1930s Archives - Page 72 of 86

240 Central Street, Springfield, Mass

February 25, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house a 240 Central Street, at the corner of Cedar Street, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

According to the city records, this Queen Anne-style house was built in 1901, although it probably dates back a few years earlier, because it appears on the 1899 city atlas. At the time it was owned by Lorin Wood, who, appropriately enough, was a lumber dealer. He lived here with his wife Grace, along with a 20 year old Irish servant, Margaret Mansfield. By the 1910 census, the Woods were living in the house directly behind this one on Cedar Street, and this house was owned by real estate agent John Smith and his wife Mary.

A century later, the house is now owned by Phoenix House, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization that also runs the nearby group home at 5 Madison Avenue. It is at the outer edge of the Maple Hill neighborhood, which was Springfield’s premier residential area at the turn of the 20th century. Today, most of this neighborhood is part of the Ames and Crescent Hill District on the National Register of Historic Places, but this property is just outside the border. However, it is located within the city’s Maple Hill Local Historic District.

Rufus Chase House, Springfield, Mass

February 24, 2017February 24, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The house at 5 Madison Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2016:

In the late 1800s, the Maple Street area of Springfield became the home to some of the city’s wealthiest residents, and some of the finest homes. Here at the corner of Central Street and Madison Avenue, lumber dealer Rufus Chase built this large brick house. It was designed by Perkins and Gardner, the same local architectural firm that also designed many of the houses on Mattoon Street, and it was completed in 1872.

Chase did not live here long, though, and by 1880 it was owned by John C. Alden, who was listed in the census as a “manufacturer of woolen goods.” He was 34 at the time, and lived here with his wife Henrietta and an Irish servant, Helen Lynch.

John Alden died in 1900, but this house had already changed hands before then, and by the 1900 census it was owned by John S. Sanderson, who lived here with his daughter Carrie, her husband William O. Day, and their 18 year old daughter, Hazel. Day was a longtime employee of Morgan Envelope Company. In 1871, after his sophomore year in high school, he left school to work for the company, and two years later they achieved prominence as the first company to manufacture postcards. He eventually became a director of the company, and after it was absorbed by the United States Envelope Company in 1901, he became that company’s treasurer.

In 1910 the Days were still living here, although John Sanderson had died in 1903. Their daughter Hazel also lived here, along with her husband, George W. Pike, a stock broker. Like many other upper middle class families, they also employed a live-in servant, Rose Waramac, a 22 year old biracial woman from Virginia. Carrie Day died in 1918, and by 1920 William was remarried and living in a different house at 54 Ridgewood Place. Hazel and George remained here at this house, though, along with their eight year old daughter Hazel and a different servant, Mary O’Connell, a 32 year old Irish immigrant.

George Pike died in 1932 while still living at this house, and William O. Day died in 1939. By the time the first photograph was taken, George’s widow Hazel was still living here, and the only other resident in this massive house was Augusta Larson, a Swedish maid. The census records are unavailable after 1940, so it is unclear how long Hazel lived here, but she died in 1952. She and her husband are buried in Springfield Cemetery, which is located directly behind the house where she spent most of her life.

Now nearly 150 years old, this historic house has seen few significant changes to the exterior, aside from the enclosed front porch. No longer a single family home, it has been used for many years as the Marathon House, a group home for treating drug and alcohol addition, and is currently operated by Phoenix House.

Merrick-Phelps House, Springfield, Mass

April 9, 2017February 23, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The Merrick-Phelps House at 83 Maple Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house at the corner of Maple and Union Streets was built in 1841 as the home of Solyman Merrick, a tool manufacturer who, six years earlier, had invented the monkey wrench. He sold his patent to Stephen C. Bemis, and had apparently made enough money off the sale to afford this elegant house. The same year he moved into this house, Merrick married Henrietta Bliss, and the couple lived here until her death, just three years later. In 1847, Merrick sold the house and had another new one built, this time nearly across the street at 104 Maple Street.

The second owner of this house was Ansel Phelps, an attorney who served as mayor from 1856 to 1858. He died in 1860, and for many years this section of Maple Street continued to be the home of some of the city’s most prominent residents. This house remained as a single-family home well into the 20th century, but gradually fell into decline along with the rest of the neighborhood, suffering from years of neglect.

By the early 2000s it was badly deteriorated. The interior had significant water damage, and the exterior porches and pillars were collapsing. However, it was purchased by DevelopSpringfield in 2013, and the organization restored the home to its original condition. The restoration was completed in 2016, with the interior being converted into offices. Along with this house, DevelopSpringfield is also working on restoring the adjacent 1832 Female Seminary, visible in the background of both photos. When complete, these two restored buildings, along with the carriage house of the Merrick-Phelps House, will form an office park of historic 19th century buildings.

Eastern States Coliseum, West Springfield, Mass (3)

January 4, 2017 by Derek Strahan

Another view of the interior of the Eastern States Coliseum, in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The scene in 2016:

As with the photos in the two previous posts, the first photo here was taken during the 1936 Eastern States Exposition. This annual agricultural fair, better known today as the Big E, has been held at the fairgrounds in West Springfield since 1916. Among the buildings here is the Coliseum, which was hosting a cattle judging event when the first photo was taken. A century after it was built, the Coliseum remains well-preserved in the 2016 scene, and the historic building is still used for many different events. See this earlier post for more details on the Coliseum’s varied history.

Eastern States Coliseum, West Springfield, Mass (2)

January 3, 2017 by Derek Strahan

Another view of the interior of the Eastern States Coliseum, in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The scene in 2016:

Like the photo in the previous post, the first photo here was taken by photojournalist Carl Mydans during his time with the Farm Security Administration. During the Great Depression, the agency employed a number of prominent photographers who traveled around the country, documenting conditions of rural areas across the country. Many of these photos showed the harsh conditions that farmers endured, including Dorothea Lange’s famous Migrant Mother photo, and have become iconic representations of the Great Depression.

During his travels, Carl Mydans, who was a Massachusetts native, took a series of photographs at the 1936 Eastern States Exposition, including some inside the Coliseum. Built in 1916 when the annual exposition began, the arena was used for everything from professional hockey to equestrian shows, and the first photo shows a cattle judging event that was happening when Mydans visited.

Today, although 80 years have passed, very little has changed inside the Coliseum since Mydans photographed it. The present-day photo was taken during the 2016 exposition, when both the agricultural fair and the building itself turned a century old. There were no events happening at the time that the photo was taken, but the Coliseum is still regularly used at the Big E every fall, as well as other times throughout the year.

Eastern States Coliseum, West Springfield, Mass

January 2, 2017 by Derek Strahan

The interior of the Eastern States Coliseum during a cattle show in September, 1936. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, FSA/OWI Collection.

The Coliseum in 2016:

The Eastern States Exposition, better known as the Big E, began in 1916 as an agricultural fair for the six New England states. A century later, it is still held every September on the same site in West Springfield, and one of the centerpieces of the fair has been the Coliseum, seen here in these two photos. It opened in 1916 for the first exposition, and since then it has been used for a variety of events.

The first photo was taken during a cattle judging event at the 1936 exposition, and was photographed by Carl Mydans. He would go on to become a prominent photographer during World War II, and even spent two years as a prisoner of war to the Japanese. In 1936, though, he was working for the Farm Security Administration, traveling around the country and documenting rural life during the Great Depression, and his work can be seen on the Library of Congress website.

Aside from agricultural-related events at the Big E, the Coliseum has also been used as a sports venue, especially hockey. Starting in 1926, it was home to the Springfield Indians, a minor league professional hockey team. A few years after the first photo was taken, the team was purchased by Eddie Shore. A retired Bruins player who was later elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Shore played here for three seasons and owned the team for nearly 40 years. In 1972, Shore and the Indians moved across the river to the newly-built Springfield Civic Center, and four years later he sold the team.

The Coliseum was last used for professional hockey a few years later, when the major league New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association briefly used it while their permanent home, the Hartford Civic Center, was nearing completion. After this, it continued to be used for high school hockey games until 1991, when the ice plant was dismantled.

Today, although hockey games are no longer played here, the Coliseum remains in use during the Big E as well as other times throughout the year. With a seating capacity of 5,900, it is still one of the largest arenas in Western Massachusetts, and as the two photos show, the interior has been well-preserved over the years. The windows along the exterior walls have since been covered, but overall the Coliseum is an excellent surviving example of an early 20th century indoor arena.