1920s

Boston Road from Coleman Street, Springfield, Mass

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Looking west on Boston Road from near the corner of Coleman Street in Springfield, around 1924. Image from Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of Springfield Massachusetts (1924).

The scene in 2019:

The primary subject matter of the first photo was intended to be the tree in the foreground, which is identified as Acer rubrum L. var. tridens Wood, a rare variety of red maple. However, the photo also captures a rare view of Boston Road as it appeared nearly a century ago, prior to its extensive commercial development. The view faces west along Boston Road from the corner of Coleman Street, right in the midst of what would soon become the center of the Pine Point neighborhood.

Throughout most of the 19th century, this section of Springfield was only sparsely settled, with the 1870 city map showing fewer than 20 houses along the entire 3.5-mile stretch of Boston Road from Berkshire Avenue to the Wilbraham town line. This began to change by the 1890s, though. Likely motivated by the recently-opened trolley line on nearby Berkshire Avenue, landowners in present-day Pine Point began subdividing their properties with new streets and house lots. By 1899 there were at least six houses on Coleman Street, and over the next two decades there would be further development, particularly on Denver and Jasper Streets.

Overall, though, the neighborhood maps of the early 20th century show far more vacant lots than houses, and it would take many years before most of the streets were fully developed. The first photo was taken during this period, when even Boston Road, the main thoroughfare through Pine Point, still had many empty lots and hardly any commercial development.

There are only two houses visible in the first photo. On the left, at the southwest corner of Boston Road and Coleman Street, is one of the oldest surviving houses in the area. It was built sometime around 1882, predating the modern street grid that was added about a decade later, and during the early 1880s it was the home of merchant William G. Pierce. Subsequent owners included tailor Julian Belanger, and by the time the first photo was taken in the early 1920s it was the home of civil engineer Albin M. Kramer, his wife Rose, and their three children.

The house on the right, at 168 Boston Road, is somewhat newer. It was built sometime between 1899 and 1910, and it appears to have been constructed as a two family home. During the early 20th century it had a number of different tenants, most of whom only stayed for a few years. Among these were my great grandparents, Frank and Julia Lyman, who lived here from about 1915 to 1917. Frank was a machinist who was originally from Wilbraham, and Julia grew up in New York City, where she worked for the New York World newspaper. They lived in the New York area for the first few years of their marriage, but they moved to Springfield around 1915. At the time they had two young children, Elizabeth and Edith, and their third child Evelyn, my grandmother, was born here in this house in 1917. Soon after, the family purchased a house nearby at 37 Coleman Street, and they were living there when this photo was taken at the end of their street a few years later.

By the 1920 census, one unit in the house at 168 Boston Road was occupied by painter Raymond L. Taft, his wife Alice, and their three young children. The other unit was the home of carpenter Frank E. Bowen, and his wife Edith, who had three children of their own. However, neither family appears to have remained here for very long; Alice Taft died in 1921, and by the following year Raymond was living elsewhere in Pine Point. The Bowen family had also moved out by then, and during the 1920s the house appears to have changed tenants very frequently, with most only appearing here in the city directory for one year.

Within just a few years after this photo was taken, this section of Boston Road developed into the commercial center of the Pine Point neighborhood. At some point around the late 1920s, the house on the right was altered with the addition of two storefronts, one of which was the home of Nora’s Variety Store for many years. Across the street from there, on the left side of the scene, a row of commercial buildings was constructed in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The easternmost of these, visible just beyond the house on the far left, is best known as the location of the original Friendly’s restaurant, which opened there in 1935.

Today, nearly a century after the first photo was taken, very little in this scene has remained the same. The red maple is long gone, and all of the vacant lots here have since been developed. Boston Road is now a four lane road and one of the main east-west routes through the city, and it is almost entirely commercial, with very few remaining houses. However, both of the houses from the first photo have managed to survive, although the one on the left was heavily altered by the late 1920s storefront addition. The one on the right has remained much better preserved, though, and it stands as a rare Victorian-style house in an otherwise predominantly 20th century neighborhood.

Neil’s Bakery, Springfield, Mass

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Neil’s Bakery, at 531 Main Street in Indian Orchard, around the 1930s. Author’s collection, gift of Linda Thayer.

The scene in 2019:

This photo shows one of the five storefronts that are located on the ground floor of a two-story building at the corner of Main and Parker Streets, in the Springfield neighborhood of Indian Orchard. The building was constructed in 1924, and the photo was probably taken within about a decade afterward. At the time, this particular storefront was the home of Neil’s Bakery, and the photo shows a variety of muffins, cookies, pies, cakes, and other baked goods on display behind the front windows.

According to a handwritten caption on the photo, the woman in the doorway is Caroline Neils. She was the daughter of Ludwig Neils, the owner of the bakery. Ludwig and his wife Aniela were both Polish immigrants, and they came to the United States as teenagers in the early 20th century. Caroline, their oldest child, was born in Springfield in 1912, and they had six other children, the youngest of whom was born around 1930.

The 1920 census shows Ludwig—who also went by the name Louis—working as a polisher in a machine shop, but by 1930 he had opened his bakery. It was still in business a decade later, during the 1940 census, and both Aniela and one of their sons were also listed as employees there. In both 1930 and 1940, the family was living just around the corner from here at 34 Parker Street, where they paid $17 per month in rent.

However, the bakery evidently closed soon after the 1940 census, and Ludwig returned to working as a machinist. According to the 1941 city directory, he was employed by the Van Norman Machine Company, and he subsequently worked there for many years. In the meantime, Caroline Neils married William Bak, and by the 1950s they were in Pittsfield. She lived there until her death in 2002, at the age of 90.

Today, the building where the Neils family once had their bakery is still standing. The storefront has been altered, and the interior was badly damaged by a fire in 1974, but there are still some subtle hints from the first photo. The bricks are the same in both photos, and as a result the building has the same arrangement of light- and dark-colored bricks, which is particularly noticeable in the vertical course directly above the storefront.

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool, Washington, DC (3)

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The view of the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool, seen from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 20, 1925. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Photo Company Collection.

The scene in 2018:

These photos show nearly the same view as the ones in the previous post, but they were taken from the opposite side of the Lincoln Memorial steps. As discussed in that post, very little has changed in this scene in nearly a century since the first photo was taken. Both the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument remain iconic features of Washington, along with the Capitol, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Castle further in the distance. However, there have been a few changes on the left side of the Reflecting Pool, where the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings once stood. Intended to be only temporary, these buildings were constructed as military offices during World War I, but they remained here until 1970, when they were finally demolished to create Constitution Gardens on the site.

Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool, Washington, DC (2)

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The view of the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool, seen from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 20, 1925. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Photo Company Collection.

The scene in 2018:

These photos show the view from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, facing toward the Reflecting Pool,with the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol further in the distance. This angle is very similar to the photos in a previous post, but the first photo here was taken almost 20 years before the one in that post, and it gives a wider view of the surrounding area. Some of the other landmarks visible in the first photo include the Old Post Office in the distant center, the National Museum of Natural History to the left of the Washington Monument, and the Smithsonian Institution Building to the right of the monument. Closer to the foreground, beyond the trees to the left of the Reflecting Pool, are the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings, a group of temporary buildings that were constructed during World War I.

Today, nearly a century after the first photo was taken, remarkably little has changed in this scene. The trees around the Reflecting Pool are taller now, obscuring most of the Washington skyline, but the Old Post Office is still there, as is the Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Building. Only the temporary World War I buildings are gone, having been demolished in 1970 and replaced by the Constitution Gardens. The Reflecting Pool has seen a few minor changes, including the addition of paved walkways along the perimeter in 2012. Otherwise, though, the only significant addition to this scene is the World War II Memorial. It was dedicated in 2004 on the former site of the Rainbow Pool, and it can be seen on the far end of the Reflecting Pool in the 2018 photo.

Abraham Lincoln Statue, Washington, DC

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The statue of Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, around 1921-1922. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, National Photo Company Collection.

The statue in 2018:

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated in 1922,and over the years it has become one of the most recognizable features of Washington, DC. The monument is designed like a Greek temple, and on the interior is a 30-foot-tall marble statue of Lincoln, who is seated and facing east toward the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol. It was designed by prominent sculptor Daniel Chester French, who had, nearly a half century earlier, designed the iconic Minute Man statue in Concord, Massachusetts. French would go on to create other important sculptures before his death in 1931, but this Abraham Lincoln statue would prove to be his magnum opus.

The first photo apparently shows a couple of workers putting the finishing touches on the statue, and it would have been taken sometime shortly before the memorial’s dedication. Nearly a century later, nothing of substance has changed in this scene. The statue is still here, as is the inscription above it, which was written by Royal Cortissoz. Elsewhere inside the memorial are inscriptions of Lincoln’s two most famous speeches: the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. As the 2018 photo shows, the Lincoln Memorial remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, drawing more than seven million visitors each year.

Spring and Cannon Streets, Newport, Rhode Island

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The northwest corner of Spring and Cannon Streets in Newport, around 1925. Image courtesy of the Providence Public Library.

The scene in 2017:

The first photo shows a somewhat dilapidated building that stood at the corner of Spring and Cannon Streets. It was probably built sometime in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, and by the time the first photo was taken it was a two-family home. The 1920 census, which had been done a few years later, shows Danish immigrant Andrew Christensen living in one unit with his wife Katherine and their three children. The other unit was rented by French-Canadian immigrant Hector Renaud, his wife Louise, and their daughter Alice. Both men were employed by the navy, with Christensen serving as a chief boatswain’s mate in the navy, and Renaud as a machinist at the U. S. Naval Torpedo Station.

By the time the first photo was taken around 1925, the house appears to have been in poor condition, particularly the roof. It was evidently still occupied, though, because the city directories of the mid-1920s continue to list tenants here. By the 1930 census, it was rented by two more immigrant families, with Italian-born shoe repairer Pasquale Panaggio in one unit with his wife Sarah and four children, and Irish-born gardener Florence C. Sullivan in the other one with his wife Mary and two children.

Today, the old house from the first photo is no longer standing, and was presumably demolished at some point in the mid-20th century. However, there is a different historic building that is still standing on the site. The Newport Historic District building inventory lists it as the Jeremiah J. Sullivan House, with an estimated construction date of 1836-1839. Since this is clearly not the same building that was standing here when the first photo was taken, it must have been moved to this site at some point after the other building was demolished.

The streets have also changed since the first photo was taken. Cannon Street, once a narrow one-block street between Thames and Spring Streets, was significantly expanded in the mid-20th century, becoming part of Memorial Boulevard West. All of the buildings on the south side of the street were either moved or demolished, but the ones on the north side were largely unaffected. As a result, the other buildings from the first photo are still standing today, including the c.1894-1907 J. P. Ancaster House on the left, the c.1859-1876 Patrick Tiernan Building to the right, and the c.1758-1772 James Pitman House further to the right. All three buildings, along with the Sullivan House, are contributing properties in the Newport Historic District, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1968.