Bowdoin Street Springfield

The house at 157 Bowdoin Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Built in 1887, this house was originally owned by a Mr. Hildreth, although his first name seems to be difficult to track down in the historical record. By 1900, it was owned by William Nevins, who was the treasurer and eventual president of the Springfield Printing and Binding Company. At the time, he lived here with his wife Nellie and their two sons, although by 1910 they had moved elsewhere. The house was subsequently owned by another printer, Cummings Lothrop, who was the assistant manager of the Springfield Printing and Binding Company. He lived here with his wife Elnore, but they were also living elsewhere by the next census.

In 1920, the house was owned by Thomas and Mary Fitzgerald, and they lived here with their six children. Thomas was an engineer who was, at the time, the vice president of the Sturdi-Truck Manufacturing Company in Holyoke. A few years later, he and his brother started their own company, the Fitzgerald Forging and Heat Treating Company. He died sometime before the 1930 census, but Mary was still living here, along with most of the children, all of whom were adults by that point.

Since then, the exterior of the house has remained well-preserved, and looks essentially the same as it did when the first photo was taken in the 1930s. Along with the rest of the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 163 Bowdoin Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939 and 2017. Historic image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Lydia T. Conner was the widow of William Conner, a businessman who worked in the insurance industry for many years, including 15 years as the first secretary of the Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company. He died in 1880, and in 1887 Lydia had this house built in the new, fashionable McKnight neighborhood. She lived here with her only child, also named William, until her death in 1903. William never married, and died in 1914 at the age of 65, with “chronic alcoholism” being listed as a contributing factor in his death certificate.

By the 1920 census, the home was owned by Thomas and Harriet Downs, who lived here with three adult children, three grandchildren, and Harriet’s sister. Thomas worked as a pressman for a printing company, and his son Frank also worked as a printer, while his daughter Madeline was a stenographer. He was still living here in 1930, although the house was far less crowded at this point. Harriet had died in 1928, and by 1930 the only other residents were Madeline, who at this point was on a different career path as a dietitian, and his 21 year old grandson Robert, who was continuing the family tradition as a printer.

In 1940, shortly after the first photo was taken, the house was crowded again. It was owned by Katherine Leonard, a 60 year old Irish immigrant who lived here with four of her siblings and her brother-in-law, plus a lodger. Since then, almost nothing has changed in the exterior of the house. It is still a single-family home, and is well-maintained on the outside, with a multicolor paint scheme that emphasizes the Queen Anne details. Like the other houses in the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 175 Bowdoin Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house, completed in 1885, is about a decade older than most of the surrounding homes of Bowdoin Street, and both the house and the lot itself are much larger than many of the neighbors. It was originally the home of Charles and Elizabeth Loring and their two daughters, Violet and Ethel. Elizabeth died in 1894, and Charles remained here until 1903, when the house was listed for sale in the Springfield Republican. It was sold to Horatio and Carrie Bellows, who by 1910 were living here with their three children, plus Carrie’s mother Melissa and two servants.

Carrie, Melissa, and two of the children were still living here in 1920, but by the 1930s the building had been converted into a convalescent home for children. Several decades later, it became a nursing home, and was used as such for many years. At some point after hevfirst photo was taken, the exterior of the house underwent some changes, including the one-story addition to the right side. Along with this, much of the Queen Anne detail was lost when the original clapboards were replaced with asbestos shingles, although the front porch remains mostly unchanged. Despite these alterations, though, the house still stands as one of the oldest houses in this part of the neighborhood, and it is part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 181 Bowdoin Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Built in 1894, this house was the home of Jesse H. Bailey, a bookkeeper who was originally from West Brookfield, Massachusetts. He and his wife Eliza were in their mid-30s when they moved into the house with their three children, Roscoe, Fred, and Clifford. However, Jesse did not live here for very long, because within a few years he found himself in the far less elegant accommodations of the York Street Jail. During his time as a bookkeeper, he had been the assignee of Spalding & Pepper, a bankrupt bicycle manufacturer in Chicopee, but was fired in early 1900. It was soon discovered that he had embezzled over $4,200, and after pleading guilty he was sentenced to five years in the county jail.

Eliza and the children were living in the house during the 1900 census, but the family’s troubles continued a year later, when 17 year old Fred died of heart disease. According to the 1910 city atlas, she still owned the house in 1910, but was apparently renting it to Arthur A. Birchard, who is listed here in that year’s census along with his wife Grace and their eight children, who ranged in age from 2 to 20. By 1920, it was owned by Mary Harrigan, a 49 year old widow who lived here with her three adult daughters. The house became a little more crowded by 1930, when two of her daughters were still here, plus her son-in-law and two grandchildren.

Mary Harrigan and her family were still living here when the first photo was taken, and very little has changed in the house’s appearance since then. It does not have the same multi-color paint scheme that it would have had in the 1930s, but most of the Queen Anne-style details are still there. The only significant difference is the first floor porch, which has lost its original posts and railings. Along with the other homes in the neighborhood, it is part of the McKnight Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.