Forest Park Avenue Springfield

The house at 151 Forest Park Avenue, at the corner of Mountainview Street in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1906, and is one of many large, upscale single-family homes that were built in the Forest Park neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. It was originally the home of Alfred and Julia Chapin and their three young children, Alfred Jr., Neil, and Julia. Alfred was the treasurer and later president of the Moore Drop Forging Company, a Springfield-based tool manufacturer. He was also an avid tennis player, and served as treasurer of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association.

In 1916, shortly after becoming president of the company, Chapin and his family left this house and moved into a home on Crescent Hill. They subsequently adopted three more children, and by the 1920 census they employed five live-in servants at their new home. In the meantime, their former home was sold to Dr. Robert F. Hovey, a surgeon who worked at the Wesson Memorial Hospital for many years.

During the 1920 census, Hovey was living here with his wife Florence and a maid. Florence appears to have died sometime in the 1920s, because by 1930 he was living here with his second wife, Emma. His mother Lucy was also living here in 1930, and she remained here until her death in 1936 at the age of 98. Emma died in 1934, when she was in her early 50s, and Hovey subsequently married his third wife, Eva Danick.

The Hoveys were still living here when the first photo was taken, and Dr. Hovey remained here until his death in 1954 at the age of 79. The house was subsequently sold later that year, nearly 40 years after Hovey had first moved here. Since then, like so many other historic homes in the neighborhood, it has remained well-preserved, and in 1982 it became part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house at 163 Forest Park Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1909, around the time when this section of Forest Park was being developed as an upscale residential neighborhood. It was originally the home of Althine W. Clark, who was in her early 80s when she moved here. Her husband Leonard, a stove merchant, had died in 1904, and she moved into this house with her daughters Addie and Susan, her granddaughter Althine, and a servant. Addie died in 1913, and that same year another one of Althine’s children, Colonel Charles H. Clark, moved in here. A West Point graduate and career Army officer, Colonel Clark lived here for two years after his retirement, until his death in 1915. Althine herself remained here until her death in 1921, after having outlived most of her nine children.

By the late 1920s, the house was owned by Alfred White, a Russian-born tailor. He and his wife Rose had immigrated to the United States in 1905, and they had four children who were living here during the 1930 census. The house was sold around 1933 and again in 1942, when it was purchased by veterinarian Donald M. Snow. He and his wife Eunice were still living here 40 years later, when the house became part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. They finally sold the property in 1987, and 30 years later the exterior of the house remains well-preserved, with hardly any discernible changes between the two photos.

The house at 169 Forest Park Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This section of the Forest Park neighborhood was developed in the first decade of the 20th century, and consists primarily of Colonial Revival-style homes, such as this one on Forest Park Avenue. It was built in 1905 for William H. Sargeant, the vice president of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company. He lived here with his wife Belle, and the couple had one child, William, Jr., who died in infancy. Belle died in 1922 when she was in her mid-40s, and within a few years William had moved to a new house at 406 Longhill Street.

By the 1930 census, this house was being rented by Kenneth S. Edwards, whose occupation was listed as an assistant sales manager for gasoline pumps. At the time, he was living here with his wife Stella and their two young children, but they moved out sometime around the time when the first photo was taken. Since then, hardly anything has changed with the exterior of the house. It has remained well-preserved, and it is part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.