1900s Archives - Page 95 of 131

Center Street, Rutland Vermont (1)

June 2, 2015 by Derek Strahan

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

Center Street in 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.

The Maples, Rutland Vermont

June 1, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Maples, the home of author Julia Caroline Dorr, on Dorr Drive in Rutland, around 1900-1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company collection.

The house in 2015:

This house on Dorr Road in Rutland was once the home of Julia Caroline Dorr, a 19th century American author known for both prose and poetry. She was born in South Carolina, but grew up in Vermont. Her husband was Seneca M. Dorr, a lawyer and politician originally from Vermont. The couple moved to Rutland in 1857, which was probably around the time this house, knwon as “The Maples,” was built. The Dorrs lived here for the rest of their lives; Seneca would practice law in Rutland and go on to serve as the President of the Vermont Senate, and Julia continued to publish her work. Seneca died in 1884, and Julia in 1913, so the first photo was almost certainly taken while she was still living there. Today, the house is still there, and although it no longer has the porch, it still retains much of its architectural detail. However, there is a substantial addition on the right-hand side of the house, which is now used as a church.

Saint John the Baptist Church, Ludlow Mass

May 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Saint John the Baptist Church on Hubbard Street in Ludlow, c.1906-1913. Image courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

The church in 2015:

This church, like Saint Paul’s Methodist Church just down the street, was built on land donated by the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates. Because of its location along the Chicopee River, this part of Ludlow was developing into a mill town, and as a result many Catholic immigrants began moving into what had previously been a Protestant town. Catholic mill workers had previously traveled across the river to Indian Orchard to worship, but in 1906 Saint John the Baptist Church opened as the first Catholic church in Ludlow. To the left of the church is the rectory, which was completed in the same year as the church. Today, it’s no longer the only Catholic church in town, but it remains an active congregation , and its appearance hasn’t changed much in the past century. The angle of the present-day photo is a little off, though. The spot that the original photo was taken is now a house, which was probably built for workers at Ludlow Manufacturing who attended the church across the street.

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church, Ludlow Mass

May 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church, at the corner of Hubbard and Sewall Streets in Ludlow, around 1905-1913. Image courtesy of the Hubbard Memorial Library.

The church in 2015:

Saint Paul’s Methodist Church was built here in 1905, and the first photo shows how it appeared not long after its construction. It was built on land donated by the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, whose factory was just a few blocks down Sewall Street. In 1917, a parsonage was built to the right of the church, and can be seen in the 2015 view. Despite nearly 110 years in between the two photographs, the church is still easily recognizable. The exterior now has modern siding instead of shingles, so the building did lose some of its Victorian style, but otherwise the building is very well preserved today.

Morgan Hall, Amherst Mass

May 26, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Morgan Hall at Amherst College in Amherst, around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Morgan Hall in 2015:

Morgan Hall was built in 1853, and was the first library building at Amherst College. Its Italianate architecture was popular in the United States in the mid 1800s, and it was constructed of gneiss that was quarried from nearby Pelham. The building served as the library from its completion until 1917, when the college’s holdings outgrew both the original building and an 1880s addition that had expanded the capacity to over 30,000 books. From 1874 to 1877, Melvil Dewey served as the Acting Librarian here, where he established the Dewey Decimal Classification. This library became the first to use the classification system, which today is used in about 200,000 libraries around the world. During its time as a library, this building would have also been used by future president Calvin Coolidge, who graduated from Amherst College in 1895.

Since the first photo was taken, the building has seen several renovations. When the library moved in 1917, the building was converted into classroom and office space, and today the building houses several academic departments. It is also home to the Bassett Planetarium, which was installed in the second floor in 1960. Today, Amherst College’s main library is across the street and is named for Robert Frost, who taught English at the college from 1916-1920, 1923-1924, and 1927-1938. Melvil Dewey would be disappointed to learn, however, that like most other academic libraries the Robert Frost Library now uses the Library of Congress Classification instead of the Dewey Decimal Classification that was pioneered here.

Amherst College Graduation, Amherst Mass

May 20, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Seniors marching in front of College Hall at Amherst College, around 1908. Historic image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

College Hall in 2015:

These two photos show College Hall, an administrative office building at Amherst College that is also seen in this post. It was built in 1829 as a church, and was later acquired by the school to use as an auditorium before being converted to offices in 1965. The first view shows the seniors, probably the class of 1908, marching into the auditorium for the commencement ceremony. I would imagine that this essentially the same as it would’ve looked 13 years earlier, when 22 year old Calvin Coolidge graduated from Amherst College. By the time the first photo was taken, Coolidge was living a couple towns away in Northampton and representing them in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Probably the only major difference in the exterior of the building between Coolidge’s graduation and the present day came in 1905, when the portico was restored; it had been removed in 1861 before the school acquired the building.