Lost New England

Captain Charles Leonard House, Agawam Mass

June 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

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

The house in 2015:

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

June 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

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.

The location in 2015:

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.

United States Whip Company, Westfield Mass

June 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The United States Whip Company building on Main Street in Westfield, around 1920. Image courtesy of the Westfield Athenaeum.

The site in 2015:

The United States Whip Company was established in 1892 with the merger of 14 whip companies, and they built this building on Main Street in Westfield as their headquarters. It was part of a large complex that took up much of the block between Main Street and Thomas Street, and some of the buildings were originally used by the American Whip Company, one of the companies later involved in the 1892 merger.

Westfield gained the nickname of the Whip City because of its many whip manufacturing companies, but by the turn of the 20th century essentially all of these were owned by United States Whip Company. By the end of World War I, around 99% of the worldwide whip production was from Westfield, and the United States Whip Company accounted for about 85% of the market. They were by far the world’s leading whip producer, but they were the leader in a rapidly shrinking industry. Automobiles were making horse-drawn carriages obsolete, which meant a limited demand for Westfield’s primary manufactured goods. In 1895, the city had 37 different whip companies; by 1926, not long after the first photo was taken, there were only 37 people working in the whip industry.

Today, the building on Main Street is still there, although it has been significantly altered over the years. The brick exterior has since been covered in stucco, and the building that was once the world’s leading producer of whips is now home to Subway, Domino’s, and other businesses. Along with the storefronts on the first floor of the original building, the space in between the “U” has been filled in with a one-story commercial block.

Southwick Congregational Church, Southwick Mass

February 9, 2018June 9, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Southwick Congregational Church on College Highway in Southwick, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

The church in 2015:

If this historic church in Southwick resembles a scaled-down version of Springfield’s Old First Church, there is good reason for that – both were designed by Northampton architect Isaac Damon, and out of all of his surviving work, Southwick is probably the closest thing to a twin of Springfield’s. The belfry design on the two churches is nearly identical, and the rest of the steeple design here in Southwick looks like a miniature of the one on Old First Church. Both churches also have a triangular portico supported by four columns, although again Southwick’s is on a smaller scale. Some of Damon’s other churches included the old Northampton church, which burned in 1876, the First Congregational Church in Blandford, and Southwick’s Methodist Episcopal Church, both of which still exist. Southwick’s church was founded in 1773, and the present-day building was built in 1824 to replace the first, which had burned the year before. Nearly two centuries later, it has survived with few alterations, and it doesn’t look much different from its appearance in the early 1890s.

Railroad Station, Chatham Mass (2)

June 6, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Another view of the railroad station in Chatham, probably taken around the 1940s. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

The station in 2015:

These two photos show the opposite side of the station from the ones in this post, and as mentioned there, this is the only original train station remaining on Cape Cod. The station was built in 1887 for the Chatham Railroad Company, which was later acquired by the Old Colony Railroad, which was in turn purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The branch line to Chatham closed in 1937, and the station was abandoned for several decades, as seen in the first photo. However, it was later restored and converted into the Chatham Railroad Museum, and a historic 1910 caboose now sits on the spot where trains once stopped to pick up passengers coming to and from Chatham.

Railroad Station, Chatham Mass (1)

June 6, 2015June 6, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The former railroad station in Chatham, probably around the 1940s. Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

The station in 2015:

The former railroad station in Chatham is the only original railroad station left on Cape Cod, which is a little unusual given that today it is over 12 miles from the nearest active rail line. Built in 1887, the station was once the terminus of a 7.1 mile-long spur that was operated by the Chatham Railroad Colony, and connected the town of Chatham to the Old Colony Railroad, which ran the entire length of Cape Cod. The line was later acquired by the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, who operated it until 1937. The Boston Public Library estimates that Leslie Jones took the first photo between 1934 and 1956, but I’m guessing it was probably sometime in the 1940s or early 1950s, given that the building looks like it has been abandoned for some time. However, it wouldn’t stay like that for long, and in 1960 the old station became the home of the Chatham Railroad Museum. Today, it looks far better than it did when Leslie Jones visited around 70 years ago, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.