Street Scenes Archives - Page 66 of 96

Center Street, Chicopee

April 24, 2015April 23, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Center Street in Chicopee, probably in 1918. Image courtesy of the Chicopee Public Library, Russ H. Gilbert Photographic Collection.

Center Street in 2015:

One of the busiest sections of road in Chicopee is completely void of traffic in the 1918 scene, but it wasn’t necessarily because people lacked cars. At this point, cars were becoming more common among the middle class, but this became a problem during World War I. Because of the war demand for fuel, the federal government implemented programs to help reduce fuel use. One of these plans was “gasless Sundays,” when people were encouraged to avoid driving on Sundays, thus saving a substantial amount of gasoline. I don’t know how effective it was overall, but evidently it worked in Chicopee – the first photo was taken during one of these “gasless Sundays,” and sidewalks are full of people, with nary a car in sight.

The only real change in these two views, other than the presence of automobiles, is the building on the far left. This building at the corner of Center and Exchange Streets was replaced by the Starzyk Building in 1921. Otherwise, the other buildings are still there: the Spalding factory in the distance, the 1871 Chicopee City Hall to the right, and the old 1911 Chicopee Public Library building.

Solin’s Market, Chicopee Mass

April 23, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Solin’s Market, at the corner of Center and West Streets in Chicopee around 1919. Image courtesy of the Chicopee Public Library, Russ H. Gilbert Photographic Collection.

The location in 2015:

This grocery store was owned by Michael Solin, and was established in the early 1900s to serve the growing Polish community in Chicopee. I can’t read all of the writing on the windows, but it appears that some of the purchases that could be made here included sugar for 7 cents a pound, butter for 35 cents a pound, eggs for 28 cents a dozen, and milk for 11 cents a quart. “Fresh shoulders” are also apparently available, although no price is given, so perhaps the market price varied from day to day. These seem like great buys, but of course wages were also much lower back in 1919. In 2015 dollars, the sugar would cost $0.95, the butter would be $4.75, the eggs $3.80, and the milk $1.49 (for a quart, so a gallon would be $5.96). All of these are comparable to or higher than prices today, so the deals weren’t as great as they appear at first glance.

But, just as buying milk for 11 cents a quart is a thing of the past, so is the building that once housed Solin’s Market. I don’t know when it was demolished, but the property was probably needed to widen Center Street and make room for the I-391 on-ramp. The street to the right, Abbey Street, is now closed off to traffic from this end, and some of the houses on that street are probably the only things left from the 1919 photo.

Elm Street, Springfield Mass

July 21, 2015April 23, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking east on Elm Street in Springfield, around 1892. Photo from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

Elm Street in 2015:

Elm Street still appears on city maps, although today it isn’t much of a street. While it used to extend from Main Street to the Connecticut River, today it is a pedestrian walkway and parking lot for courthouse employees that dead-ends in front of the Hampden County Courthouse. This area has gone through several major changes, the first of which came soon after the first photo was taken. In the first decade of the 1900s, all of the buildings between Elm Street and Court Street were demolished in order to extend Court Square down to the river; only Old First Church was spared. Later on, Columbus Avenue was built across this area, and in the 1970s the Hampden County Hall of Justice was built, with part of the building’s footprint covering what used to be Elm Street.

Despite all of the changes, several important buildings have survived from the first photo. On the left, the steeple of Old First Church is still there, although the brick addition behind it was extensively modified in the 1940s. To the right, the old Hampden County Courthouse is still there, although it isn’t visible from this angle. Beyond it, the Court Square Theater was under construction in the first photo, and was added on to in 1900. It can still be seen in the distance, along with the adjacent Byers Block and Chicopee Bank Building, which existed in the first photo although they aren’t really visible. One prominent landmark, however, that has not survived is the massive elm tree on the right side of the street. It was located in front of the Elm Street Grammar School (barely visible on the far right), and is believed to be the tree referred to by Oliver Wendell Holmes in The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. Referring to notable elm trees that he has seen, he writes that, “The queen of them all is that glorious tree near one of the churches in Springfield. Beautiful and stately she is beyond all praise.” When the tree was finally cut down, a cross-section of it was saved and is now on display at the Springfield Science Museum.

Main & Emery Streets, Springfield Mass

July 21, 2015April 20, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Main Street looking south from Emery Street in Springfield around 1892. Photo from Picturesque Hampden (1892).

The scene in 2015:

Aside from the railroad arch barely visible in the distance, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the 1892 scene that still exists today. Unlike in other neighborhoods of Springfield, the North End retains very few historic buildings; just about the entire area between the railroad and I-291, extending a block on either side of Main Street, is new development from the 1970s. The 1920 city atlas shows literally hundreds of houses and other buildings in this area, but today there is not one permanent resident within nearly a quarter mile of this spot. Instead, there are commercial developments and highways. The Springfield Republican offices are to the right, and across the street is the US Post Office. Not visible to the left of the post office is a shopping plaza, and beyond the Republican building on the right is the Peter Pan bus terminal. In the opposite direction, looking north along Main Street there are several professional offices, and then the sprawling I-291 interchange with I-91, both of which consume substantial real estate in the North End.

Put’s Bridge, Springfield Mass

July 21, 2015April 19, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The old covered bridge across the Chicopee River from Springfield to Ludlow, taken from the Springfield side in 1897. Photo courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

The present-day bridge in 2015:

Alternately called Putts Bridge, this spot at Wallamanumps Falls on the Chicopee River has long been the site of a bridge connecting Springfield and Ludlow. The early accounts are somewhat vague, but the first bridge was built in either the late 1780s or early 1790s. Either way, a bridge was definitely here by 1794; prior to that, Ludlow’s 500 or so residents would have to get to and from Springfield by fording the river, a task that I can’t image was particularly pleasant or safe. The bridge was constructed by Eli Putnam, hence the name Put’s bridge. However, bridges here didn’t seem to have much of a lifespan; in the next 30 years, three additional bridges would have to be constructed on this site.

The 1822 bridge must have been different, because it lasted until this 1897 photograph. By this point, though, the 75 year old bridge was starting to show its age, and the next year it was replaced with a new iron bridge. However, the replacement didn’t even last half as long as its predecessor before it was replaced by the current bridge in 1930. Today, this concrete and steel bridge carries Route 21 across the river, and it still serves as the primary connection from Ludlow to Springfield. The one difference in the location of these two photos is that the covered bridge was at a substantially lower elevation, so the 1897 photo would’ve actually been taken partway down the hill toward the river. I could’ve recreated the scene from here, but I chose this location since it represents what the surface of bridge today looks like, rather than just the underside of it.

East Street, Ludlow Mass

April 17, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking west on East Street from the corner of State Street in Ludlow in 1904. Photo courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

East Street in 2015:

This part of East Street in Ludlow hasn’t changed much in the past 111 years, aside from the obvious changes in transportation. The road has gone from a dirt road to a paved, four lane route through town, and a row of parallel-parked cars contrasts with the horse-drawn carriage that is hitched up along the curb in the 1904 view. The old Post Office Block on the right is still there, as is Library Park beyond it. However, just out of view, the left-hand side of the street has changed a lot. The area between the road and the Chicopee River is now a modern commercial development, but in 1904 it was part of the massive Ludlow Manufacturing facility, some of which survives to this day, directly behind where these photos were taken.