Street Scenes Archives - Page 57 of 95

Rufus Colton House, Agawam, Mass

August 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

A view of Main Street in Agawam from the corner of Elm Street, with the Rufus Colton House in the distance on the left, seen around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

The scene in 2015:

Built in 1806, the Rufus Colton House is architecturally similar to the nearby Captain Charles Leonard House, which was built a year earlier. Both are believed to have been designed by Asher Benjamin, and like the Leonard House it was built for a local militia officer, Lieutenant Rufus Colton. Beginning around 1830, it was owned by Martin King (not Martin Luther King, just Martin King), who operated a tavern here for some time. Main Street was once part of the Boston Post Road, connecting Boston to New York and points south, so it is likely that a good part of King’s business was from travelers on the road.

Today, Main Street is busier, with paved streets replacing the dirt roads of the 1890s, but the Rufus Colton House remains well-preserved after over two centuries. It may or may not have been designed by Asher Benjamin, but either way it is an excellent example of Federal architecture, and it retains many of its original elements, including the hip roof, the fan window over the door, and the Palladian window in the center of the second floor. In 2001, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Agawam Center Historic District.

Congregational Church Parsonage, Agawam, Mass

August 11, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The parsonage on Main Street in Agawam, around 1895-1896. Image courtesy of the Agawam Historical Association.

The house in 2015:

This house on Main Street opposite School Street was built around 1850 as the parsonage for the Agawam Congregational Church, which is located a few hundred yards south of here on the opposite side of Main Street. The church building that it once served was several decades older; it was built in the early 1800s and was demolished in the 1960s, when the current church was built on the same spot.

Today, the parsonage is partially hidden by trees from this angle, but it is still there, with some alterations. It appears to be a multi-unit apartment now, with additions in the back of the house where the barn once stood in the 1890s photo. The area around the house has also changed; the house to the right was probably built in the early 1900s, and later on the land behind the parsonage was subdivided and Raymond Circle was developed. Despite the changes, however, the building is a contributing property in the Agawam Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Market Square, Portsmouth, NH

August 10, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Market Square in Portsmouth, looking east from the corner of Congress Street and Fleet Street around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Market Square in 2015:

Unlike some of the other street views of Portsmouth, this scene has actually seen some significant changes over the past century, although two prominent historic buildings from the first photo are still standing today. In the center of the photo is the North Church, which was built in 1854. Perhaps owing to the relatively small scale of the old city, the “North” and “South” churches are actually only separated by a single city block, although as time went on it was doctrine rather than distance that distinguished one from the other, with the South Church becoming Unitarian, while the North Church remained more conservative in its theology. The congregation has met at this site in Market Square since 1712, and over the years this area became the main commercial center of the city. Some of the oldest surviving commercial buildings in the city can be seen from in front of the church in this post.

The other prominent historical building is the National Block, on the far right side of the photos. It was built in 1878 by Frank Jones, a mayor, Congressman, and businessman who also owned the Rockingham Hotel, the Hotel Wentworth, and the humbly-named Frank Jones Brewery. When the first photo was taken, the first floor of the National Block was used by both the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, with the Odd Fellows occupying the upper floors. Since then, the interior has since been extensively renovated, but its exterior appearance is largely unchanged, and its style has been imitated in the modern commercial buildings between the National Block and the church.

Rockingham Hotel, Portsmouth, NH

August 7, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Rockingham Hotel on State Street in Portsmouth, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The building in 2015:

The original Rockingham Hotel was built in 1785 as the home of Woodbury Langdon, a wealthy merchant who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as a justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He was also the brother of John Langdon, a signer of the Constitution who later served in the Senate and as Governor of New Hampshire. Woodbury Langdon died in 1805, and in 1833 his house was converted into a hotel and subsequently renovated and enlarged in 1870, after being purchased by former Portsmouth mayor and future Congressman Frank Jones. The photo below, from Portsmouth, Historic and Picturesque (1902), shows the building as it appeared in the 19th century. I don’t know whether it was taken before or after the 1870 expansion.

The old building was mostly destroyed in a fire in 1884, leaving only the dining room from the original house. It was rebuilt, preserving the original dining room, and reopened in 1886. The new building incorporated some of the same design elements from the original, just on a much larger scale, including the triangular pediments above the top floor. The hotel would go on to be one of the most popular in the area, and while many of its contemporaries succumbed to fire or redevelopment long ago, the building still stands today. It was converted to condominiums in the 1970s, and the historic dining room is now a steakhouse, The Library Restaurant.

Congress Street, Portsmouth, NH

August 4, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking east on Congress Street from Middle Street, around 1905-1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Congress Street in 2015:

This view faces down Congress Street toward Market Square, where the photos in this post and this post were taken. Unlike those views, however, there have actually been some changes here. When the first photo was taken, this area was on the edge of the Market Square commercial district, so the scene shows a mix of both brick commercial buildings and wood-frame houses. The houses on the right-hand side date to the mid-1700s, when Portsmouth was the colonial capital of New Hampshire and a major seaport and shipbuilding center.

On the far right is the corner of the Cutter House, which was built around 1750 and subsequently owned by Dr. Ammi R. Cutter, a surgeon in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. He later gave the house to his daughter, who married Clement Storer, who was also a doctor and military officer. He served in the War of 1812, and also served one term in the House of Representatives and two years as a U.S. Senator. In his 1817 trip to New England, President James Monroe stayed at the house; at the time, Storer was a Senator and a fellow Democratic-Republican.

Beyond the Cutter House is the Leavitt House, which was built prior to 1761 and was the home of Wyseman Clagett, a colonial judge who was infamous for his draconian rulings. It later went through a series of other owners, and by the mid 1800s was owned by a Miss M. Leavitt, from whom we get the historic name of the house. The third house down the street, barely visible beyond the Leavitt House, was the home of Colonel Joshua Peirce, a New Hampshire militia officer who purchased it in 1839. It had been built around 1785, making it by far the newest of these three mansions.

Today, all three of these historic houses are gone, having long ago been replaced with 20th century commercial blocks. Another 18th century house was demolished not long before the first photo was taken; it had been owned by W.H.Y. Hackett, a lawyer, banker, and politician who lived here for over 50 years. After his death in 1878, the YMCA used the building until 1905, when they demolished it to build the present-day yellow brick building on the same spot. This is the only building in the foreground that still exists today, and even then it has been altered. The bay windows on the second floor have been removed, and the storefront has been heavily altered. The YMCA used this building until 1957, and today the first floor storefront is home to the Sake Japanese Restaurant.

Market Street, Portsmouth, NH

August 4, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Market Street from the corner of Daniel Street at Market Square in Portsmouth, around 1914-1920. Historic image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Market Street in 2015:

These photos show a view very similar to the ones in this post, and as was the case there, not much has changed here either. Market Street is located at the northeastern end of Market Square, and is lined with historic early 19th century commercial buildings on both sides, most of which were built in the immediate aftermath of several disastrous fires in the first couple decades of the 19th century. These were constructed with fire safety in mind, with brick walls, slate roofs, and firewalls extending above the roofs between buildings. Most of this street was destroyed in a 1802 fire, and the buildings on the left were built by 1807, when Daniel Webster opened his law office on the second floor of either the building with the yellow storefront or the one beyond it with the maroon awning.

The fireproofing efforts seem to have been successful, because this street was already considered historic when the first photo was taken. Today, a century after the first photo was taken, and two centuries after most of the buildings were built, everything from the first photo is still there. Even one of the businesses is still there: Alie Jewelers on the far right side, which was established in 1914 and provides the earliest possible date for the first photo.