Buildings

Main Arsenal, Springfield Mass

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The Main Arsenal at the Springfield Armory, seen around 1910-1920. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The Arsenal in 2015:

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Springfield had long been a center of production for US military firearms, beginning in 1777, during the American Revolution.  The need arose for a suitable location to manufacture and store arms and ammunition, and several sites in New England were considered, including Brookfield Mass. and Hartford.  However, in the end General Henry Knox recommended Springfield, and George Washington agreed.  Perhaps Knox had recalled passing through Springfield in early 1776 while bringing cannon from Ticonderoga to Boston, but either way he determined that it was the best location.

The location of Springfield was particularly valuable, as it was along several major roads, leading to Boston, Albany, Hartford, and other points south.  The Connecticut River and several major tributaries were also an advantage, although unlike at Hartford the river was not navigable by ocean-going vessels at this point.  This had been one of the strongest arguments in favor of Hartford, but it was also one of the main weaknesses of the Hartford plan – British ships could easily sail up the river and attack.  Springfield’s location, some 20 miles north of the head of navigation, meant that the town was secure from British naval attacks.  Another important feature in Springfield is the hill that the Armory is located on.  Situated on a broad plateau above the downtown area, the Armory is only three quarters of a mile from the river, but is about 150 feet higher in elevation.  In the unlikely event that Springfield was attacked, this would have been an easy position to defend.

However, while the Armory itself dates back to the 1700s, most of the buildings on the site date to the mid 1800s, including the main arsenal seen in these photos.  This building was built between 1847 and 1851, and it served as a storehouse for the weapons produced at the Armory.  It was built during the Mexican-American War, and it played a vital role in the Civil War just a decade later.  Springfield had been one of two federal arsenals prior to the war, with the other being at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  Since this facility was lost early in the war, Springfield became the primary manufacturing center for Union firearms.  It continued in this role throughout World War I, World War II, and even into the Vietnam War before its closure in 1968.  Today, the Armory is National Historic Site, and is also home to Springfield Technical Community College.  The arsenal today hasn’t changed much since its completion in 1851, although today it serves as a museum run by the National Park Service.

Trolley Barn, Springfield Mass

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The Springfield Street Railway trolley barn at the corner of Main and Carew Streets, around 1905. Photo from Springfield Present and Prospective (1905).

The building in 2023:

The late 19th century saw a dramatic growth in suburbs, and this was fueled in part by the development of inexpensive forms of mass transit such as street railways.  Although most commonly associated with electrified trolleys, these originally started as horse-drawn cars on rails.  This was the case in Springfield, where the Springfield Street Railway opened in 1870.  The original line was a single track that ran about 2.5 miles from Hooker Street in the North End, where the stables were located (not coincidentally, this is now the site of the PVTA headquarters), south along Main Street to State Street, and then along State Street to Oak Street, just past the Armory.  The line was served by four cars and 24 horses, and rides were eight cents each or 16 for a dollar.

It must have been popular, because within four years the network was expanded east on State Street to Winchester Square, and south on Main Street to the Mill River.  More lines were later opened, along Maple and Central Streets to the Watershops, and other lines to Indian Orchard, Brightwood, and along Worthington Street.  Meanwhile, fares continued to drop, first to six cents and then to five.  The biggest change, however, came in 1891, when all of the lines were electrified to run trolleys instead of horse-drawn cars.

By the end of the 19th century, the network was extended to Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, and Feeding Hills, and connections were made to street railway networks in Holyoke, Westfield, Northampton, Palmer, and Hartford.  As a result of the growth of the company, this building was built in 1897 as a new headquarters, at the corner of Main and Carew Streets in Springfield’s North End.  At the time that the first photo was taken, the company operated almost 94 miles of track, with 48 of those miles in Springfield, and operated 227 cars on the lines.

However, as was the case with trolley lines around the country, the Springfield Street Railway wouldn’t last.  Just as electrified trolleys replaced horse-drawn cars, automobiles and buses replaced the trolleys.  The trolley barn (the name itself is a holdover from when the horses were housed in literal barns) is still there, and still looks very much the same as it did over 100 years ago.

South Church, Springfield Mass

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The old South Church building on Bliss Street in Springfield, probably around 1865-1875. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library.

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The location in 2015:

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For many years, the First Church in Springfield was the only church in town; it wasn’t until the first half of the 19th century that other churches started to form.  Many of these were offshoots from the first church, some of whom left because of doctrinal differences, such as the Unitarian Church.  However, others left the church on better terms, in order to form new congregations to meet the needs of the growing town (and soon to be city).  The South Church was one of these.  They were formed in 1842, and originally met in the parish house of the First Church before building their own church a few blocks away on Bliss Street.

The first pastor was Noah Porter, who served from 1843 to 1846, when he accepted a position as a professor at his alma mater, Yale College.  He later went on to serve as president of Yale from 1871 to 1886.  Following Porter’s departure, Dr. Samuel G. Buckingham became the pastor, and served for 40 years.  Buckingham was also an author, and he wrote a biography of his brother William Alfred Buckingham, who was Governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1866 and a US Senator from 1869 to 1875.

During Buckingham’s tenure as pastor, the church outgrew the building on Bliss Street, and in 1875 they moved to a new location on Maple Street.  South Congregational Church is still there, and still meets in the 1875 building.  Meanwhile, on Bliss Street, the old church was demolished by 1884, which was the year that the Women’s Christian Association built a boarding house on the site.  That building is still there as of 2015, serving as the home of the Springfield Rescue Mission, although it is scheduled to be demolished later in the year to make way for the MGM Springfield casino.

Bodurtha Saw Mill, East Longmeadow Mass

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The Bodurtha Saw Mill, seen from Westwood Avenue in East Longmeadow in 1887. Photo courtesy of the East Longmeadow Historical Commission.

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The location in 2015:

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The town of East Longmeadow was never much of an industrial center, in part because it lacked major rivers to power factories.  The Pecousic Brook, seen here, is the only stream of any significance near the town center, and while it wasn’t suitable for large-scale industry, it did power several small mills, including the Bodurtha Saw Mill.  The mill was built in 1820 as a grist mill, where local farmers had corn, wheat, and oats ground into flour.  Later on, it was used as a sawmill, with several owners including Henry Bodurtha, for whom it is named.  It burned in 1906, and today there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of either the mill or the reservoir that was once here.

Railroad Station, East Longmeadow Mass

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The railroad station near the center of East Longmeadow in 1910. Photo courtesy of the East Longmeadow Historical Commission.

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The station in 2015:

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The station in 2023:

Today, East Longmeadow doesn’t have any active rail lines, but a century ago the Armory Branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad passed through the town.  The line connected East Hartford and Springfield, and passed by the Watershops of the Springfield Armory, which gave the branch its name.  In East Longmeadow, it provided a way for the many quarries in town to ship their stone, and it also provided a method of transportation in the days before automobiles.  However, the branch was never a major route, and was abandoned by the 1980s.  Today, most of the line is still abandoned, but a 1.6 mile section in East Longmeadow is now the Redstone Rail Trail, named for the quarries that once used the line.  The station, which opened in 1876, is located at the northern terminus of the trail, and although it has clearly seen better days, it is still instantly recognizable from the 1910 photo.

2023 Update: As shown in the third photo, station has since been restored, and it reopened in 2021 as an ice cream shop.

Timothy Merrick House, Wilbraham Mass

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The Timothy Merrick House on Main Street in Wilbraham, probably sometime in the late 1800s. Photo courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

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The same location in 2015:

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Massachusetts is home to only two species of venomous snakes: the timber rattlesnake and the northern copperhead.  Both are exceedingly rare in the state, but they must have been more common in Wilbraham in the past, as they make several appearances into town lore. This house was built around 1761 for Timothy Merrick, the only son of my 6th great grandfather, Thomas Merrick.  Merrick was engaged to Sarah Lamb, and they were to live in this house after their marriage.  However, according to the records of the town clerk, Samuel Warner (who was also my 6th great grandfather, from a different branch of the family):

Timothy, son of Thomas Mirick and Mary Mirick, was Bit By a Ratel Snake one Aug. the 7th, 1761, and Dyed within about two or three ours he being twenty two years two months and three Days old and vary near the point of marridge.

Merrick’s death is believed to be the last recorded fatal snake bite in Massachusetts history, but even if not it is certainly the most famous.  Because of the tragic nature of the story, this event formed the basis for one of the earliest American ballads, “On Springfield Mountain.”  It was written in the late 1700s or early 1800s, and there are many different versions of this song, some of which include a number of embellishments beyond what Warner wrote in the town records.  One such version, recorded in the 1964 History of Wilbraham book, is asserted to be the original Merrick family version:

On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A likely youth was known full well
Lieutenant Mirick’s only son
A likely youth nigh twenty one

One Friday morning he did go
Into the medow for to mow
A round or two and he did feel
A pisin sarpent at his heel

When he received his deadly wound
he dropt his sithe apon the ground
And strate for home was his intent
calling aloude still as he went

O Molly Molly Molly dear
come see this pesky sarpent here
Tho all around his voice was heered
none of his friends to him apiered

So soon his carful father went
to seek his son with discontent
And there his onley son he found
ded as a stone apon the ground

His father vieude his track with consarn
where he had rund across the corn
Uneven tracks where he did go
appeared to stagger to and fro

And there he lay suppose to rest
with both his hands acrost his brest
His mouth and eyes were closed fast
and there poor man he slept his last

The seventh of August sixty one
this fatal axsident was done
let this a warning be to all
to be prepared when God doth call.

Today, as seen in the second photo, Timothy Merrick’s house is gone; it burned in 1955 was was replaced soon after with a modern house.  The location of the snake bite has not been conclusively identified, but it was across Main Street and a little to the south of the house, which would place it right along the present-day Hampden-Wilbraham border.  This area is now a suburban residential development, and the History of Wilbraham book places the location at around the spot where Oakland Street crosses a small stream.  Although both the house and the farmland that Merrick was once mowing are now gone, there are still a few reminders around town.  Behind the location of the Merrick house is the Pesky Sarpent Conservation Area, and further up the hill is a rocky outcropping called Rattlesnake Peak.  Timothy Merrick’s gravestone can also still be seen, in the Adams Cemetery on Tinkham Road.  There is no direct mention of the rattlesnake on the stone, but the epitaph, taken from Job 14:2, seems appropriate for the sudden, tragic death of a young man: “He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down.  He fleeth also as a Shadow and continueth not.”