Forest Park Neighborhood Springfield

Edward B. Tarbell House, Springfield, Mass

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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.

Ella Winchester Felt House, Springfield, Mass

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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.

Faith United Church, Springfield, Mass

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Faith United Church, at the corner of Sumner Avenue and Fort Pleasant Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The church in 2017:

The origins of Faith United Church date back to the 1860s, when a chapel was established in the area, affiliated with the South Congregational Church. At the time, the present-day Forest Park area was only sparsely settled, with a small community centered around the corner of Longhill Street and Sumner Avenue. A small, wood-frame church was built here on this site in 1872, and served the needs of the residents for several decades. Finally, in 1894, with the congregation was organized as an independent church, becoming Faith Congregational Church.

This move coincided with the beginning of the large-scale development of Forest Park, which would become one of the city’s most desirable residential areas by the turn of the 20th century. With this rapid expansion, however, the old wooden church was no longer suitable for the growing neighborhood, and in 1912 it was replaced with the present-day church building. The new church was built on the same site of the original, and was designed by the Springfield architectural firm of Gardner & Gardner and built by the Springfield-based contractors Fred T. Ley & Co.

The Neo-Gothic Revival exterior of the church has not seen any substantial changes in over a century since it was completed. It looks essentially the same as it did when the first photo was taken in the late 1930s, and today the only noticeable difference between the two photos is the newer building in the distance on the left. Along with this, the building is still in use by the same church, although the name has changed slightly. In 1977, Faith Congregational Church merged with Hope Congregational Church, becoming Faith United Church, and this combined church continues to worship here in this building more than 40 years later.

C. Frank Reed House, Springfield, Mass

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

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1908 and was among the many fine Colonial Revival-style homes that were built on Sumner Avenue at the turn of the 20th century. It was originally owned by C. Frank Reed and his wife Susan, who were both in their mid-30s at the time. Frank was a real estate broker, and he and Susan lived here with her father, Robert Cox, and his second wife, Alice. The family only lived here for a few years, though, because the 1914 city directory indicates that they had moved south, and by the 1920 census they were living in West Palm Beach, Florida.

By 1914, their house here on Sumner Avenue was the home of Herman Adaskin, a Russian immigrant who had come to the United States as a young boy. His father, Adolph Adaskin, had been a clothing merchant in Russia, but in 1892 he came to Springfield, along with his wife and their children, to escape anti-Jewish persecution. Unfortunately, Adolph was killed in an accident two years later, and it fell upon Herman, who was just 11 years old at the time, to help provide for the family.

Herman Adaskin held a variety of jobs in his youth, including working as an auctioneer, salesman, and grocer, before entering the furniture business. Still in his early 20s at the time, he opened the Adaskin Furniture Company in 1906, operating out of a store on Main Street. The business soon prospered, and later expanded to include stores in Holyoke, Fall River, and Providence, and by the early 1920s he was said to have been one of the largest furniture dealers in Massachusetts.

Adaskin lived here in this house with his wife Sadie, whom he married in 1909, and their four daughters: Adelaide, Naomi, Viola, and Leah. Herman lived here until his death in 1935, but Sadie was still living here a few years later, when the first photo was taken in the late 1930s. The 1940 census shows her living here with Adelaide, her husband Alfred Lindbergh, two grandsons, and two servants. By this point Sadie had succeeded her husband as president of the Adaskin Furniture Company, and Adelaide also worked for the family business, earning $2,000 per year as a store manager.

Sadie lived here until the 1940s, and subsequently moved to a house on Oxford Street, before moving to Florida and then to Longmeadow, where she died in 1990 at the age of 104, having outlived her husband by 55 years. In the meantime, though, her former home on Sumner Avenue underwent some dramatic changes, both in its use and its exterior appearance. Sometime in the 1940s it was converted into a nursing home, and in 1954 it became the Harold R. Ascher Funeral Home.

Now the Ascher-Zimmerman Funeral Home, this house has been a funeral home for longer than it had been a single-family home. In the process, the exterior has been significantly altered. The house was expanded with a large brick addition in the rear, the front porch was enclosed, and at some point the wood clapboards were replaced with modern siding, eliminating most of the original architectural details in the process. However, despite these changes, the house still stands as one of the historic early 20th century homes on Sumner Avenue, and it is part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sarah J. Bull House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 204 Longhill Street, directly opposite Sumner Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was built in 1908 for Sarah J. Bull, the oldest child of Smith & Wesson co-founder Daniel B. Wesson and his wife Cynthia. Born in 1848, Sarah was a child when her father established the pistol manufacturing company, but by the time she was a teenager he had become one of the richest men in Springfield. In 1870, Sarah married Dr. George J. Bull, a Canadian physician, and the couple moved to Worcester, where Sarah’s father built them a mansion at 55 Pearl Street as a wedding gift. They would go on have five children, whom they raised in the house: Florence, Maria, George, Harcourt, and Alice, although Alice died in infancy.

However, the house in Worcester was evidently not well-received by George, who saw it as a costly white elephant. According to a 1904 article in the Boston Post, George had objected to Daniel Wesson’s wedding gift, expressing concern about the expense of maintaining such a large, lavish mansion. To this, Wesson reportedly replied that “my daughter is accustomed to such surroundings and I am unwilling to allow this marriage to cause any unhappiness or inconvenience in her life.” But, despite – or perhaps because of – this mansion, their marriage was apparently not a happy one, and the couple divorced in 1883, an action that was almost unheard of in high society of the Victorian era. Soon after, George moved to Colorado, while Sarah returned to her parents’ house at 132 High Street in Springfield.

In 1899, Daniel and Cynthia Wesson moved into a new mansion at 50 Maple Street, perhaps the most elegant private home ever built in Springfield. Sarah moved with them, and was living there during the 1900 census, where her marital status was erroneously – but perhaps deliberately – listed as “widowed.” She remained here with her parents until their deaths in 1906, and she and her two surviving siblings inherited the mansion, which was valued at $1 million, or over $27 million today. However, none of them had any interest in living in the 20-room house, and they subsequently sold it to the newly-formed Colony Club in 1915.

In the meantime, Sarah built a mansion of her own in the fashionable Forest Park neighborhood, just to the south of downtown Springfield. Located on the west side of Longhill Street, it was in the most desirable section of the neighborhood, on a bluff above the Connecticut River, with expansive views of the river and surrounding countryside. The large house was completed in 1908, and she lived here alone except for two servants. The 1910 census listed two Irish-born servants, Mary and Bridget Millett, who were 30 and 24 years old, respectively. A decade later, her servants were immigrants from Finland: 35-year-old Ida Nordman and 43-year-old Signe Lindberg.

Sarah Bull died in 1928, and the house was sold to Edwin C. Gilbert, the general manager of the Chapman Valve Company in Indian Orchard. During the 1930 census the house was valued at $50,000 (over $730,000 today), and he lived here with his wife Elizabeth and their three young daughters: Jenn, Sarah, and Elizabeth. They also employed three servants, who were listed in the census as a butler, a cook, and a nurse. However, he Gilbert family did not live here for very long, because in 1933 Edwin sold the property and subsequently moved into a nearby house at 251 Longhill Street.

The next owner of the house was Hattie C. Long, a widow who was about 75 years old when she purchased the house from Edwin Gilbert. She moved here a few years after the death of her husband, Charles L. Long, a prominent lawyer and judge who had served as president of the city’s common council from 1885 to 1886 and as mayor in 1895. Charles and Hattie had only one child, Milton C. Long, who was born in 1882 and grew up in the family home at 42 Pearl Street. However, in 1912 Milton was returning home from a visit to Europe, and booked first class passage aboard the Titanic. He was among the 1,517 who died in the disaster, and his body was later recovered and buried in Springfield.

Hattie was still living here, alone except for two servants, when the first photo was taken. Despite already being in her 80s at this point, she lived here for well over a decade afterward, until her death in 1952 at the age of 95. Since then, the exterior of the house has remained well-preserved, with hardly any changes since the first photo was taken. It still stands atop the hill overlooking the Connecticut River, alongside a number of other historic early 20th century mansions. Together, these homes comprise part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Albert P. Janes House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 24 Spruceland Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

Albert and Greta Janes were married in 1896, and the following year they moved into this newly-built house in Springfield’s Forest Park neighborhood, which was just beginning to be developed at the time. Homes such as this one attracted middle-class buyers who, thanks to the advent of electric trolleys, could live in a fashionable neighborhood on the outskirts of the city and commute to work. For Albert, this commute would likely have involved a short walk to Longhill Street, where he would have taken the trolley through Springfield, into Chicopee, and finally across the river to Holyoke, where he worked as a manager in one of the city’s many paper factories.

The Janes’s only child, Beatrice, was born a few years after they moved in, and she grew up here in this house. By the early 1920s, she was working as a clerk for Massachusetts Mutual, at their old headquarters at the corner of Main and State Streets, and she continued living in this house with her parents until her marriage in 1925. However, Albert and Greta would remain here for many years, and they were still living in the house, and nearly 70 years old, when the first photo was taken in the late 1930s. However, Albert died in 1946, and Greta sold the house the following year, after having lived here for 50 years.

At some point, probably after Greta sold the house, the exterior clapboards were replaced with aluminum siding. However, the house was later restored to its original appearance, and today there is essentially no difference between the two photos. It remains as good example of late 19th century Colonial Revival architecture, and it is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.