” of Westfield, Massachusetts. The building in the distance of the first photo was built around 1884, and less than a decade later the company merged with 13 other Westfield companies to form the United States Whip Company.  The added on to the facility with the “U” shaped building seen in this post; it is still on the site today, although it has been extensively modified.

The original 1884 building is still there, although it’s not visible from this angle; it is immediately behind, and slightly to the left of Subway and Domino’s today.  The old library building, however, is long gone – it was presumably demolished around 1892 when the United States Whip Company building was constructed on its spot.  Today, the Westfield Athenaeum is located on the other side of the Green, next to Court Street.