Hotels

New Hotel Weirs, Weirs Beach, NH (3)

by

Another view of the New Hotel Weirs, from the railroad station across Lakeside Avenue around 1908. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

585_1908c loc

The scene in 2015:

585_2015
The New Hotel Weirs, as seen in previous posts here and here, was first built in 1880, and subsequent additions in 1896, 1899, and 1905-06 resulted in its appearance in the first photo here.  It was a great location for a hotel in the days before widespread automobile use; guests needed to only step off the train and walk up the walkway from the station.  Just behind the photographer is Lake Winnipesaukee, so once guests arrived they would have enjoyed beautiful views of the lake from the hotel veranda.  Right next to the railroad station is the dock for the S.S. Mount Washington, so from here they could enjoy a sightseeing cruise and visit the other ports on the lake.

Today, the railroad is the only thing left from the first photo, and even it has changed over the years.  With nearly all visitors to the Lakes Region driving rather than taking a train, the station is no longer served by regular passenger trains; instead, the line is operated by the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad, which offers excursion trains along the shore of the lake.  As for the New Hotel Weirs, it and a number of other buildings were destroyed in a fire in 1924, and the site was redeveloped with a motel, cottages, and an arcade.

New Hotel Weirs, Weirs Beach, NH (2)

by

Another view of the New Hotel Weirs on Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach, around 1906-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

582_1900-1910 loc

The location in 2015:

582_2015
The first photo was taken sometime after 1906, when the New Hotel Weirs, as explained in this post, had another addition put on, this time to the left of the left tower.  The addition also included the Hotel Weirs Bazaar, which according to the sign over the right window offered “Souvenirs and post cards, novelties, cigars, cigarettes & tobacco, fine confectionery and Moxie, fishing tackle, rods, reels, hooks etc.” Other signs offer Indian baskets, “aluminum & Japanese goods,” Coca Cola, orangeade, phonographs, and post cards.  Visitors from New York could even keep up to date with a copy of the New York Herald.  As mentioned in the previous post, however, a disastrous fire on November 9, 1924 left much of Weirs Beach in ruins, including the hotel.  The site was later rebuilt as a motel and arcade, which is still there today.

New Hotel Weirs, Weirs Beach, NH (1)

by

The New Hotel Weirs on Lakeside Avenue in the Laconia village of Weirs Beach, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

581_1906c loc

The location in 2015:

581_2015
The late 1800s was a period of great economic growth throughout much of the United States, allowing greater numbers of people the luxury of traveling and vacationing.  The era saw the construction of many large, resort-like hotels, and for the wealthy in the northeast, New Hampshire was a popular destination.  The Laconia village known as “The Weirs” was one such place. It is the place where the waters of Lake Winnipesaukee flow into Paugus Bay on their way to the Merrimack River, and its convenient location on the railroad line led to the construction of the Hotel Weirs in 1880, right across the street from the railroad station.

It was an age of great prosperity in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and as other hotels continued to open, the Hotel Weirs expanded several times.  The original building was the far-left section, consisting of just the tower and several window bays on either side.  By the time the first photo was taken around 1905, the building had already seen two major additions in 1896 and 1899, and had been renamed the New Hotel Weirs.  It was a popular destination, and its guests included Theodore Roosevelt, who stayed at the hotel during a 1902 visit.

Over the winter of 1905-1906, probably the winter after the photo was taken, it was expanded even more, with another addition to the left of the original section.  However, like so many other grand hotels of its age, the New Hotel Weirs was destroyed in a fire, on November 9, 1924.  The same fire also destroyed a number of nearby buildings, and the hotel was not rebuilt.  The property was later redeveloped, and today it is the site of the Half Moon, which includes a motel, cottages, and arcades.

Springfield and Eastern Street Railway, Palmer Mass

by

A Springfield and Eastern Street Railway trolley in downtown Palmer, on Main Street opposite Bridge Street, in 1905. Image courtesy of the Palmer Public Library.

561_1905 palmerhistcom

The scene in 2015:

561_2015
The town of Palmer was once a major transportation hub, as indicated by its nickname, the “Town of Seven Railroads.” Although not all of these railroads were ever operational, at the time that the first photo was taken there were five different railroads operating in the town, but that didn’t include the many trolley lines that also served Palmer. The trolley line along Main Street belonged to the Springfield and Eastern Street Railway, and it connected Monson, Brimfield, and other points east to the city of Springfield, some 15 miles to the west. The line opened in 1898 as the Palmer and Monson Street Railway, and connected the two rapidly developing industrial towns. In 1901, the line was extended to connect with the Springfield Street Railway, and in 1905 the company was renamed to reflect its role in connecting Springfield to the towns to the east.

The first few decades of the 20th century were the heyday for trolleys, but as time went on they faced competition from buses and automobiles.  The line closed by the late 1920s, and today nothing from the first photo has survived., including the building directly behind the trolley in the 1905 scene.  It was the Converse Hotel, which at the time was conventiently located on the main road from Boston to Springfield.  Today, its former location at the corner of Main and Walnut Streets is now a parking lot.

Allis House and First Church, Wilbraham Mass (2)

by

Another Main Street view of the Allis House and the First Church, sometime in the 1880s or 1890s. Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

550_0dateunk wpl

Main Street in 2015:

550_2015
As mentioned in this post, both of these buildings in the first scene were destroyed in separate fires, not too long after the photo was taken.  The Allis House to the left was a hotel and tavern, offering accommodations for salesmen and other business travelers as well as providing food and entertainment for locals.  It burned in August 1896, but the 1964 History of Wilbraham book suggests that it may not have been accidental; business was apparently declining, and according to a local rumor the resident handyman ran out of the burning building yelling at Mrs. Allis for not telling him when she was planning on burning the place down.

Just under 15 years later the Congregational Church just to the right of the Allis House was also destroyed in a fire, although there was unquestionably no insurance fraud involved here; the steeple was struck by lightning and the church burned to the ground.  Today, Gazebo Park is located on the spot where the old church once stood, along with its two predecessors and its successor, before the present-day church was built in 1958 a short distance down Main Street.

Allis House and First Church, Wilbraham Mass (1)

by

The Allis House and the First Church on Main Street, seen from the intersection of Main and Springfield Streets, sometime around the 1880s or 1890s.  Image courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

549_0dateunk wpl

The scene in 2015:

549_2015
This location on Main Street in the center of Wilbraham was the location of a series of fires between 1877 and 1911. In 1877, both the first and second meeting houses were destroyed in a fire, after which the Allis House hotel and the third meeting house were built, as seen in the first photo.  However, less than 20 years later the Allis House also burned, in a rather suspicious fire that conveniently occurred after business started declining in the 1890s.  The church survived the Allis House fire, but it burned in 1911 after being struck by lightning.  Today, the location of the church is part of Gazebo Park, at the corner of Main Street and Burt Lane.