Houses

David Billings House, Hatfield, Massachusetts

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The house at 18 Main Street in Hatfield, Massachusetts, in 1938. Image taken by Arthur C. Haskell. Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The house in 2024:

This house was built in 1783 as the home of Lieutenant David Billings (1731-1807). It stands on the east side of Main Street, between the street and the Connecticut River, with a lot that originally extended all the way back to the river. The house remained in the Billings family for many years, and subsequent owners included his grand nephew Joseph Dickinson Billings (1813-1882), and then by Joseph’s daughter Mary Billings Dickinson (1843-1922). It is an excellent example of an early Federal-style house, and in 1910 the A History of Hatfield, Massachusetts noted that [t]he house has the same appearance as of old, having been kept in excellent repair.”

The top photo was taken in 1938, as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). This federal program involved documenting historic architecture across the country, and this house was one of several here in Hatfield that were included. At the time, the house still retained its original exterior appearance, but later in the 20th century it was altered with the installation of modern materials, including aluminum siding. However, the exterior has since been restored, and it now much more closely resembles its original appearance when compared to how it looked a few years ago.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Carriage Accident, Pittsfield, Massachusetts (3)

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The wrecked carriage that President Theodore Roosevelt had been riding in on South Street in Pittsfield on September 3, 1902. Image courtesy of the Harvard Library, Theodore Roosevelt Collection.

The scene in 2023:

As explained in more detail in an earlier post, this spot on South Street was the site of a collision between an electric trolley and a horse-drawn carriage that was carrying President Theodore Roosevelt on September 3, 1902. It occurred on a section of South Street just south of the culvert over Wampenum Brook, when both the carriage and the trolley were heading south toward Pittsfield Country Club. Just beyond the culvert, the roadway narrowed, requiring southbound vehicles to cross over the tracks to continue.

The trolley, which was car 29 of the Pittsfield Street Railway, was filled with passengers hoping to see the president at the country club. Its conductor was James T. Kelly, and it was operated by motorman Euclid Madden. In the carriage, aside from the president, was Governor Winthrop Murray Crane, Roosevelt’s aide George Cortelyou, Secret Service bodyguard William Craig, and driver David J. Pratt. The carriage itself was a landau, and had a team of four horses.

The exact speed of the trolley was later subject to much debate, with some claiming that the crew was being pressured to travel at an unsafe speed to overtake the president before he reached the country club. Either way, at around 9:45 a.m. the trolley struck the left front wheel of the carriage while the carriage was starting to cross the tracks. The impact threw both Craig and Pratt from the carriage, killing Craig instantly and severely injuring Pratt. The other three occupants sustained relatively minor injuries, although Roosevelt had a cut on his lower lip, bruising and swelling on his face, a black eye, and a bruised left shin.

In the aftermath, once Roosevelt discovered that Craig was dead, the president confronted the motorman, with the next day’s Boston Globe quoting him as saying:

This is the most damnable outrage I ever knew. If you lost control of your car, there is some excuse, but if you tried to pass us, disregarding all our warnings, you ought to be punished.

Other accounts add that Roosevelt shook his fist while saying this, and then questioned Madden about why he was operating the trolley in such a manner, to which Madden supposedly protested that he had the right of way.

Following this confrontation, the president and his party went to the home of Maroa Stevens, a 53-year-old widow who lived in the house directly across the street from the accident. This house was blocked from view in the top photo because of the wrecked carriage and the bystanders in the foreground, but it is still standing here, and it is shown in the center of the bottom photo. There, his surgeon treated his injuries, and he rested and recuperated in the house for about a half hour. During that time, a new carriage was obtained, and he then continued his journey toward Lenox and eventually back to his home on Long Island by the end of the day.

Today, the scene looks very different from its appearance in 1902, and there are no historical markers or other indication that the accident occurred here. The only readily-identifiable landmarks from contemporary accounts of the accident are the culvert over the Wampenum Brook, which is located on the far left side of the photo, and the Stevens house in the center of the photo.

Town Center, Ashfield, Massachusetts

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The town center in Ashfield, around 1891. Image from Picturesque Franklin (1891).

The scene in 2024:

These two photos show the town center of Ashfield, looking east on Main Street from the corner of Norton Hill Road. In the center of both photos is the town hall, which was formerly the congregational church. It is one of the most architecturally significant early 19th century meetinghouses in Western Massachusetts, with a distinctive ornate steeple, as shown in the top photo. The top of this steeple has been temporarily removed for restoration work, which is why it is missing in the bottom photo.

The meetinghouse was originally built about a half mile south of here on Norton Hill Road, adjacent to the Hill Cemetery. Construction began in 1812, with Colonel John Ames of nearby Buckland as the contractor and presumed architect. Ames had built several other churches prior to this one, including ones in Marlborough and Northborough. However, he did not live to see this one completed, because he committed suicide on September 4, 1813. According to the 1910 book History of the Town of Ashfield, Franklin County, Massachusetts, “the contractor, broken in health by hard labor, heavy responsibility and fear of loss, committed suicide by cutting his throat with a chisel in the back part of what is now the cemetery on the hill.”

The building was eventually completed in 1814, and it stood on its original location until 1856, when it was moved down the hill to its current location on Main Street. The church hired a Mr. Tubbs of Springfield to move the building at a cost of $700. However, this ended up being a challenging task, as described in History of the Town of Ashfield:

The contract with Mr. Tubbs was made about April 1st, but as it was a late spring that year the moving could not begin until May 15. As the house was built facing the east it could be started straight ahead. It proved to be a much heavier building than Mr. Tubbs had supposed, and his apparatus broke several times and had to be replaced. At no time could it be moved without raising up the back end so that the whole house would pitch forward. The house was taken straight across the old road south of John Sears’ bam and into the road again at the turn. As anyone can see, it would take a large amount of blocking here to get the house across the hollow, and the moving committee had to hustle around for more. Here Mr. Tubbs struck and said he would go no further with it unless the committee would furnish a team to move the blocking. This, they had not agreed to do but they finally bought a pair of oxen, Mr. Tubbs agreeing to furnish the driver. The oxen were kept in Mr. Moses Cook’s pasture which then came to the road and included what is now Charles Bassett’s mowing lot. In going down the hill it was found necessary to hitch on a big boat load of stone to keep it from going on too fast. When it had arrived at the place where it was to stand, the contractor was going to leave it on the blocking pitched down hill, and the committee had to give him $80 more to put it on the foundation. People now living who saw the moving think the building inclined three or four degrees from the perpendicular, and was very noticeable.

Here at its new location, the building continued to be used as a church until 1870, when the First Congregational and Second Congregational churches merged and moved into a newer church building across the street. The older building was then sold to the town of Ashfield, and it became the town hall. Over the course of the 19th century, the town made a series of improvements and repairs to the building to make it functional as a town hall, including repairing lightning damage after the front of the building was struck in 1897.

Aside from the town hall, there are two other buildings visible in the top photo. Immediately to the right of the town hall is a Greek Revival style home, which was built in the first half of the 19th century. According to the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (MACRIS) documentation for this house, it was the home of the Knowlton family by the 1850s, and was later owned by Archibald Flower. During the early 20th century, the artist William Curtis lived here, and by 1927 it was the Georgianna Inn, which was run by Georgianna Corbett. The house originally did not have a front porch, but one was added around the 1880s or early 1890s, as shown in the top photo.

Closest to the foreground, on the far right side of the scene, is another 19th century building. According to its MACRIS form, it was built around 1835 by Josephus Crafts as a general store. His brother Albert Crafts Sr. later took over the store, followed by Albert’s sons Albert Jr. and William, and it remained in the family for just under a century, until it was sold in 1934. As built, the store was one and a half stories, as shown in the top photo, but around 1894 it was significantly expanded with a full second floor.

Today, more than 130 years after the top photo was taken, all three buildings are still standing, notwithstanding the significant alterations to the store in the foreground. The historic meetinghouse remains in use as the town hall, although it is currently missing the top of its distinctive steeple due to repair work. There have also been some other changes in the area, including the fire station just beyond the town hall, but overall this scene is still very recognizable from the top photo.

Samuel Boardman House, Wethersfield, Connecticut

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The house at 520 Main Street in Wethersfield, around 1935-1942. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Archives, RG 033:28, WPA Records, Architectural Survey.

The house in 2024:

The historical marker on this house indicates that it was built around 1769 as the home of Samuel Boardman. This date coincides with the year of his first marriage, to Ann Wright. Because new homes were often constructed for newlywed couples, this wedding was likely the basis for the date estimate. However, it may have actually been built several years later, because the book Families of Ancient Wethersfield, Connecticut states that Boardman initially lived on Broad Street, but that he had to sell that property in 1774 because of business dates. According to the book, he then moved into this house, which implies that this house was likely built in 1774 or later.

Samuel Boardman was a merchant, and he owned ships that were involved in the West Indies trade. Although located many miles from the ocean, Wethersfield is on a navigable portion of the Connecticut River, so it became an important seaport for oceangoing vessels during the colonial period. Boardman also served in the American Revolution, and in 1775 he opened a saltpeter factory here in Wethersfield. Because this was during the war, and because saltpeter is an important ingredient in black powder, it seems likely that his saltpeter was used for the production of gunpowder.

Boardman had three children with his first wife Anne, before her death in 1774. He then remarried to Naomi Butler, and they had seven more children who were born between 1776 and 1793. Samuel lived here for the rest of his life, until his death in 1822 at the age of 78. His widow Naomi died four years later in 1826 at the age of 73, but the house would remain in their family throughout much of the 19th century. The 1869 county atlas shows this property as belonging to “Miss Boardman,” which likely refers to their daughter Julia. She never married, and she was the last living child of Samuel Boardman. Based on the map and the census records, she appears to have lived here until her death in 1876 at the age of 89.

The top photo was taken around the late 1930s, and by that point the house had undergone some exterior changes. Most significantly, the windows here on the front part of the house were 2-over-2 sashes, which would not have been original to the house. The documentation that accompanied the top photo indicated that the house was in “poor” physical condition, although this is not readily evident from the exterior appearance in the photo.

Today, more than 80 years after the top photo was taken, the house is still standing. It looks much better now than it did back then, including the installation of historically-appropriate 12-over-12 windows. Its design is typical for 18th century homes in the area, including a central chimney and symmetrical front façade with four windows on the first floor and five windows on the second floor. Although not visible from this angle, it also has a so-called “coffin door” on the south (right) side of the house. Overall, the exterior of the house has remained well-preserved over the years, and it is one of the many homes that comprise the Wethersfield Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Bennezer Hale House, Wethersfield, Connecticut

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The house at 527 Main Street in Wethersfield, around 1935-1942. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Archives, RG 033:28, WPA Records, Architectural Survey.

The house in 2024:

Various sources give contradictory information regarding the age and ownership history of this house. The top photo was taken around the late 1930s or early 1940s as part of a Depression-era project to document historic buildings in Connecticut. Part of the documentation includes a description of the property, which states that it was built in 1690 as the home of Sergeant John Latimer. However, the historical marker that is on the house in the bottom photo in 2024 states that it was built around 1745 as the home of Bennezer Hale and Ann Woodhouse. Given the architectural style of the house, the 1745 date seems more plausible than 1690, and it coincides with the wedding of Bennezer Hale and Ann Woodhouse, who were married in Wethersfield on January 2, 1745.

By the time the top photo was taken, the house was owned by Charles B. and Elizabeth Allen. They were living here in the 1930 and 1940 federal censuses, and the photo documentation lists the house as being in “Good” physical condition. However, the photo itself seems to tell a different story, since the house is missing most of its first-floor windows, the front door is off the hinges, and some of the clapboards are falling off. The documentation does not make any specific note of this damage, but it seems likely that this was caused by the flood of March 1936, which caused extensive damage along the banks of the Connecticut River. The Cove Warehouse, which is visible in the distance of both photos, was damaged by this flood, so it seems likely that the house was as well, given its proximity to the warehouse and to the Wethersfield Cove.

Regardless of the cause of the damage, the house was subsequently restored, and today it stands in much better condition when compared to the top photo. It is one of the many surviving 18th century homes that line Main Street in Wethersfield, and it is part of the Wethersfield Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

Samuel Latimer House, Wethersfield, Connecticut

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The house at 505 Main Street in Wethersfield, around 1935-1942. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Archives, RG 033:28, WPA Records, Architectural Survey.

The house in 2024:

The house in these two photos was built around 1770 as the home of Samuel Latimer. This particular design was often seen on houses that were built in central Connecticut during the second half of the 18th century. Some of the features, such as the central chimney and the symmetrical front facade with nine windows and a door, are typical of colonial houses across New England. However, some of the elements are characteristic of this particular region, including the so-called “coffin door” on the south side of the house, and most notably the overhanging second floor and attic.

The overhangs on this house are stylistic holdovers from the post-medieval architecture of the 17th century. On those houses, such as the Witch House in Salem or the Buttolph-Williams House here in Wethersfield, the second-story overhang is fairly large. By the second half of the 18th century, these overhangs had largely disappeared from New England architecture, but they persisted here in Connecticut. By this point, though, the overhangs were much smaller, usually only a few inches, as seen on this house, which has three-inch overhangs.

The top photo was taken around the late 1930s or early 1940s as part of a Depression-era project to document historic buildings in Connecticut. By this point, the exterior had been somewhat altered with the addition of features such as shutters on the windows and a small porch at the “coffin door.” The documentation for the the top photo also noted that “[t]he interior has been changed from the original. There is a central hall with an open staircase to the right.” However, it did not otherwise elaborate on the condition of the interior or other alterations.

Until very recently, the house still looked essentially the same as it did when the top photo was taken, including the light-colored paint and the shutters. However, the house has since been restored, as shown in the bottom photo. This included removing the historically inaccurate shutters, and also repainting it a darker color. As a result, the bottom photo better reflects how the house likely would have looked in the 18th century, and it stands as an excellent example of the type of late colonial-era architecture that was popular here in the Wethersfield area.