Firglade Avenue Springfield

The house at 72 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1901, with a design that was a blend of the older Queen Anne style and the newer Colonial Revival style of architecture. It was originally the home of Edward B. Tarbell, a freight agent for the Boston and Maine Railroad, and he lived here with his wife Lucy and their two children, Frank and Florence. Both children were in their mid-20s at the time, with city directories listing Frank as working in the Boston and Maine shops, while Florence was assistant supervisor for drawing in the public schools.

Edward died in 1909 at the age of 59, and the rest of the family lived here for a few more years before moving to West Springfield around 1913. The house was subsequently owned by Margaret Renfrew, an elderly widow who lived here with her son Carl, who was a plumber. Margaret died in 1927, and by the 1930 census Carl was living here with brother Robert, his sister Mabel, and her husband Charles A. Souler. However, Carl committed suicide in 1931, and the rest of the family moved out of here a few years later.

By 1934, the house was being rented by Ellie J. Lennon, an Irish immigrant who had come to the United States as a girl in 1886. Her husband Matthew had died in 1918, when their children were still young, and by the 1930s she was living her on Thomas and daughter Mae. They were here when the first photo was taken, and according to the 1940 census they paid $35 per month in rent. Ellie was 68 and presumably retired, but Thomas earned $926 per year as a lithographer, while Mae earned $1,020 as a court clerk.

Thomas and Mae purchased the house in 1942, and the house would remain in he family for more than 50 years. Ellie died in 1949, but at some point her sister, Bridget Keane, moved in here, and she lived here until her death in 1963 at the age of 100. In the meantime, neither Thomas nor Mae ever married, and they remained here for the rest of their lives. Mae continued to work as a court clerk for many years, while Thomas worked as a teacher in Wilbraham, and they both died in the mid-1990s, more than 60 years after they had moved in here with their mother.

Today, the house has seen few changes since the first photo was taken nearly 80 years ago. Like most of the other houses in the neighborhood, it has been well-preserved and still stands as a good example of early 20th century architecture. Along with the rest of the area, it is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The house at 44 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1894, and was among the first houses to be built in the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield. It was originally the home of Ella Winchester Felt, a widow who was in her late 50s at the time. Her late husband, Wells W. Felt, had been a hotel keeper, and the couple lived in Chicago and St. Louis before Wells’s death in 1875 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Ella subsequently operated a ranch in Coryell, Colorado, where she also served as postmaster. However, around 1894 she returned east, and moved into this house along with her youngest child, Winchester, who was about 20 at the time.

Ella and her son evidently only lived here for a few years, though, because the 1898 city directory indicated that they had moved west, and she died in Denver in 1911. In the meantime, this house saw a long succession of residents over the ensuing decades. During the 1900 census, it was rented by William K. Cooper, the general secretary of the YMCA of Greater Springfield. He was 32 at the time, and lived here with his wife Jessie, their two-year-old daughter Anne, his sister Florence, and two of his aunts, Ellen and Abbie.

A decade later, during the 1910 census, the house was owned by George A. Whitney, a real estate agent who lived here with his wife Sarah. However, by the 1920 census it was again being used as a rental property, with attorney Edward T. Broadhurst living here with his wife Bertha, their two-year-old son Austin, and Bertha’s father, Austin P. Bassett. Several years later, while still living in this house, Edward was appointed as a judge of the Superior Court, and he went on to serve in this role for many years. Soon after this appointment, though, he and Bertha moved out of this house, relocating to 165 Buckingham Street in the McKnight neighborhood.

Around the time the first photo was taken, the house was the home of George S. Squibb, a traveling salesman who lived here with his wife Ida and their infant son, also named George. However, like most of the previous residents of this house, they did not live here for very long, and by the 1940 census they were living in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In nearly 80 years since they left, though, the house has seen few changes to the exterior. It looks essentially the same as it did in the first photo, and it stands as one of the oldest houses in the neighborhood. Along with the rest of the area, it is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 53 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in the late 1890s as part of the large-scale development of the Forest Park neighborhood. One of the distinguishing features of the development is that nearly all of the homes are unique, although most reflect the Colonial Revival style that was popular during this era. The original owner of this house was Charles T. Seaverns, the general manager of the Easthampton-based Kemo Paper Company. He appears to have only lived here for a couple years, though, because by the 1901 city directory he was living a block away on Magnolia Terrace. Five years later, the paper company was out of business, and Seaverns found himself in court, charged with stealing over $1,000 in company funds.

By 1910, the house was owned by George H. Chamberlin, a longtime employee of Smith & Wesson whose roles over the years included bookkeeper, assistant superintendent, and foreman. He and his wife Carrie lived here until the late 1920s, when they sold the house to Wallace E. Dibble. He was an architect, and his works in the area included the Merriam-Webster headquarters on Federal Street, the Federal Land Bank Building at the corner of State and Byers Street, and the former Agawam High School building on Main Street in Agawam. Along with his wife Edith and their five children, Dibble lived here for a few years, but the family had moved by the mid-1930s.

When the first photo was taken in the late 1930s, the house was being rented for $60 a month by John J. McCaffrey, a liquor salesman who lived here with his wife Bridget, two children, and Bridget’s sister, Margaret. They lived here into the early 1940s, but they later moved to 49 Firglade Avenue, which is the house next door on the left side of the photos. Since then, neither of these houses have changed much, and overall this neighborhood has remained remarkably well-preserved, more than a century after it was developed. This area now forms the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The house at 59 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

When this house was built in the late 1890s, Colonial Revival architecture had become a common design for new houses, particularly in upscale residential areas such as Forest Park. There were many different styles that fell into the Colonial Revival category, and this particular house was largely inspired by Dutch Colonial architecture, which made ample use of gambrel roofs. The original owner of the house was Charles F. Wilkins, although he does not appear to have lived here long. The 1900 census noted that the house was closed at the time, and in 1902 the property was listed for sale in the Springfield Republican.

By the next census in 1910, the house was owned by William C. Marsh, who lived here with his wife Clara, son Charlie, step-son Francis, and a servant. At the time, William worked as the city auditor, having previously served as the treasurer of Hampden County. However, he died in 1913, and the house was later sold to Charles B. Ring, who was living here by 1920 with his wife Agnes, their five children, and Agnes’s sister. Charles was, like many other entrepreneurs of the era, involved in the burgeoning automobile industry, and in 1915 he became a partner in the Turner-Ring Company, a Boston-based company that manufacturing commercial bodies for Ford vehicles.

A subsequent owner of this house, Samuel Dietz, also had a connection to the automobile industry. Born in Poland in the late 1890s, he came to the United States as a teenager in 1912, and eventually became manager of a tire company. He and his wife Esther were living in this house by 1930, along with their five children. They were still here when the first photo was taken later in the decade, but around the mid-1940s they moved to a house on Forest Park Avenue. In the meantime, though, very little has changed with this house since the Dietz family lived here, and the property is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 77-79 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This two-family home was built in 1899, with that year’s city atlas indicating that it was owned by William Cutler. However, he appears to have used the house as a rental property, because during the 1900 census it was rented to Leander Day, a traveling salesman who lived here with his wife Nellie, two daughters, Nellie’s mother, and a servant. A decade later, the house was owned by Robert and Mary Studley, who occupied the unit on the left. Robert was a contractor, and he rented the unit on the left to Samuel Chamberlin, a clothing store owner.

The Studley family later moved to a different house, located a block away on Magnolia Terrace, and by 1920 their former home was owned by Leon Harwood, a manufacturer of gold leaf. Like the Studleys, he lived in the unit on the right and rented out the one on the right to Jeremiah H. Whitehouse, who worked as a superintendent of a paper mill. By the next census, though, the ownership of the house had changed again, with William I. Barton owning it and living on the left side. He rented the unit on the right to Wendell Jay, a salesman who paid $72 for monthly rent in 1930.

When the first photo was taken in the late 1930s, Barton was still living here, along with his wife Gertrude and their 47-year-old son Sidney. However, they appear to have sold the house at some point in the 1930s, because the 1940 census indicates that they were renting the property for $30 per month. Despite no longer owning the property, though, the family continued to live here for over a decade. William died in 1944, but Sidney remained here, presumably with his mother, until around 1954, when the house was sold yet again.

In the years that followed, the property would continue to change hands a number of times, but despite all of this the house has retained its original appearance. Even the scalloped shingles, which were on the house when the first photo was taken, are still there, giving the house its distinctive appearance. Today, the house is, along with the rest of the neighborhood, a part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.