Architecture Archives - Page 144 of 194

Thomas Colt House, Pittsfield, Mass

January 29, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The Thomas Colt House at 42 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield, around 1900. Image from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Vicinity (1900).

The house in 2016:

This house was built in 1866 by Thomas Colt, an industrialist who was, at the time, one of the largest paper manufacturers in the state. In 1856, he had purchased a paper mill on the eastern edge of Pittsfield, in the neighborhood that later became known as Coltsville. The business was soon successful, and a decade later he built his house here. It had a prime location just a short walk away from downtown Pittsfield, and the 15-room Italianate mansion cost an estimated $40,000 for him to build.

Unfortunately for Colt, he did not get to enjoy it for very long. The nation’s economy, particularly in the north, was booming in the years following the Civil War. However, it was followed by the Panic of 1873, which caused a serious economic recession. Many wealthy businessmen lost their fortunes, including Thomas Colt, whose factory soon closed. By 1874, he was a half million dollars in debt – over $10 million today – and he died two years later.

The house was subsequently owned by Alexander Joslin and his family, and later by Simon England, a businessman who owned the England Brothers store in Pittsfield. In 1937, he donated the home to the Women’s Club of the Berkshires, and this organization became, by far, the house’s longest owner. They remained here until 2011, and sold the house the following year. It is now the Whitney Center for the Arts, and it is a contributing property in the Park Square Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Park Square, Pittsfield, Mass (3)

February 9, 2018January 24, 2017 by Derek Strahan

Facing north across Park Square in Pittsfield, around 1900. Image from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Vicinity (1900).

Park Square in 2016:

It is hard to tell in the present-day photo because of the trees, but all three of these historic buildings on the north side of Park Square are still here today. In the center is Pittsfield’s old town hall, a plain brick Federal-style building that was completed in 1832. After Pittsfield became a city in 1891, it remained in use as city hall until 1968, when the city government moved a few blocks away to the old post office.

The old town hall is flanked on either side by stone Gothic Revival churches, both of which were designed by prominent architects. To the left is the First Church, which was designed by Leopold Eidlitz and built in 1853 on the site of an earlier 18th century church building. On the other side is St. Stephen’s Church, designed by the Boston firm of Peabody and Stearns. Although architecturally similar to the First Church, it is significantly newer, having been completed in 1889.

Today, all three of these buildings are well-preserved and relatively unchanged from when the first photo was taken. The two churches are both still in active use, and the old town hall is now an office building for the Berkshire Insurance Group. In 1975, the buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Park Square Historic District.

Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building, Pittsfield, Mass

January 24, 2017January 23, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The Berkshire Life Insurance Company Building at the corner of North and West Streets in Pittsfield, around 1900. Image from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Vicinity (1900).

The building in 2016:

This building at the heart of downtown Pittsfield was built in 1868 as the home of the Berkshire Life Insurance Company. It was designed by Louis Weissbein, the same architect who would later design the courthouse on the opposite side of Park Square. Like the courthouse, this building once had a mansard roof, which was common in Second Empire architecture. However, while these buildings are still standing, both have undergone significant renovations that have, among other things, removed the original roofs.

When the first photo was taken around 1900, the Berkshire Life building still looked essentially the same as it had when it was completed. However, in 1906 it was expanded in the back, along the West Street side of the building. Just a few years later, the building grew again, when two stories were added to the original section in 1911, replacing the old mansard roof in the process. Both of these additions matched the original architecture, although the new roof gives the building more of a Renaissance Revival appearance than Second Empire.

Today, the building is one of many historic 19th century buildings that surround Park Square. The interior was damaged by fire after a gas explosion in 1970, but the building survived and was restored. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and later became part of the Park Square Historic District.

Berkshire County Courthouse, Pittsfield, Mass

January 17, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The Berkshire County Courthouse at Park Square in Pittsfield, around 1900-1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The courthouse in 2016:

For many years, the town of Lenox was the county seat of Berkshire County. However, by the middle of the 19th century, Pittsfield’s population growth had dramatically outpaced its small neighbor to the south, and in 1868 the county government shifted to Pittsfield. The old courthouse eventually became the Lenox Library, and still stands today, and a new courthouse was built here on East Street in Pittsfield, facing Park Square.

The courthouse was completed in 1871, and was designed by Boston-based architect Louis Weissbein. Its exterior was constructed of marble quarried from nearby Sheffield, and it originally had a mansard roof, giving it a distinctive Second Empire appearance. However, the courthouse was later renovated and a new roof was added, and an annex was built in the rear of the building. Otherwise, though, the building’s exterior looks much the same as it did over a century ago, and it is still in use as a county courthouse. In 1975, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Park Square Historic District.

First Church, Pittsfield, Mass

February 9, 2018January 16, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The First Church at Park Square in Pittsfield, around 1865-1885. Image courtesy of the New York Public Library.

The church in 2016:

Pittsfield’s first church was built on this site in 1761, on the north side of Park Square. It was, in turn, replaced by a more substantial building designed by Charles Bulfinch in 1793. This second church building was among his early works, and Bulfinch would go on to become one of the most prominent architects in the early years of the United States. Many of his works still stand, but the Pittsfield churches heavily damaged in a fire in 1851, and was subsequently replaced with the present building.

Like its predecessor, the new building was also designed by a noted architect, Leopold Eidlitz. It was completed in 1853, with a Gothic Revival style that was becoming common in church architecture. Eidlitz’s design incorporates many Gothic elements, including the off-center tower, pointed arches, steep roof, and decorative trim along the eaves. However, several parts of the old church were preserved, including the bell and the clock, and were added to the new building.

Today, the historic church building is still standing, with few modifications from its original appearance. The clock from the previous church was removed in 1994 and donated to a museum, and a replica of the clock face was installed in its place. Otherwise, though, little has changed, and the church is one of many historic buildings around Park Square, including the Berkshire County Savings Bank Building on the left and the old town hall on the right.

Hotel Wendell, Pittsfield, Mass

February 9, 2018January 10, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The Hotel Wendell, at the corner of South and West Streets in Pittsfield, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2016:

The first photo was taken less than a decade after the completion of the Hotel Wendell. Located right in the heart of downtown Pittsfield, it opened in 1898 to much fanfare, with dignitaries including Lieutenant Governor Winthrop M. Crane, the paper magnate from nearby Dalton who later served as governor and US senator. It was designed by local architect H. Neill Wilson, in a Renaissance Revival style that was fairly common for hotels at the turn of the century, and included 110 guest rooms and a 250-seat dining room. At the time, Pittsfield was the urban center of the Berkshires, the Gilded Age playground of New York’s rich and famous, and a hotel here was a wise investment.

There is an interesting contrast in the first photo, between the large, elegant, modern hotel and the motley assortment of shabby, early 19th century brick buildings to the left. They appear to have once been houses that were later stitched together into a semi-coherent mass of a commercial block. Either way, they did not last long in the growing city. By the 1920s, the Hotel Wendell was expanding to the left, replacing these old buildings with two large additions. Completed in 1930, these additions nearly tripled the size of the hotel and made it the largest in the city.

However, the Hotel Wendell was peaking just as inner-city hotels were about to enter a precipitous decline. The Great Depression had just started and World War II would soon follow, and after the war automobiles and interstate highways drew business away from city centers. Pittsfield, once an important stop on the way from Boston to Albany and points west, was completely bypassed by the Massachusetts Turnpike, which opened in 1956, more than 10 miles to the south.

The Hotel Wendell closed in 1965, and was demolished soon after. Its replacement was a 14-story Hilton hotel, which opened in 1971. Now the Crowne Plaza Pittsfield, it is still the tallest building in the city nearly 50 years later. As seen in the 2016 photo, the new hotel is set further back from the road. The actual site of the old Hotel Wendell is now a three-story commercial building, which is part of the hotel complex and includes storefronts on the first floor along the west side of South Street.