Month: September 2013

Main Street, Springfield

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Main Street in Springfield, looking north between Harrison Avenue and Bridge Street, as it appeared around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

1900s

The same view in 2015:

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Not much is left from the 1905 view, but the building with the large onion-like decorations at the top is still there.  The roof ornaments are long gone, but the building itself, the 1887 Fuller Block, is the only easily recognizable structure from this scene that has survived.  The building on the far right of the 1905 photo is now the site of Center Square, and the left-hand side is now the parking garage for the Marriott.  Further down on the left, the nondescript former federal building replaced the building in the 1905 photo.

United First Parish Church, Quincy

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The United First Parish Church of Quincy, as seen in 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Quincy

The same scene, in March of 2013:

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This church in Quincy was built in 1828, financed largely though former president John Adams. He and his wife, along with John Quincy Adams and his wife, are interred in the family crypt under the church – it is one of only two churches in the US that contains a presidential tomb. As seen in the two photos, not much has changed in the past 109 years with the building itself.

New Old South Church, Boston

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New Old South Church at Copley Square, between 1890 and 1899. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The same view in 2010:

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For the most part, this view hasn’t changed.  The Boston Public Library on the left is still there, as is the brick building behind the church.  The only real difference is the tower, which had to be taken down in 1931.  Like the rest of the Back Bay, the church sits on filled-in marshland, so the weight was supported by wooden piles that were driven into the soil.  However, the tower was too heavy for the piles, and as the ground settled it began to lean about three feet.  It was rebuilt in 1940 on stronger steel piles, and the new tower has stood substantially longer than the original one did.

Faneuil Hall, Boston

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Faneuil Hall in Boston, as it appeared between 1890 and 1899. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The building in 2021:

The building was completed in 1742 as a meeting hall and marketplace, and was largely reconstructed following a fire in 1762 that gutted the building.  It is well known as having been a place where patriots such as Samuel Adams and James Otis gave speeches concerning independence in the years leading up to the American Revolution.

 

 

The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston

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The view of the Original Mother Church of the Christian Science Church, as seen in 1900. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The same view in 2010:

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Shortly after the 1900 photo was taken, starting in 1904, the much larger, domed Mother Church Extension was built directly behind the original stone church from 1894.  Together, along with several other buildings in the campus, it forms the headquarters of the Christian Science Church.

Tip Top House, Mt. Washington

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The Tip-Top House on Mount Washington in New Hampshire, sometime in the early 1860s. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

1860s

The building between 1890 and 1901. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

White Mountains

The same view in August, 2013:

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Originally built as a hotel in 1853, it is the oldest surviving building at the summit of Mt. Washington, and is located just below the summit, which is just to the right of the building and outside of the picture.  After many years of being abandoned, it was restored in 1987 to its original appearance and now serves as a museum – the steeply pitched roof was not added until the 1860s, which provides a date for the first photo.