1930s Archives - Page 59 of 84

John Law House, Springfield, Mass

August 7, 2017June 8, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 171 Dartmouth Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This distinctive Shingle-style home was built in 1895, and in many ways it is a larger version of the house at 53 Dartmouth Street, which was built a year earlier. It was the home of John Law, a retired tin manufacturer who had previously lived in Enfield, Connecticut. He and his wife Margaret were Scottish immigrants, and were in their 60s by the time they moved into this house. However, they did not live here long; John died in 1900, and Margaret died two years later.

The house was then purchased by Luman S. Brown, a manufacturer and businessman who was the founder and president of the Springfield Facing Company, which made facing material for foundries. Along with this, he was also the president and treasurer of a charcoal company, and he served as a director of the Chapin National Bank. He and his wife Clara lived here for about a decade or so, and by around 1914 they were living in a nearby home on Florida Street. They later retired to Florida itself, where they died several months apart in 1937.

The next owner of the house was Robert C. Cooley, a lawyer who lived here with his wife Harriet and their two children. They remained here for more than 30 years, until Robert’s death in 1946 and Harriet’s in 1951. Since then, the house has been well-maintained, and provides a striking example of Shingle-style architecture on what is probably the finest street in the neighborhood. Along with the other historic homes in the area, it is part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sarah A. Whiting House, Springfield, Mass

June 8, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 125 Harvard Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1889 for Edward and Sarah Whiting, who lived here with their daugher Florence. Edward was a railway postal clerk who worked on the Springfield to Athol train. At the time, many passenger trains had railway post offices, which were specialized cars used by postal employees to sort mail en route, in order to save time. Although many of the residents of the McKnight neighborhood were wealthy businessmen and industrialists, the Whitings were decidedly middle class, with Edward earning $900 per year throughout the 1890s, or around $26,000 in 2017 dollars. Compared to the large, elegant homes that were built a block away on Dartmouth Terrace around the same time, the Whitings’ house was smaller and simpler, without all of the excessive ornamentation that was so common on Queen Anne houses of the era.

Edward died in 1914, and Sarah soon moved into Florence’s house in Cambridge, where she lived until her death in 1933. In the meantime, her old house was sold to William and Etta Carlton, who were living here by 1918. They had three children, Elizabeth, Julia, and Susan, and William worked as an accountant. He was an auditor and later assistant treasurer of the Federal Land Bank in Springfield, and he also taught business courses at the Springfield campus of Northeastern College, which later became Western New England University. William and Etta were still living here when the first photo was taken, and remained here for many more years. Sometime after Etta’s death in 1967, William sold the house and moved to Maine, where he died five years later.

Just three years after William’s death, his former home became part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Like so many other homes in this neighborhood, it has been well-maintained and restored to its original appearance, with hardly any noticeable differences from when the first photo was taken almost 80 years ago.

Arthur C. Graves House, Springfield, Mass

June 5, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 77 Dartmouth Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Built in 1897, this house was among the last of the Queen Anne-style homes to be built in the McKnight neighborhood. Although several years newer than some of the nearby Colonial Revival homes, this house is a generation earlier in terms of architecture. By the late 1890s, the trend was away from the highly ornamented, eclectic homes of the 1880s, and toward simpler designs inspired by colonial-era architecture. In that sense, this house is somewhat of a transition, because its design is certainly more subdued than many of the earlier Queen Anne homes in the neighborhood.

The house was originally owned by hardware dealer Arthur C. Graves, but he died just two years later, at the age of 42. His widow Nellie continued to live here, though, along with her two children and her mother. They were still living here at the 1910 census, but sold the house later that year to Roscoe and Flora Moody. Roscoe was a banker, stockbroker, and businessman who, among other things, was the president of the Springfield-based Clifty Consolidated Coal Company. Along with this, he was also one of the founders of the W. H. Miner Chocolate Company, whose original factory at 616 Berkshire Avenue still stands today. Flora also had a professional career of her own, working as a physician at a time when married women of the upper class rarely had full-time careers of their own.

They were still living here when he first photo was taken in the late 1930s, but Roscoe moved out sometime after Flora’s death in 1944. He ended up living to be 90, and died in 1957. In the meantime, the neighborhood entered a decline, and many of the houses fell into disrepair. However, much of the area, including this house, became part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Since then, many of the homes have been beautifully restored, especially those here on Dartmouth Street. This house is still a work in progress, but will hopefully soon be fully restored to its original 19th century appearance.

William G. Wheat House, Springfield, Mass

June 4, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 65 Dartmouth Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Although the majority of houses in the McKnight neighborhood are Queen Anne-style, many other homes had yet to be built by the mid-1890s, as preferences began to shift toward Colonial Revival architecture. This particular house was built in 1895, right around the time that this shift was happening, so it still retains some of the earlier Queen Anne features, such as the bay window and the multi-story front porch. However, it is clearly a Colonial Revival home, with elements such as a symmetrical front facade and a cross-gambrel roof, along with an exterior covered in shingles.

This house was originally owned by William G. Wheat, a dry goods merchant who was a partner in the Springfield firm of Meekins, Packard & Wheat. He and his wife Clara lived here with their two children, Harold and Isabelle, until around 1910, when they moved to State Street. The family apparently owned the house for some time afterwards, although by 1920 it was owned by Charles and Edith Van Norman. Charles was a Canadian immigrant who, along with his brother Fred, had founded the Van Norman Machine Tool Company here in Springfield.

By the time Charles Van Norman moved into this house, the company had prospered, specializing in milling and grinding machines. He served as president and general manager of the company, and both he and Edith were still living here when the first photo was taken. Despite living in a comparatively modest house, he was far wealthier than most of his other neighbors, and the 1940 census listed his annual income as $5,000+, the highest bracket used on the census.

Charles lived here until his death in 1946, and Edith died two years later. Since then, the house has not changed significantly, and it still retains its original Colonial Revival appearance. Along with the other houses in the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Salem W. McIntyre House, Springfield, Mass

June 4, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 61 Dartmouth Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house is one of the oldest on Dartmouth Street, and was built in 1885 for Salem W. McIntyre. However, by the late 1890s it was owned by John and Harriet Crane, who lived here with their two children, Alfred and Mary. Originally from Middlefield, Massachusetts, John came to Springfield in the 1880s and had a varied career, first owning a grocery store, then becoming a bookkeeper, before finally becoming a real estate agent in 1903. He started his own real estate business, John W. Crane Company, and hired Alfred as the treasurer.

It was a good time to get involved in real estate in Springfield, with the city’s population rapidly growing. Known as the “City of Homes” since the 1880s, this nickname would become even more true in the early 20th century, with trolley lines and later automobiles enabling the large-scale development of the suburban parts of the city. After John’s death in 1925, Alfred carried on the real estate business, and he also continued living here in this house, along with his wife Lulu and their son, Sumner. They were still living here when the first photo was taken, and after Alfred’s death in 1947, Lulu remained here with Sumner until finally selling the house in 1959.

Like the neighboring house to the right, this house has also been beautifully restored, with few noticeable changes since the first photo was taken. The only significant difference is the lack of the enclosed porch on the back left side, although this may not have been original to the house anyway. Along with the other houses in the neighborhood, it is a contributing property in the McKnight Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Hervey K. Hawes House, Springfield, Mass

June 13, 2017June 3, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 53 Dartmouth Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1894 as the home of lawyer Hervey K. Hawes, and it is a good example of Shingle-style architecture in a neighborhood that is largely dominated by earlier Queen Anne homes. Unlike these older homes, which usually featured a complex roof, highly ornamented exteriors, and a variety of building materials, this house reflects a shift toward simpler architecture. It features a single, large gable that gives the house a more horizontal focus, and the exterior is almost entirely covered in shingles, with minimal decoration.

Hawes evidently did not live in this house for very long, because by 1898 it was owned by Kirk Washburn. He was a longtime employee of publishers G. & C. Merriam, eventually becoming the company’s secretary and later the treasurer. Kirk and his wife Minnie had one child, Kirk, Jr., who also went on to work for G. & C. Merriam. However, he died in December 1918 from pneumonia caused by influenza that, based on the timing, was probably contracted during that year’s infamous flu pandemic. The elder Kirk lived here until his death in 1929, and Minnie died six years later.

By the time the first photo was take, the house was used as a rental property. It was the home of Richard and Elizabeth Whittey and their two children, and at the 1940 census they were paying $50 a month to rent the house. Richard’s occupation was listed as an investigator for a credit bureau, while his son Richard, Jr. was a sales manager and his daughter Evelyn was a secretary. The same census also provides their annual salaries, which were $2,300, $2,000, and $780, respectively. By way of comparison, a $2,000 salary at the time would be equal to about $35,000 today, when adjusted for inflation.

In 1976, the McKnight Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and his house was included as one of the contributing properties. Since then, it has been restored and remains in excellent condition, with hardly any noticeable differences from the 1930s photo. This past year, the Springfield Preservation Trust awarded the current owner with the Edward Sims Award for Stewardship, in recognition of the home’s level of preservation.