The house at 76 Greenwood Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.
The scene in 2024:
This house stood directly to the east of the one in the previous post, and it was likely built around the same time, probably in the 1860s or 1870s. It was definitely here by 1880, when it was owned by Charles D. Ufford. He was 43 at the time, with his occupation listed as working for the railroad. He lived here with his wife Fidelia, who was 37.
The Uffords later moved to a house on State Street, and by 1900 this house on Greenwood Street was the home of Jennie Aronson, along with Abram and Ida Lewis and their three young children. The children were born in the United States, but the adults in the household were born in Russia. They were part of a large Jewish community that had begun to form here in this part of Springfield, many of whom had immigrated to the United States to escape persecution in the Russian pogroms.
By 1920, two different immigrant families were living here in this house. In one part of the house was Patrick Moran, a 55-year-old machinist who was born in Ireland. His wife Bessie was born in the United States, but her parents were likewise from Ireland. The other part of this house was the home of Anthony and Martha Chmielewski, along with Martha’s mother Teofila Roztiboske. All three were immigrants from Poland.
The top photo was taken in the late 1930s. By this point it was still a two-family property, with Charles and Doris Faughman and their children in one unit, and Charles and Josephine Barker in the other unit, according to the 1940 census. They each paid $18 per month in rent, and Charles Faughman was employed as a painter, earning $400 per year.
The house was still standing here until at least the 1950s, but it was ultimately demolished by the early 1960s as part of a large-scale urban renewal project that involved the demolition of nearly every building between the railroad tracks and Memorial Square along the Main Street and Chestnut Street corridors. Some of the land was redeveloped for commercial properties, but the project also included the construction of Interstate 291, which has its interchange with Interstate 91 just to the west of here. The second photo shows the modern-day view, including the embankment for Interstate 291 where it crosses Dwight Street. The spot where the house once stood is just a little to the left of the willow tree.