Street Scenes

Merchants Row, Rutland Vermont

by

Looking north on Merchants Row from Center Street in Rutland, around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company collection.

539_1904c loc

Merchants Row in 2015:

539_2015

Aside from a conspicuous lack of horse-drawn carriages in the 2015 scene, this view of Merchants Row hasn’t changed a whole lot in the past 111 years.  The only prominent building from 1904 that doesn’t survive today is the one on the far right, which was destroyed along with several other buildings in the 1906 fire.  Following the fire, the current building was built on the site.  Otherwise, all of the other buildings are still around today, although some have been altered.  The left side of the street is particularly well-preserved, with many of the buildings dating to the 1860s.  The oldest of these is probably the Ripley Bank Building, which was built before 1864.  Just beyond it is the ornate facade of the Rutland Opera House, which was built in 1881 after the original burned in 1875.  Today the entire area here is part of the Rutland Downtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Center Street, Rutland Vermont (2)

by

Another view looking east on Center Street from Merchants Row in Rutland, taken around 1907-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company collection.

538_1905-1920c loc

Center Street in 2015:

538_2015
These photos were taken from nearly the same location as the ones in this post, but the historic photo here shows the north side of Center Street as it appeared in the years following the 1906 fire that destroyed most of the left-hand side of this scene.  Since the first photo was taken, though, not much has changed.  Some of the buildings have been altered, such as the Rutland Savings Bank building on the far right, but otherwise all of the prominent buildings from the early 20th century are still there today, including the Mead Building on the left, which is situated at the corner of Center Street and Merchants Row and replaced the earlier Bates House Hotel that had been destroyed in the fire.  Today, the entire area is part of the Rutland Downtown Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Center Street, Rutland Vermont (1)

by

Looking east on Center Street from Merchants Row in Rutland, around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company collection.

537_1904c loc

Center Street in 2015:

537_2015
This view of Center Street has seen plenty of changes over the years, but some of the original buildings are still there.  The most obvious one is probably the Rutland Savings Bank building on the far right.  It was built in the 1860s, but was substantially renovated in the 1950s.  Most of its 19th century architectural detail was lost during this renovation, including the mansard roof, which was replaced with a fourth floor, and the pillared entrance, which was replaced with marble along the entire first floor of the building.

Across the street, several other 19th century buildings survive.  The long, three story commercial blocks in the center date to the 1860s (left) and 1880s (right), and further up the hill is the red brick steeple of the 1872 First Baptist Church.  However, none of the buildings in the left foreground of the first photo survive; these buildings were destroyed in a massive fire in February 1906, just a year or two after the photo was taken.  The losses included the Bates House Hotel on the far left, which was replaced with the present-day building in 1907.  The other two buildings on the left-hand side of the 2015 photo were also built in the immediate aftermath of the fire, in 1906-1907.

Dorr Drive, Rutland Vermont

by

Looking west on Dorr Drive in Rutland, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company collection.

536 1900-1910c loc

Dorr Drive in 2015:

536_2015
This view of Dorr Drive was taken from the same spot as the ones in this post, just angled differently.  Taken from in front of The Maples, the home of 19th century author Julia Caroline Dorr, the first scene shows a typical country road in early 20th century rural New England.  The road is narrow and unpaved, and although automobiles existed during this time period, it is unlikely that many would have ventured this far into the Vermont countryside.  Today, however, the rural road is now a fairly significant route in Rutland, and is one of the main ways to get to the College St. Joseph, which is just up the road.

Elm Street, Westfield Mass

by

Elm Street in Westfield, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892)

534_1892c picturesquehampden

Elm Street in 2015:

534_2015
When the first photo was taken, Westfield was a significant industrial center, with factories that made everything from buggy whips (hence the city’s nickname as the “Whip City”) to organs, and as a result the town had a fairly prosperous downtown.  In the years since the first photo was taken, the town has become a city, most of the factories have closed, and much of the city’s commercial activity has left the downtown area.  However, many of the historic commercial blocks from the 19th century survive today, and the city has been making an effort to revitalize the downtown area, including a complete renovation of the town green and the rotary that surrounds it, part of which can be seen here in the 2015 photo.

The most prominent building in both photos is the commercial block to the right, at the corner of Elm and Main Streets.  Known as the Morrissey Block, it was built in 1842 as a boarding house, and by the time the first photo was taken it was operated as the Westfield House Hotel.  After the hotel closed, the second floor was used as the Westfield District Court in the early part of the 20th century, and today the historic building is used for a variety of commercial and office spaces.

First Congregational Church, Westfield Mass

by

The First Congregational Church and the old Town Hall in Westfield, around 1892. Image from Picturesque Hampden (1892)

533_1892c picturesquehampden

The buildings in 2015:

533_2015

The scene at the rotary in downtown Westfield is very different from over 120 years ago, but several historic buildings have survived, including the First Congregational Church and the Town Hall.  The Town Hall in the foreground is actually the older of the two, having been built in 1837.  It served a variety of roles since then, first as a town hall and later as a city hall, when Westfield was incorporated as a city in 1920.  However, it was also used for high school classrooms from 1855 until around 1868, and later as a police station and district court.  It was used as city hall until 1962, when the city offices were moved up Broad Street to the former State Normal School building.  The building has seen some changes over the years, with the most obvious being the removal of the cupola, which happened in 1912.  However, it otherwise retains much of its historic exterior appearance, and today it is used as offices for a mental health agency.

Beyond the old Town Hall is the First Congregational Church.  The original church was established in 1679, with Edward Taylor serving as the town’s first pastor.  He had first come to Westfield in 1671 and began serving as pastor before the church was formally established, and he would continue until his death in 1729 at the age of 87.  However, today he is probably best known as one of the first American poets, although his works weren’t published until over 200 years after his death.

His original church building is long gone, and the one that stands on the site today was built in 1860.  The original steeple was destroyed in a storm in 1886, and I’m not sure if the first photo was taken before or after that.  It was published in 1892, but the photo itself could date to much earlier than that. According to the Massachusetts Historical Commission, “Several smaller steeples were in use until 1962 when a tall steeple was erected similar to the original one.”  The steeple in the first photo doesn’t appear to be a “small steeple,” yet the present-day one also doesn’t bear much resemblance to the first one, so I’m not sure which one is shown in the first photo.  In any case, though, otherwise the brick exterior of the church is well preserved, and it continues to be used by the same congregation that Edward Taylor began serving in 1671.