1910s Archives - Page 27 of 59

City Hall Plaza, Worcester, Mass

November 2, 2022September 28, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north along Main Street from in front of City Hall at the corner of Franklin Street, around 1910-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2016:

Despite being right in the heart of downtown Worcester, very little has changed in this scene over the past century. The first view shows the plaza in front of the then recently-completed City Hall. In the distance, commercial blocks from the 19th and early 20th centuries line Main Street, including the imposing Slater Building in the center, which had opened in 1907. It nearly matched the somewhat older State Mutual Building, which is visible further in the distance flying an American flag. Some of the businesses in the first photo included the Riker-Jaynes drugstore, in the distance on the right, which advertised itself as “The Largest Drug and Medicine House in the World.” On the left side of the photo was the John C. MacInnes Company, “The Popular Dry Goods Store,” which sold “Smart Clothes for Men, Women, Boys and Girls” along with rugs, draperies, and other goods.

Today, the buildings on the left are gone, having since been replaced by Worcester Plaza, the glass skyscraper that is partially visible at the edge of the photo. However, most of the other historic buildings are still standing, including City Hall, the Slater Building, and the State Mutual Building. Along with these, other older buildings include the 1869 Rogers Block at the corner of Pleasant Street, and the 1850 Harrington Corner Building, where the Riker-Jaynes drugstore was once located. The only major addition to this scene, aside from Worcester Plaza, is the 1971 Guaranty Building, seen in the distant center between the Slater and State Mutual Buildings.

Union Station, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018September 26, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Union Station in Worcester, around 1911-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Union Station in 2016:

Although Worcester’s Union Station looks largely the same now as it did over a century ago, the building has undergone dramatic changes in between. It was built in 1911, when the railroad tracks through downtown Worcester were raised above street level, requiring the replacement of the original 1875 Union Station, located just east of here. Although owned by the New York Central Railroad through their Boston & Albany subsidiary, the station served all of the railroads in Worcester, including the Providence & Worcester and the Boston & Maine. This new building was designed by the firm of Watson & Huckel, and its Beaux Arts architecture was very different from the Romanesque style of its predecessor, reflecting a major shift in architectural tastes from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries.

Although the twin towers of the building were its most iconic feature, the original ones lasted barely 15 years, and had to be removed in 1926 because of damaged caused by vibration from passing trains. The station, without the towers, remained in use for nearly 50 years, but by the mid-20th century passenger rail travel was in decline, and in 1972 it finally closed.

For more than 35 years, the station sat abandoned and decaying. Over time, the panes of glass in the skylight above the main concourse fell out, and for many years the interior was completely exposed to the elements. However, through decades of neglect the exterior remained structurally sound, and after several years of restoration work, the station reopened in 2000, complete with replicas of the towers that had been missing for nearly 75 years. Today, the restored building is a prominent Worcester landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, and from this angle is virtually indistinguishable from its original appearance.

Bancroft Hotel, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018September 25, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Bancroft Hotel, at the corner of Franklin and Portland Streets in Worcester, around 1912-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The building in 2016:

The Bancroft Hotel opened in 1913 as the city’s grandest hotel, at a time when Worcester was a prosperous industrial city. Originally planned as a 225-room hotel, the 9-story building was expanded to 320 by the time it was completed. It was designed by the Buffalo-based architectural firm of Esenwein & Johnson, and reflects the Classical Revival style that was often seen in early 20th century grand hotels.

In 1926, the building was expanded in the back along Portland Street, which is visible in the distance of the present photo. This brought the hotel up to 500 rooms, and remained as Worcester’s premier hotel well into the middle of the century. However, as was the case in cities across the northeast by the 1960s, the population was in decline, and interstate highways shifted travelers away from downtown Worcester. In 1964, the hotel closed, but the historic building was preserved, and renovated into apartments. Today, it has 255 housing units, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Worcester Common, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018September 25, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Worcester Common, seen facing west from the corner of Franklin and Church Streets, around 1914-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The Common in 2016:

Today, Worcester is the second-largest city in New England, and the Common has been at the center of the city ever since it was a small colonial settlement in the 17th century. Set aside in 1669, more than 50 years before Worcester was formally incorporated as a town, the Common was originally used as a training ground for the militia, burial ground, and the site of the meetinghouse. It was once much larger, but as the city has grown up around it, this common land has steadily shrunk to its current dimensions, and at one point in the 19th century even had railroad tracks running across it.

The first photo was taken shortly after the completion of several prominent buildings along the Common, which are still standing today. These buildings, designed in the popular Classical Revival style of the turn of the 20th century, include the 1913 Bancroft Hotel on the left, the 1915 Park Building to the right of it, and the 1898 City Hall, which is mostly hidden by trees in the distance on the right. Along with the Common itself, all three of these buildings are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

South Congregational Church, Hartford, Connecticut

August 8, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The South Congregational Church at the corner of Main and Buckingham Streets in Hartford, around 1911. Image from Some Old Time Meeting Houses of the Connecticut Valley (1911).

The church in 2016:

Hartford’s Second Church of Christ was established in 1670 following a disagreement over how the First Church should be governed. The new congregation built their own meeting house at the corner of Main and Sheldon Streets in the southern part of downtown Hartford, and in 1754 they relocated to a new building at present-day Buckingham Street, where George Whitefield preached the first sermon in it.

The current church building was completed in 1827, with a blend of Federal and Greek Revival architecture that is very similar to the First Church building, which was built in 1807 about a third of a mile north of here on Main Street. Like the First Church, this historic building is still standing, with few changes to the exterior over the years. The nearly 350 year old congregation, now known as the South Congregational Church, still meets here, and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fort Gilbert Monument, West Brookfield, Mass

July 22, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Fort Gilbert Monument at the corner of North Main and Winter Streets in West Brookfield, around 1902-1927. Image courtesy of the Longmeadow Historical Society, Emerson Collection.

The monument in 2016:

The town of Brookfield, which originally included present-day North, East, and West Brookfield, was first settled by Europeans in 1660 as the town of Quaboag. At the time, it was in a very isolated location in central Massachusetts, some 25 miles from the towns in the Connecticut River valley and twice as far from Boston and the other towns along the coast. Because of this, it was very vulnerable to an Indian attack, which occurred in 1675 during King Philip’s War. The town was destroyed and abandoned, with many of the settlers moving back to where they had previously lived.

Over a decade later, settlers returned, and this time they came better prepared for potential raids. They built four forts, including Fort Gilbert here in the western part of the town. It included barracks for soldiers and, if necessary during a raid, to house the families of the town, and it was surrounded by a stockade. The fort was still standing during the French and Indian War, although it was far removed from any battles, and some of its remains were still visible well into the 19th century.

Today, any evidence of the fort is long gone, but the site is marked with this simple monument, which was put here around 1900. It is located in a small park next to the West Brookfield Elementary School, on North Main Street just west of the town common.