Photographers Archives - Page 120 of 164

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Hartford Connecticut

May 7, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch on Trinity Street in Hartford, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The arch in 2015:

Many cities and towns across the country have some sort of Civil War monument with a statue on top, but Hartford took it one step further and designed a pair of medieval-style towers connected by an arch. The monument honors the approximately 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the war, about 400 of whom never returned home. It was dedicated in 1886, and spans Trinity Street not far from the State Capitol, which is off to the right, beyond the right-hand tower. At the time that the first photo was taken, the section of road in front of the tower was a bridge over the Park River. The bridge is still there, but the river has since been put underground and the grade was raised on the old riverbed. Trinity Street has also changed – there are no longer any trolley tracks running down the middle, and because of how narrow the arch is, the street has been reduced to a single lane of one-way traffic.

Corning Fountain, Hartford Connecticut

February 12, 2017May 6, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Corning Fountain in Bushnell Park in Hartford, around 1905. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The fountain in 2015:

The Corning Fountain was given as a gift to the city of Hartford in 1899 by John J. Corning. It was designed by J. Massie Rhind, and features Native Americans representing local tribes, with a deer on top. The city’s name literally means “hart ford,” as in “a place where deer cross a river,” so the hart or stag has become a symbol of the city. Not coincidentally, the animal is also the symbol of The Hartford investment and insurance company. The statue is located in Bushnell Park, a large public park that was created in the 1860s. Prior to the construction of the park, this area was a fairly polluted industrial area. Corning’s father operated a grist mill on the spot where the statue now sits, and the statue was given by his son in his memory.

Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford

August 22, 2021May 6, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, seen from Bushnell Park around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The capitol in 2015:

For many years, Connecticut had a rather unusual capital city arrangement. Despite being geographically one of the smallest states, they had two capital cities: Hartford and New Haven. The General Assembly alternated locations, thus accommodating both the section of the state along the coastline, as well as those who lived further inland. The state even had two different state houses, with one in each city. This was presumably beneficial for travel when the system was established in 1701, but by the second half of the 19th century railroads made the 35 miles between the two cities far more manageable. It was impractical to continue to have two different capitals (not to mention two different capitols), so in 1875 Hartford became the sole capital city.

To commemorate the unification of the capitals, Connecticut built a new state capitol at the southern end of Bushnell Park, and it has been the seat of Connecticut government ever since. The only readily apparent change between the two photos is the statue on top of the dome. Called The Genius of Connecticut, it was damaged in the 1938 Hurricane and taken down; several years later it was melted down as scrap metal for the war effort. In front of the building, Bushnell Park is still there, albeit with more trees and substantially more parking spaces than in the 1906 scene.

Elm Street, Holyoke Mass

April 27, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Elm Street toward Appleton Street in Holyoke, around 1908:

Elm Street in 2015:

The contrast in these two scenes illustrates what has happened in Holyoke over the past century. When the first photo was taken, the city was rapidly growing in population; by the 1910 census, it had over 57,000 residents, and the city was one of the world’s leading paper manufacturing centers. However, by the middle of the 20th century the factories began closing, and the population dropped. The 2010 census showed fewer than 40,000 residents, and Holyoke currently has the second lowest median household income level out of all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns. The house and the apartment building on the left-hand side of Elm Street are still there from the 1908 photo, but otherwise it is a very different scene today.

Civil War Monument, Holyoke Mass

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Civil War Monument in Veterans’ Memorial Park in Holyoke, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The statue in 2015:

Civil War monuments are a common feature in communities across the country, and Holyoke is no exception with their monument to the city’s 55 residents who died in the war. What is rather unusual about this one, though, is the sculptor: former Confederate soldier Henry Jackson Ellicott. It is also unusual in that most Civil War monuments feature the figure of a soldier, while Ellicott’s creation has Liberty holding a wreath atop the monument. It was dedicated on America’s centennial, July 4, 1876, and today it remains at the center of Veterans Park, which now includes monuments for veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Not much of the surrounding neighborhood is visible in the first photo, but St. Jerome’s Church is clearly visible in the 2015 view. Although mostly obscured by leaves, the church is there in the first photo; in fact, not only is it older than the monument, but it is older than the war itself. The church was completed in 1860 to serve the growing population of mill workers, and was the first of many Catholic churches in Holyoke. The statue includes a list of the 55 Holyoke men killed in the war, and among these are Irish names like Sullivan, McDonald, Cronan, and Donahue, so they very well could have been parishioners across the street at St. Jerome’s Church before they enlisted.

High Street, Holyoke Mass (2)

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on High Street from Suffolk Street in Holyoke, around 1903-1907. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

High Street in 2015:

These photos show a scene similar to the ones in this post, just a half a block further south, at the corner of High and Suffolk Streets. This area is also part of the North High Street Historic District, and all of the buildings on the left-hand side date to between 1880 and 1920. The first photo was taken at a good time to show some of the changes that happened in the early 19th century. Had this photo been taken less than 10 years later, we would see almost no change today; all of the present-day buildings in the foreground were built by about 1912. Starting on the far left side and heading down High Street, the first five buildings in the present-day photo are:

An unnamed commercial block, which was built in 1910 and replaced two earlier buildings, including the ornate Naumkeag Clothiers building in the first photo.
Bishop Block, which was built around 1890 and has had a few alterations over the years, especially the facade on the second floor.
Taber Block, which was built around 1884 and is architecturally very similar to the Russell-Osborne Building further down the street
Childs Building, which was built around 1912
Steiger’s Building, which was built around 1900 and was home to one of Albert Steiger’s department stores

Overall, the changes in the two photos reflect the prosperity of Holyoke at the turn of the last century; its paper mills were bringing jobs and wealth to the city, and this was seen on High Street, where relatively new buildings from the 1880s and 1890s were being taken down and replaced by larger commercial buildings. However, just as new construction on this part of High Street seemed to stagnate by the mid 20th century, Holyoke’s economy also stagnated with the closing of the paper mills. Today, parts of Holyoke are filled with historic buildings, but sadly this is not necessarily because of careful attention to historic preservation, but rather from a lack of new economic development in the city.