Government Buildings

Post Office and Library, Bellows Falls, Vermont

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The post office and library in downtown Bellows Falls, Vermont, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2018, now the town hall for Rockingham, Vermont:

The building in the first photo served as the post office and library for the town of Rockingham from 1886 until it burned in 1925.  The first photo shows the entrance to the library on the far left of the building, with the post office located in the storefront at the base of the tower.  There are no automobiles in the first photo, but the open-air trolley in the foreground provided public transportation in the village of Bellows Falls.  After the fire, the replacement building opened in 1926, and it has served as the Rockingham Town Hall ever since.

Old City Hall, Springfield, Mass

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The old City Hall building in Springfield, viewed from across Court Square, between 1865 and 1885. Photo courtesy of New York Public Library.

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The scene in 2014:

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Court Square hasn’t changed much in the past 130-150 years, but the buildings beyond it have.  The first photo shows the old City Hall building, which as mentioned in this post was built in 1855, shortly after Springfield was incorporated as a city, and burned in 1905, allegedly as a result of a monkey overturning a kerosene lamp.  I don’t know the circumstances surrounding a primate having access to open flames in City Hall, but that’s how the story goes.  The present City Hall was completed in 1913, and has managed to survive for over a century without any problems from arsonist apes.

Fire Department Headquarters, Springfield, Mass

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Springfield Fire Department Headquarters on Court Street, around 1900-1913. Photo from Progressive Springfield, Massachusetts (1913).

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The scene just over 100 years later, in 2014:

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This fire station was built on about the same spot that Parsons Tavern used to occupy for most of the 1800s.  It must have been completed shortly before the first photo was taken, because the caption in Progressive Springfield, Massachusetts describes it as the “new” headquarters, and describes how:

“No city has a more up-to-date fire department and headquarters station than Springfield. The new station on Court Street cost $110,000. Its apparatus is all motor-driven and has modern conveniences for the force. The top floor houses the new fire alarm system installed at an expense of $30,000.  The flying squadron shown above consists of autos for Chief and Assistant Chief, the Electric Aerial Ladder Truck, Combination Electric Wagon and Hose and Water Tower with Gasoline Tractor.  The city expends about $240,000 a year on this department.”

Today, the location of this fire station is now an on-ramp for Interstate 91; the 2014 photo was taken from the parking garage directly underneath the highway.  The city’s two tallest buildings, Monarch Place and Tower Square, can both be seen in the photo, along with Symphony Hall, on the right-hand side.  It’s probably the only building visible that existed when the first photo was taken.  The Springfield Fire Department now has its headquarters on Worthington Street, although I don’t know that they still have any “Combination Electric Wagons” on the force.

President Taft at Springfield, Mass (1)

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President William Howard Taft, giving a speech on Court Square in Springfield, on April 25, 1912. Photo from Progressive Springfield, Massachusetts (1913).

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The scene in 2014:

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The 1912 photo was taken on the same day as the photo in this post, which shows a close-up of President Taft speaking on the platform.  Here, the platform can be seen behind Old First Church on the left-hand side, and it shows the massive crowd that had assembled to see him during his 1912 presidential campaign, which would end with him earning the Republican nomination but losing to Woodrow Wilson in the November election.  Today, three of the buildings from the first photo are still there: Old First Church, the Court Square Hotel, and the old Hampden County Courthouse.  There are also some remnants of this part of Court Square, which once stretched from the back of Old First Church to the Connecticut River (which can be seen in this post).  Today, the Hampden County Hall of Justice covers part of the land, and East Columbus Avenue passes diagonally across it.

State Armory, Springfield, Mass

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The Armory on Howard Street in Springfield, around 1910. Photo from View Book of Springfield (1910).

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The building in 2014:

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The State Armory in Springfield (not to be confused with the much larger, more prominent federal Springfield Armory) was built in 1895 for the Massachusetts Militia, and later the Massachusetts National Guard.  The building included both the castle-like structure facing Howard Street, as well as a massive drill shed that extended the width of the block to Union Street.  After the National Guard left, it became the South End Community Center, but it sustained significant damage from the June 1, 2011 tornado, which completely destroyed the former drill shed.  Like the former YWCA Building, the old Armory is right in the middle of the planned casino development, and the current plan is to demolish all but the facade, which will be incorporated into the casino.

Hampden County Hall of Records, Springfield, Mass

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The Hampden County Hall of Records on State Street in Springfield, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The same location in 2014:

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The Hampden County Hall of Records was built adjacent to the Hampden County Courthouse in the early 1900s, using a similar architectural style.  Like the courthouse, it spanned from State Street to Elm Street, with this view taken looking north from State Street.  I don’t know when the building was demolished, but it was gone by the 1970s, when the present-day Hampden County Hall of Justice was built on the left-hand side of the 2014 photo.  The courthouse was also built on the spot of the Springfield Institution for Savings building, which is barely visible on the far left of the first photo.