Lost New England

State and Main Streets, Springfield Mass

July 21, 2015May 29, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Foot’s Block at the southwest corner of State and Main Streets in Springfield, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

The location around 1910. Image from View Book of Springfield (1910)

The building in 2015:

The site now occupied by 1200 Main Street has had its share of historic buildings over the years. Thomas Bates built a tavern here in 1773, which operated well into the 19th century. On the surface, it was a popular stagecoach tavern that regularly entertained visiting dignitaries like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. However, it also operated clandestinely a stop on the Underground Railroad. It stood here until 1847, when it was moved a few lots west on State Street, as seen in this post, which gives more details about its history.

After the old tavern was moved in 1847, businessman Homer Foot built Foot’s Block, the building seen in the 1892 photo here. It didn’t take long for Foot to find tenants for the commercial and office space in the building; in 1851,the newly-incorporated Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company rented office number 8 in the building as their original company office. The company would later move to their own building a few blocks up Main Street, but by the first decade of the 20th century they had moved back to the corner of Main and State. However, instead of renting a single suite as they had some 50 years earlier, they demolished Foot’s Block and replaced it with the 12-story tower that stands there today.

The building was completed in 1908, and at 125 feet it is the same height as the steeple of Old First Church. In response to the construction of this building. and because of fears that the city would be overtaken by modern skyscrapers, the Massachusetts legislature set 125 feet as the height limit for any building in Springfield, a law that stood until 1970. As a result, despite being over a century old it is still tied for 7th tallest building in the city. MassMutual didn’t stay here for too long, however. In 1927 with a continually-expanding company and little room in downtown, MassMutual moved to their present-day home a few miles up State Street in the Pine Point neighborhood. Menawhile, the historic office building here at the corner of State and Main is now owned by MGM Springfield, who plan to preserve the building for MGM’s offices once the casino is built adjacent to it.

Old Town Hall, Springfield Mass

July 8, 2016May 28, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Springfield’s old town hall building on State Street near Main Street, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

The scene in 2015:

The building in the first photo once served as Springfield’s town hall before it was incorporated as a city. It was built in 1828, and Springfield became a city in 1852, at which point a more substantial building was needed for the municipal government. So, in 1855 Springfield City Hall opened across from Court Square, in approximately the same location as the present-day City Hall. Meanwhile, this building on State Street continued to be used for a variety of purposes. The first floor was home to several different businesses, including a meat market and wallpaper store, as seen in the first photo. By the 1880s, the second floor was still owned by the city, and the third floor by the Masons. It was demolished around 1937, and today the location where it once stood is now part of the MassMutual Center.

Market Street, Springfield Mass

July 21, 2015May 28, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Market Street from East Court Street in Springfield, c.1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892)

Market Street in 2015:

Market Street once ran parallel to Main Street from State Street to Harrison Avenue, and these two photos show the northern section of the street toward Harrison Avenue. This was never a major thoroughfare in the city – in fact, in the 1892 photo it looks more like an alley running behind the buildings on Main Street. Today, the southern section of Market Street no longer exists at all; the section from State Street to East Court Street is now part of the MassMutual Center. North of here, the street still exists, but it is a pedestrian-only walkway.

Most of the buildings from the first photo no longer exist. On the right-hand side, F.B. Taylor once supplied builders with doors, windows, lumber, and paint; today this spot is occupied by the MassMutual Center. In the distance is the steeple for Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, which once stood on Bridge Street. Today, the congregation still exists at the large stone church on Sumner Avenue. The only building in the first photo that survives today is the Springfield Five Cents Savings Bank building, seen on the far left. The Main Street facade of this building has since been substantially altered, but from the rear it is still recognizable as being the same one.

Springfield Republican Building, Springfield Mass

July 18, 2018May 27, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Springfield Republican Building at the corner of Main Street and Harrison Avenue in Springfield, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892)

The scene in 2018:

The Republican in Springfield was established in 1824, and over the years it has been headquartered in a number of different buildings in downtown. The building in the first photo was completed in 1888, and was located directly across Harrison Avenue from the Union Block, part of which had once been occupied by the newspaper’s offices. At some point after the first photo was taken, the building was enlarged. Two stories were added probably around the first decade of the 20th century, as seen in the historic photo in this post. I don’t know how long the newspaper stayed here, but today both the building and the lot that it once occupied are gone. The western end of Harrison Avenue was changed to cross Main Street at present-day Boland Way, so the street now passes diagonally through the lot of the old Republican building.

Saint John the Baptist Church, Ludlow Mass

May 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Saint John the Baptist Church on Hubbard Street in Ludlow, c.1906-1913. Image courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

The church in 2015:

This church, like Saint Paul’s Methodist Church just down the street, was built on land donated by the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates. Because of its location along the Chicopee River, this part of Ludlow was developing into a mill town, and as a result many Catholic immigrants began moving into what had previously been a Protestant town. Catholic mill workers had previously traveled across the river to Indian Orchard to worship, but in 1906 Saint John the Baptist Church opened as the first Catholic church in Ludlow. To the left of the church is the rectory, which was completed in the same year as the church. Today, it’s no longer the only Catholic church in town, but it remains an active congregation , and its appearance hasn’t changed much in the past century. The angle of the present-day photo is a little off, though. The spot that the original photo was taken is now a house, which was probably built for workers at Ludlow Manufacturing who attended the church across the street.

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church, Ludlow Mass

May 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church, at the corner of Hubbard and Sewall Streets in Ludlow, around 1905-1913. Image courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

The church in 2015:

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church was built here in 1905, and the first photo shows how it appeared not long after its construction. It was built on land donated by the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, whose factory was just a few blocks down Sewall Street. In 1917, a parsonage was built to the right of the church, and can be seen in the 2015 view. Despite nearly 110 years in between the two photographs, the church is still easily recognizable. The exterior now has modern siding instead of shingles, so the building did lose some of its Victorian style, but otherwise the building is very well preserved today.