1960s

Shaker Meetinghouse, Hancock, Massachusetts

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The Meetinghouse at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts, in June 1962. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The building in 2023:

This meetinghouse is part of Hancock Shaker Village, an open-air museum on the site of a former Shaker community. The Shakers first moved to this area in the 1780s and formally established the community here in 1790. It remained active until 1960, when it finally closed amid declining members, and it was subsequently preserved as a museum.

Most of the buildings here are original to this place, but the meetinghouse is one of the few exceptions. It was built in 1793 for a similar Shaker community in Shirley, Massachusetts, but it was moved to Hancock in 1962. The first photo shows the building soon after its move, when it was still in the process of being reassembled on its current site.

Here in Hancock, this meetinghouse from Shirley replaced one that had been demolished in 1938. That meetinghouse had been built in 1786 by Moses Johnson, the same builder who later built the Shirley one. Both buildings had similar designs, although the original Hancock one was later altered with a full second floor, while the Shirley one retained its gambrel roof.

The layout of both buildings included a large room on the ground floor. This is where the Shakers held their worship services, which included their distinctive group dancing. These meetings included both men and women, but they stayed in separate groups during the dancing and did not intermingle. Men and women even entered and exited the meetinghouse through separate doors, which is why there are two doors at the front of the building.

Today, the meetinghouse stands as one of the many historic buildings that have been preserved here at Hancock Shaker Village. Most of the village is on the south side of Route 20, but the meetinghouse is across the street on the north side, where it stands alongside several other buildings, including the Ministry Shop, which is visible in the distance on the right side of both photos.

Round Stone Barn, Hancock, Massachusetts (2)

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The Round Stone Barn at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts, in June 1962. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The scene in 2023:

These two photos show a view that is similar to the ones in the previous post, just from a little further away from the barn. As explained in more detail in that post, this barn was built in 1826 for the Shaker community that lived here in Hancock and in nearby Pittsfield. The community was established in 1790, and it remained active until 1960, when the property was sold amid declining numbers of Shakers.

In 1961, Hancock Shaker Village acquired this property and preserved it as an open-air museum. However, by this point the distinctive round stone barn was in poor condition. As shown in the first photo, its walls were badly cracked and had to be supported with wooden braces The barn was ultimately restored in 1968 by dismantling the exterior stone walls, repairing the foundation, and then reconstructing the walls using the original stones. Today, the barn remains in good condition, and it is probably the most recognizable landmark here at Hancock Shaker Village.

Round Stone Barn, Hancock, Massachusetts

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The Round Stone Barn at Hancock Shaker Village in Hancock, Massachusetts, in June 1962. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The barn in 2023:

This barn is one of the most distinctive architectural landmarks in Berkshire County, and it forms the centerpiece of the Hancock Shaker Village, an open-air museum on the site of a former Shaker community. The Shakers were originally from England, but they came to America in the second half of the 18th century. They subsequently established a number of communities in the northeast and elsewhere in the United States, including this one, which was established in 1790 in the western Berkshires, on the border of Pittsfield and Hancock.

The Hancock Shaker community steadily grew during the first half of the 19th century, and in 1826 they built this large circular stone barn. It was designed for efficiency, with an interior layout that featured a series of concentric rings on the ground floor. At the center of the barn was a ventilation shaft, and the area around it was for hay storage. The outer ring was where the milk cows were kept, and they were separated from the hay by a circular walkway that allowed the Shakers to easily take hay from the center and feed the cows.

The upper floor was mostly open, except for a circular gallery that was accessible via a ramp on the other side of the building. Hay wagons could enter the barn, deposit hay into the central area of the barn, and then continue around the gallery to exit, without having to back up. The efficient design of the barn even extended to manure disposal. The outer ring of the ground floor had trap doors where manure could be shoveled. It would fall into the basement, where it could be collected with wagons via a ramp that descended into the basement from ground level on the outside of the barn.

The Shakers here in Hancock reached their peak by the mid-19th century, with about 300 members on 3,000 acres of land. However, their numbers steadily dwindled over the next century, before eventually closing in 1960. A year later, the property was preserved as the Hancock Shaker Village museum. By that point, however, the iconic barn was in poor condition, as shown in the first photo. The barn had been largely reconstructed after being heavily damaged by a fire in 1864, but by the 1960s it was again in need of major repairs. There were large cracks in the masonry walls, which had to be supported with wooden bracing.

The barn was ultimately restored in 1968. This project involved removing the masonry exterior walls, repairing the foundation, and then reconstructing the walls using the original stone. Now, more than 50 years after the restoration was completed, the barn is still standing. It looks far better than it did when the first photo was taken, and it remains an important part of the preserved Shaker village.

Northfield Chateau, Northfield, Mass (2)

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Another view of the Northfield Chateau, at the end of Highland Avenue in Northfield, in 1963. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The scene in 2017:

As mentioned in the previous post, this mansion was built in 1903 as the summer residence of Francis Robert Schell, a wealthy New York businessman. He and his wife Mary had begun visiting Northfield in 1890, and originally came here because of evangelist D. L. Moody, who lived in the town and ran the nearby Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies. After the death of his father in 1900, Francis inherited a considerable fortune, and used it to build this 99-room mansion. He hired noted architect Bruce Price, who designed the house in a Châteauesque style that gave it the appearance of a French castle, complete with plenty of turrets, arches, and other embellishments.

The house was part of a 125-acre estate that Schell owned here in Northfield, and the family regularly visited here for the next 25 summers, until Francis’s death in 1928. Mary outlived him by more than a decade, but she reportedly refused to stay in the house after his death, instead choosing to spend summers at the adjacent Northfield Hotel. The house was eventually acquired by the Northfield School, and was used as an annex for the hotel, as well as a venue for the school’s prom and other events. Along with this, the basement, which had previously been the servants’ quarters, was converted into a youth hostel. It was still owned by the school when the first photo was taken in 1963, but by this point the 60-year-old mansion was in poor condition, and was too costly for the school to maintain. It was demolished later in 1963, and today the site is an open field next to the Northfield Golf Club.

Northfield Chateau, Northfield, Mass

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The Northfield Chateau at the end of Highland Avenue in Northfield, in 1963. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Historic American Buildings Survey Collection.

The scene in 2017:

Unlike many other parts of New England, the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts was never a major summer resort destination during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a result, the area saw few of the grand hotels and Gilded Age “cottages” that were built in places like Bar Harbor, the Berkshires, Newport, the North Shore, and the White Mountains. However, one of the exceptions was this 99-room Châteauesque mansion in Northfield, which was completed in 1903 as the summer residence of Francis Robert Schell, a wealthy New York businessman.

Francis Schell and his wife Mary first came to Northfield in the summer of 1890, and stayed at the nearby Northfield Hotel. They originally came because of prominent evangelist D. L. Moody, who lived in the town and ran the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies, but the Schells soon fell in love with the town itself. They continued to return each summer, eventually purchasing a summer house. However, Francis’s father, Robert Schell, died in 1900, leaving him with a substantial fortune, and that same year the Schells began planning a massive house here in Northfield.

The house was designed by noted architect Bruce Price, and featured a style similar to his most famous work, the iconic Château Frontenac in Quebec. It would have blended in well in places like Lenox or Newport, but here in Northfield it stood out as garish and ostentatious, in the midst of a small farming community with otherwise modest houses. The house’s size and style did little to endear Schell to the town, nor did the fact that he enclosed his 125-acre estate with a fence to prevent locals from trespassing on the property. Schell did make at least one major contribution to the town, donating the nearby Schell Bridge over the Connecticut River, although even this was rather self-serving, since it gave him direct access from his house to the railroad station across the river.

The Schells spent many summers here in the house, from its completion in 1903 until Francis’s death in 1928. Mary would continue to visit Northfield after his death, although she reportedly stayed at the Northfield Hotel, being unwilling to return to the mansion without Francis. By this point, though, the house had little resale value, despite the extravagance that went in to its design and construction. The grand summer houses of the Gilded Age were falling out of fashion, a trend that was accelerated by the onset of the Great Depression in 1929.

The house was eventually purchased by the Northfield School, and for many years it was used as the venue for the school’s prom, which became known as “The Chat,” after the chateau. It was also used as an annex for the Northfield Hotel, and at one point the basement was converted into a youth hostel. However, it steadily fell into disrepair, and by the 1960s it was becoming too expensive for the school to maintain. The first photo was taken in 1963, as part of a Historic American Buildings Survey study of the building, and it was demolished later in the year, just 60 years after its completion. Today, the site of the house is an open field adjacent to the Northfield Golf Club, which is located on the former site of the Northfield Hotel.

Lost New England Goes West: Main Cell Block, Alcatraz, San Francisco

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Alcatraz guard Carl T. Perrin, on duty on March 21, 1963, the last day of the prison’s operation. Photo taken by Keith Dennison, courtesy of the National Park Service.

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The scene in 2015:

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The corridors between the cell blocks at Alcatraz were named after major streets; this particular one was known as Broadway, and it was the central corridor in the facility, separating blocks B and C. The block had three levels of cells, and most of the inmates were kept in either B or C blocks, with the more isolated D block being used for isolation and punishment, like solitary confinement.

Because Alcatraz was intended for the nation’s most problematic federal prisoners, the prison enforced many strict regulations. Each cell housed only one person, and conversations between inmates were strictly limited to discourage them from coordinating escapes. “Lights out” was at 9:30 P.M., and, unless they worked a prison job, the inmates spent nearly 23 hours a day in their cells, passing the time by reading, smoking, and occasionally playing musical instruments or making artwork. Images of the interior of the cells can be seen in this earlier post and this one.

This post is part of a series of photos that I took in California this past winter. Click here to see the other posts in the “Lost New England Goes West” series.