1910s Archives - Page 43 of 58

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.

Main Arsenal, Springfield Mass

June 17, 2017April 22, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Main Arsenal at the Springfield Armory, seen around 1910-1920. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The Arsenal in 2015:

Springfield had long been a center of production for US military firearms, beginning in 1777, during the American Revolution. The need arose for a suitable location to manufacture and store arms and ammunition, and several sites in New England were considered, including Brookfield Mass. and Hartford. However, in the end General Henry Knox recommended Springfield, and George Washington agreed. Perhaps Knox had recalled passing through Springfield in early 1776 while bringing cannon from Ticonderoga to Boston, but either way he determined that it was the best location.

The location of Springfield was particularly valuable, as it was along several major roads, leading to Boston, Albany, Hartford, and other points south. The Connecticut River and several major tributaries were also an advantage, although unlike at Hartford the river was not navigable by ocean-going vessels at this point. This had been one of the strongest arguments in favor of Hartford, but it was also one of the main weaknesses of the Hartford plan – British ships could easily sail up the river and attack. Springfield’s location, some 20 miles north of the head of navigation, meant that the town was secure from British naval attacks. Another important feature in Springfield is the hill that the Armory is located on. Situated on a broad plateau above the downtown area, the Armory is only three quarters of a mile from the river, but is about 150 feet higher in elevation. In the unlikely event that Springfield was attacked, this would have been an easy position to defend.

However, while the Armory itself dates back to the 1700s, most of the buildings on the site date to the mid 1800s, including the main arsenal seen in these photos. This building was built between 1847 and 1851, and it served as a storehouse for the weapons produced at the Armory. It was built during the Mexican-American War, and it played a vital role in the Civil War just a decade later. Springfield had been one of two federal arsenals prior to the war, with the other being at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Since this facility was lost early in the war, Springfield became the primary manufacturing center for Union firearms. It continued in this role throughout World War I, World War II, and even into the Vietnam War before its closure in 1968. Today, the Armory is National Historic Site, and is also home to Springfield Technical Community College. The arsenal today hasn’t changed much since its completion in 1851, although today it serves as a museum run by the National Park Service.

Railroad Station, East Longmeadow Mass

April 8, 2023April 20, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The railroad station near the center of East Longmeadow in 1910. Photo courtesy of the East Longmeadow Historical Commission.

The station in 2015:

The station in 2023:

Today, East Longmeadow doesn’t have any active rail lines, but a century ago the Armory Branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad passed through the town. The line connected East Hartford and Springfield, and passed by the Watershops of the Springfield Armory, which gave the branch its name. In East Longmeadow, it provided a way for the many quarries in town to ship their stone, and it also provided a method of transportation in the days before automobiles. However, the branch was never a major route, and was abandoned by the 1980s. Today, most of the line is still abandoned, but a 1.6 mile section in East Longmeadow is now the Redstone Rail Trail, named for the quarries that once used the line. The station, which opened in 1876, is located at the northern terminus of the trail, and although it has clearly seen better days, it is still instantly recognizable from the 1910 photo.

2023 Update: As shown in the third photo, station has since been restored, and it reopened in 2021 as an ice cream shop.

Randolph Beebe House, Wilbraham Mass

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 by Derek Strahan

The Randolph Beebe House on Beebe Road in Wilbraham, around 1913. Photo from The History of Wilbraham, Massachusetts (1913).

The house in 2015:

This house on Beebe Road in Wilbraham was built around 1785-1790 and was originally occupied by Daniel Chappel, although he didn’t live here for long. The next family, Nathan and Mary Mack, lived here from around 1790 to 1810, and their daughter earned a place in local folklore in this house. According to the account given in The History of Wilbraham Massachusetts in 1913, Mary discovered that her young daughter was playing with a rattlesnake in her lap. She rescued her daughter from the snake and covered it with a tub until Nathan returned home. He then killed the snake, cut off the rattles, and gave them to his daughter, who kept them in the family for several generations as an odd family heirloom.

By the time the 1913 photo was taken, the house was owned by Randolph Beebe, whose father in law, Thomas Gilligan, had previously owned it since around 1860. Randolph died in 1923, and the house was apparently vacant for some time, although it was during this time that the house made a rather unexpected contribution to American literature. In the summer of 1928, horror/science fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft was touring parts of New England, and this included an eight-day stay at the home of Evanore Beebe in Wilbraham, just a short distance from this house, on Monson Road. Later in 1928, he wrote one of his most famous short stories, “The Dunwich Horror,” which according to Lovecraft himself, “is based on several old New England legends — one of which I heard only last month during my sojourn in Wilbraham.” One of these legends is about whippoorwill birds being an omen of death, and that they can capture departing souls. Lovecraft heard this story while he was staying at Evanore Beebe’s house, but it was actually this house, formerly owned by Randolph Beebe, that provided the legend. According to what Lovecraft wrote in 1934, “I saw the ruinous, deserted old Randolph Beebe house where the whippoorwills cluster abnormally,” and from that he learned about the legend that provided part of the basis of his famous short story.

I don’t know how long the house was vacant after Lovecraft’s visit, but it was occupied again by the 1950s. In the century since the first photo was taken, the house has substantially increased in size with several additions in the back, but the original 1780s part of the house still retains its appearance from over 200 years ago.

Glendale Road, Wilbraham Mass

April 13, 2015 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Glendale Road in Wilbraham, toward the intersection of Monson Road, around 1914. Photo courtesy of the Wilbraham Public Library.

Glendale Road in 2015:

Topographically speaking, the town of Wilbraham is divided into two major sections: the western half of the town is part of the Connecticut River valley, and is mostly flat. This was the area that was first settled in Wilbraham, as it provided decent farmland and a close proximity to Springfield. However, the eastern part of the town is very different. Just east of Main Street, the terrain abruptly rises, with a ridgeline over 500 feet above the center of town. The land on the other side of this ridge is very different; it tends to be steeper, more rocky, and less arable than the valley, so this area was slow to develop.

It is this eastern section of town that is seen in these two views, an area known as Glendale. When the 1914 photo was taken, it had a church, a cemetery, a school (out of view beyond the church), and a few farmhouses. It was never really a village, just a crossroads. The first photo was taken at a time when automobiles were beginning to become more common, but it’s unlikely that too many would’ve ventured out into this area, given the condition of the roads. The ruts in the foreground indicate that the road probably got fairly muddy, and based on looking at the slope, it appears that this section of road would probably get washed out fairly easily in a rainstorm.

The only building in this scene is the Glendale Methodist Church, which was built in 1868 to serve the farmers in the eastern part of town, who would’ve otherwise had to venture up and down steep grades to reach the Methodist church in the town center. Across Glendale Road from the church, on the left-hand side of the photo, is Glendale Cemetery, which is actually substantially older than the church itself; the earliest gravestone dates to 1787. Today, the church building is still there, barely visible beyond the trees, but the congregation itself disbanded in 2006, and the building has been vacant ever since. Glendale and Monson Roads are still there, although the grade of the intersection has been raised substantially by filling in some of the swampy area along the stream that passes under the roads.