Years Archives - Page 279 of 383

American Legion, Southington, Connecticut

August 18, 2015 by Derek Strahan

American Legion members and other spectators watch the 1942 Memorial Day parade in Southington from in front of the American Legion hall. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA-OWI Collection.

The scene in 2015:

As mentioned in previous posts, the Office of War Information thoroughly documented Southington in May 1942, in order to produce a pamphlet to distribute overseas that would show life in a “typical” American town. Of the nearly 300 photos available online through the Library of Congress, many of them focus on the town’s Memorial Day observances along Main Street. This was the first Memorial Day after the United States entered World War II, and most of the American Legion members pictured here were probably veterans of World War I. They were the generation who had fought in World War I, lived through the Great Depression, and were now facing the reality of their sons having to fight World War II; undoubtedly this last thought was on the minds of many of them that day.

Today, the American Legion hall is still there, with new doors and windows but otherwise not much different from 1942. Some of the members today might be the children of the men in the first photo who served in World War II, or perhaps grandchildren who served in Vietnam a generation later. At least a few of the young children in the first photo might still live in Southington today; if so, they would be in their late 70s or early 80s by now.

The Southington News, Southington, Connecticut

August 13, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Southington News Building on Eden Avenue in Southington, in May 1942. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA-OWI Collection.

The building in 2015

This building can also be seen in color in the 1942 photo in this post, which was taken just a few yards away from here. It was the home of The Southington News, and was among the subjects photographed by the Office of War Information in an effort to document small town American life during the war. Even in the 1942 photo, though, this scene isn’t particularly impressive. The overgrown weeds, unmowed lawn, and large patches of dirt in front of the building give the impression that not much was going on at The Southington News. Or, perhaps the idea was to show that with wartime labor shortages, maintaining the lawn wasn’t a priority?

Today, The Southington News is long gone, but the building still stands, with an addition that covers most of the original facade. The tops of the original brick pilasters can still be seen, and the edge of the roof is unchanged, although it looks like it hasn’t been painted since 1942. As seen in the 2015 photo, it is vacant and for sale, having last been used as Dominic’s Men’s Shop.

Main Street and Eden Avenue, Southington, Connecticut

August 13, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking northwest from the corner of Main and Eden in Southington, in May 1942. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA-OWI Collection.

The scene in 2015:

This is the first color “then” photo that I have featured here, and it was taken by the Office of War Information, about six months after the US entered World War II. The euphemistically-named OWI was essentially the propaganda department during the war, and one of their projects was to create a pamphlet that documented life in an American town. Southington was chosen as the model, and several hundred photographs were taken in May 1942, including a few color ones. The idea was to distribute the pamphlet overseas, with the goal of showing the freedom and equality that Americans enjoyed and hopefully gaining sympathy for the American war effort.

The 1942 photo was taken from the parking lot of an Atlantic gas station, with another gas station visible across Eden Avenue on the far right. Both are still there, although the Atlantic one is now a Shell, and the gas prices are a little higher than they were in 1942, when the average price per gallon was 20 cents. Across the street in the center of the photo was the home of The Southington News. The building is still there today, although with an addition on the front. Because the addition is not as tall as the rest of the building, the top of the original facade can still be seen from this angle. It was most recently used as a men’s clothing store, but it is now vacant.

H. H. Perry House, Agawam, Mass

October 7, 2018August 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The H. H. Perry House on River Road near the corner of Leonard Street in Agawam, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

The house in 2015:

This house was built around 1880, replacing an earlier house that had been known as the Old Red House. Although identified as the H. H. Perry house, by the time the first photo was taken it was owned by Eudice J. Dyotte, a Canadian immigrant who appears here on county maps from both 1894 and 1912. Today, the old barn is gone, as is the back porch and the shutters,and the house appears to have siding instead of clapboards, although it is hard to tell from this distance.

William Allen House, Agawam, Mass

August 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The William Allen House on Main Street in Agawam, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

The house in 2015:

The William Allen House is one of several similar houses along Main Street, including the Rufus Colton House and the Captain Charles Leonard House. All three houses were built around 1800 (this one is a little older, having been built around 1795), and all three may have been designed by, or were at least based on the designs of noted architect Asher Benjamin. The most distinctive feature on the houses is the Palladian window above the front door, but the Allen House is a little different from the others because of its gabled roof, as opposed to the hip roof on the Colton and Leonard houses.

The Allen House, like the other two, was built for a militia officer, Lieutenant William Allen. By the time the first photo was taken, it was the home of Frank E. Campbell, a farmer who grew tobacco in his fields behind the house. The fields have long since been subdivided and developed into houses, but the old farmhouse still stands on Main Street, without a whole lot of changes in the past 120 years. The only major change was a 1960s restoration, which returned the house to its early 1800s appearance by, among other things, removing the Victorian-era front porch.

Agawam Woolen Mill, Agawam, Mass

August 12, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on Elm Street, with the Agawam Woolen Mill to the right, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

Elm Street in 2015:

The former Agawam Woolen Mill building still stands on Elm Street, although it is mostly hidden behind the trees from this angle. Agawam was never a major industrial center, but this site along the Three Mile Brook had been used by mills since the early 1800s. In 1857, the Agawam Company, later renamed the Agawam Woolen Company, established its first factory here, which was rebuilt in 1875 and destroyed in a fire in 1889. The present-day factory was built around 1890, and was subsequently expanded several times after the first photo was taken. However, by the mid 1900s, New England’s once thriving textile industry began to struggle amid increased competition, and like many others the Agawam Woolen Company closed in the 1950s. The building still stands today, not all that different from the 1890s photo except for the early 1900s additions. It is a contributing property, and the only industrial building, in the Agawam Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.