November 2015 - Page 3 of 5 - Lost New England

William H. Haile House, Springfield, Mass

April 3, 2016November 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The William H. Haile House at 41 Mattoon Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The houses in 2015:

This house on Mattoon Street was one of the first to be built on Mattoon Street; it was completed in 1871, and the first owner was William H. Haile, a businessman who had just moved to Springfield from Hinsdale, New Hampshire. Haile’s father had served as governor of New Hampshire from 1857 to 1859, and the younger Haile continued the family’s political legacy. He represented Hinsdale in the New Hampshire state legislature for three years, and after he came to Springfield he served a year as the city’s mayor, in 1881. From 1882 to 1883, he served in the Massachusetts Senate, and from 1890 to 1892 he was the Lieutenant Governor. He was the Republican candidate for governor in 1892, but he lost a close race to incumbent governor William E. Russell. I don’t know long Haile lived in this house, though, because by the early 1880s he was living in a larger house a few blocks away at 49 Chestnut Street, where the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts is located today.

35 Mattoon Street, Springfield, Mass

February 11, 2016November 10, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The rowhouse at 35 Mattoon Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2015:

Mattoon Street is a remarkable street in downtown Springfield, with beautifully restored Victorian rowhouses that make it seem more like Boston’s Back Bay than a neighborhood in Springfield. This particular house is near the western end of the street, and it was built in 1872 along with its four identical neighbors to the right. They were designed by architects E.C. Gardner and Jason Perkins, who later designed other Springfield buildings such as the Technical High School on nearby Elliot Street. The original owners of all five houses were B.F. Farrar and Jesse F. Tapley, who sold them to individual owners after they were completed. Today, the houses on the street, including this one, have been beautifully restored, and the neighborhood is part of the Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

School Street School, Springfield, Mass

November 11, 2015November 8, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The School Street School at the corner of School and High Streets, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The building in 2015:

This building is among the oldest surviving school buildings in the city, but it isn’t the school that the street was named after. Springfield’s first high school was located across the street from here, from 1828 until 1840, and over the years several more public schools would be located in this area. The current building was built in 1892 as an elementary school, and as the two photos show its exterior has been well-preserved in the past 75 or so years. Although it is no longer a public school, it is now used by the Youth Social Educational Training Academy, which offers preschool as well as before and after school programs for children.

Union and School Streets, Springfield, Mass

November 8, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The apartment building at the corner of Union and School Streets, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The building in 2015:

As the city of Springfield grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this section of Union Street steadily grew from single family homes to duplexes to eventually large apartment buildings such as this one. It was built in 1926 in the Mission Revival architectural style, and is still standing almost 90 years later, although most of the original Mission Revival design elements along the roofline have since been removed, as seen in the 2015 photo.

263-265 Union Street, Springfield, Mass

November 8, 2015November 7, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The duplex at 263-265 Union Street, seen around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The building in 2015:

Like its neighbor in the previous post, this duplex was built in the 1870s in the Second Empire style that was popular in the United States during this period. As this area was developed in the late 1800s, many middle class professionals moved in, including Dr. S.W. Bowles, a physician who, according to the 1882 city atlas, lived in the unit to the right. The same atlas also indicates that J.H. Appleton lived on the left side; this appears to have been Julius H. Appleton, who was a railroad executive and later became president of the Springfield Institution for Savings and a member of the state Governor’s Council. Assuming this is the same J.H. Appleton listed on the map, he didn’t live here for too long, though; by the late 1880s he was living in his new mansion at 313 Maple Street.

In the 2015 view, the house is partially hidden by the tree in front, but on the exterior it still retains most of its original features, including the asymmetrical bay windows on the right side and the two-story Victorian over the front doors From this angle, the only real difference is the minor change to front steps and the addition of handrails.

247-249 Union Street, Springfield, Mass

November 8, 2015November 7, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The duplex at 247-249 Union Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The building in 2015:

This Victorian duplex is one of several along this section of Union Street that were built as the city’s population began to spread out from the original downtown area. Many middle class professionals lived in this area, including music store owner Levi M. Pierce, who lived in the unit on the right side. He appears to have been the original owner, living here from its construction in 1870 until his death in 1908. His two children, William and Leona, grew up here, and William went on to become the president of Kenyon College in Ohio, serving from 1896 until 1937. Leona also distinguished herself in academia; she graduated from Smith College and later received her Ph.D from Yale in 1899, with scintillatingly-titled doctoral thesis: “On Chain-Differentiants of a Ternary Quantics.” Leona took over her father’s music business after his death, and she was probably still living here when the first photo was taken. Today’s scene shows a few modifications to the house, especially the front porch and the steps, but otherwise it is a good example of Second Empire architecture from the Victorian era in Springfield.