1900s

Public Library, Worcester, Mass

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The Worcester Public Library on Elm Street, around 1905-1915. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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Prior to the mid-19th century, public libraries were almost unheard of in the United States. However, by the late 1850s many cities were establishing their own libraries, including Worcester in 1859. It began with about 10,000 books, donated from the Worcester Lyceum and the private collection of Dr. John Green, and was originally housed on the third floor of a commercial block at the corner of Main and Foster Streets.

In 1862, the library moved into its first permanent home on Elm Street, the building on the right side of the first photo. In the following decades, though, the library’s collections outgrew this original space, and in 1891 it was expanded to the east with the massive addition on the left side of the photo. This addition was designed by Worcester architect Stephen Earle, with a Romanesque style design that bore no relation to the more Italianate-based style of the original building.

The Worcester Public Library remained here until 1964, when it moved to its current location on Salem Street. The century-old building here on Elm Street, along with its 1891 addition, were then demolished, and the site was redeveloped as a parking garage.

City Hall, Worcester, Mass

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Worcester’s City Hall, seen from the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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City Hall in 2016:

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This site on the western end of the Common has been the center of Worcester’s government for many years. In colonial days, the meetinghouse was situated here, and in 1825, a plain Greek Revival style town hall was built here. After Worcester became a city in 1848, this building served as City Hall for another 50 years, until it was finally replaced in 1898 by a much larger and more elaborate building on the same spot.

Designed by the prominent Boston firm of Peabody & Stearns, it reflects the Renaissance Revival architecture that was gaining popularity in public buildings at the turn of the 20th century. City Hall bears some resemblance to the Boston Public Library, which had been completed several years earlier, but it also includes a 205-foot tower in the center of the Main Street facade.

City Hall was not quite 10 years old when the first photo was taken, and not much has changed to its exterior appearance since then. Nearly 120 years after its completion, it remains the fourth tallest building in the city, and it remains in use as the seat of the city government. Along with the Worcester Common, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Post Office, Worcester, Mass

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The old post office on Main Street, near Southbridge Street, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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Worcester was first settled in the 1600s, and incorporated as a city in 1848, but it did not have a permanent post office building until the very end of the 19th century. For years, the post office was located in private homes and shops, and it was not until the completion of this building in 1897 that it had a dedicated, federally-owned building. It was built on a trapezoid-shaped plot of land between Main and Southbridge Streets, with Romanesque Revival architecture that was common in late 19th century public buildings.

By the early 20th century, Romanesque architecture had already fallen out of vogue, and the building’s size was insufficient for the needs of a growing city. It was demolished in the early 1930s, and replaced with the current Harold Donahue Federal Building and Courthouse, which has itself become a historic building. The only building still standing from the first photo, though, is the 1850s Stevens’ Building, which is partially visible in the distance to the left of the post office. Today, both it and the neighboring federal building are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Soldiers’ Monument, Worcester, Mass

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The Soldiers’ Monument on the Worcester Common, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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This scene shows the Soldiers’ Monument from the opposite direction of the view in an earlier post. As mentioned in that post, the monument was designed by sculptor Randolph Rogers and dedicated in 1874, during a time when memorials to fallen Union soldiers were appearing on town commons across New England. It was placed at the northeast corner of the common, across from the Salem Street Congregational Church, which can be seen in the distance to the right. Although information on this church is scarce, the congregation appears to have been established in 1848, and based on the architecture of the building it was probably built around this same time. Also in this scene, on the left side, are several commercial buildings, with signs for carriage and sleigh harnesses, horse clothing, furniture, and even one for “Talking Machines.”

Today, the only landmark left from the first photo is the monument itself. All of the buildings in this scene have since been demolished, and in the early 1970s the Worcester Center urban renewal project was built here, in the area east of the common. It included the office building in the background of the 2016 photo, along with a shopping mall and parking garage. The mall closed in 2006, though, and parts of the complex have since been demolished. As of 2016, the area is now being redeveloped as CitySquare, another downtown Worcester revitalization project.

Old Union Station, Worcester, Mass

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Worcester’s old Union Station, seen around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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This building was Worcester’s original Union Station, serving the Boston & Albany Railroad along with several other railroads. It was completed in 1875 in a Gothic Revival style designed by the Boston architectural firm of Ware & Van Brunt. Along with the usual passenger station amenities, it included a train shed over the tracks, along with a 212-foot clock tower at the corner of the building.

The station served Worcester for over 35 years, but by the early 20th century the city’s busy railroad traffic made it necessary to elevate the tracks through downtown. This, in turn, required a new station, which opened in 1911 just west of here. Most of the old station was demolished at this point, but the tower itself was saved. Unlike the two towers of the new station, which had to be taken down just 15 years later because of their deteriorated condition, the old 1875 tower stood here until 1959, when it was demolished to build Interstate 290.

Today, the 1911 Union Station, with replica towers, is still standing just to the right of the rotary, and in the distance the highway passes over the spot where the original station once stood. The only remnant from the first photo is the railroad itself, which can be seen on the right side of the photo, with MBTA commuter rail passenger cars passing over the bridge in the distance.

Main Street, Worcester, Mass

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Looking north along Main Street from just south of Pleasant Street, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

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The scene in 2016:

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Taken just across Main Street from the previous post, this scene shows the buildings along the east side of Main Street, many of which are still standing some 110 years after the first photo was taken. Most prominent in this view is Harrington Corner, the four-story commercial block on the right side at the corner of Front Street. This Italianate brick building was designed by local architect Elbridge Boyden and completed in 1850, several years before his more famous Mechanics Hall was built a few locks away in the distance. When the first photo was taken, it had several businesses in the ground-level storefronts, including D.H. Eames Men’s & Boys’ Clothing, and Bemis & Co. Fine Shoes. The upper floors had professional offices, with signs showing offices for a stock broker, architect, and even Whittemore’s Dancing Academy on the top floor. Today, the building is somewhat altered, but is still standing as a prominent historic landmark in downtown Worcester.

Beyond Harrington Corner on the right side of the street, starting closest to the foreground in the first photo, is the Piper Block, the Richmond Block, and the Clark Block, all of which were built in the 1850s. Today, these buildings are still standing, but they were heavily altered in the second half of the 20th century with drastically different Main Street facades, leaving only the two upper floors of part of the Clark Block still recognizable from the first photo. Even further in the distance on the right side are several other historic buildings, including the 1871 Grout’s Block and the 1857 Mechanics Hall. The left side of the photo has seen more changes, but a few buildings are still standing, including the 1869 Rogers Building, in the foreground at the corner of Pleasant Street, and the 1897 State Mutual Building further in the distance.