Forest Park Neighborhood Springfield

Henry J. Perkins House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 36 Spruceland Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


Built in 1896, this house incorporates elements of Dutch Colonial and Shingle-style architecture, both of which were popular in late 19th century residential designs. Although there are many similar homes in the Forest Park neighborhood, nearly all of them have a unique design, which gives the area its distinctive, eclectic mix of styles. The original owner of this house was Henry J. Perkins, who was in his late 30s when he moved in here, along with his wife Della and their three children.

Perkins was a wholesale fruit and produce merchant whose company, as proclaimed in advertisements, was “The best appointed Fruit and Produce Commission House in New England.” However, despite the success of his business, his most long-lasting contribution to the area came in 1911, when he purchased the Riverside Grove in Agawam. Located along the banks of the Connecticut River, the Grove had long been a popular destination for picnics and other outings, but Perkins turned it into the Riverside Amusement Park. During his time as the park’s president, he added several roller coasters and a number of other rides, and the park still exists today as Six Flags New England.

The Perkins family lived here in this house for 25 years, before selling it in 1921 to George L. Schadt, a physician who lived here with his wife Ella and their two daughters. They were still here when the first photo was taken in the late 1930s, and they would remain until finally selling the house in 1960. Since then, the house has remained essentially unchanged on the exterior, and it still stands as one of the many well-preserved turn-of-the-century homes in the Forest Park Heights Historic District.

Asher Allen House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 42 Spruceland Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


This house was built in 1903 as part of the large-scale development of the Forest Park neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. Although located in the extreme southern part of the city, the advent of electric trolleys made this area desirable for upper middle class commuters. Among these was Asher Allen, who had previously lived on Broad Street in the South End before moving into this house, along with his wife Anna, their son Myron, and Asher’s mother, Emily.

Asher Allen was the treasurer and business manager of the Springfield Daily News, one of the newspapers that would later be merged into the present-day Springfield Republican. In the meantime, Myron attended Cornell, graduating in 1914 with a degree in civil engineering. He was soon employed as an engineer for the Springfield-based general contractor firm of Fred T. Ley, and also in 1914 he married his wife, Josephine Parsons.

By the 1920 census, Myron and Josephine were living nearby in an apartment on Warner Street, but Asher and Anna continued to live in this house for many years. After Asher’s death in the 1930s, though, Anna sold the house and moved into an apartment on Longhill Street. The first photo was taken a few years later, and since then very little has changed. Aside from the missing balustrade on top of the porch, the house remains well-preserved, and it is one of the many contributing properties in the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Arthur P. Smith House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 50 Spruceland Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


This Colonial Revival-style home was built in 1895 for Arthur Parks Smith, a Springfield native and engineer who, in 1890, had graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He married his wife Jennie around the same time that this house was built, and also during the 1890s he established the Springfield Cornice Works, which manufactured steel products. However, at the turn of the 20th century he joined with his younger brother Hinsdale and put his metallurgical skills to use in making steel and aluminum automobile bodies. Taking advantage of the skyrocketing demand for cars, the brothers established the Springfield Metal Body Company, with Arthur serving as treasurer and secretary.

Arthur died in 1927, a few years before the company closed in the midst of the Great Depression. However, he and his family had moved out of this house sometime before 1910, because during that year’s census it was the home of Frank and Grace Merrick, along with their two daughters, Frank’s aunt, and a servant. Frank was a clergyman who, prior to coming to Springfield, had served as a pastor in Utica, New York, and in the Boston neighborhoods of Neponset and West Roxbury. In 1908, he became the pastor of the Faith Congregational Church, located a block away from here at the corner of Sumner and Fort Pleasant Avenues. It was during his pastorate that the current stone Gothic-style church was built, and he served until 1914, when he accepted a position at a church in Danvers.

Following Merrick’s departure, this house was purchased by Frank and Edith Storms, who, during the 1920 census, were living here with their daughter Mildred, her husband Ralph Whittle, and their infant son, Ralph Jr. Like the first owner of this house, Frank Storms was an industrialist who was involved in metalworking. He was the president of the Page-Storms Drop Forge Company, which he and Edward C. Page established in 1902. With plants in Chicopee and the Brightwood neighborhood of Springfield, the company specialized in wrenches, but also manufactured a variety of products ranging from crank handles to golf club heads.

By the 1930 census, Ralph and Mildred had moved out of this house, but Frank and Edith were still living here, along with a servant. They finally sold the house in the late 1930s, around the same time that the first photo was taken, and by 1940 it was owned by Myron and Gladys Ryder. Myron was a dance master who, for many years, operated Ryder’s School of Dancing here in this house. At some point during this time, the exterior of the house was altered. A one-story addition was built in the back of the house, and the clapboards were replaced with asbestos siding. In the process, much of the original Colonial Revival-style detail was lost, including the pilasters in the corners and the balustrades above the bay windows and the porch. However, it has otherwise been well-maintained, and it is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.

Albert W. Fulton House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 76 Spruceland Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

When the land on the south side of Sumner Avenue was developed in the last decade of the 19th century, one of the main focal points of this area was a traffic circle around a small floral park. This house, located at the corner of Spruceland and Beechwood Avenues, is diagonally opposite the park, and it was built in 1895 in the early years of the development. Its original owner was Albert W. Fulton, who lived here with his wife Rena, their two young children, and a servant. Fulton was involved in the publishing industry, and by the early 1900s he was the treasurer and agricultural editor of the Springfield-based Phelps Publishing Company. He would eventually go on to become the company’s president, many years after the family had sold this house and moved to a more spacious home at 5 Ridgewood Terrace.

By 1910, the house was owned by Dr. William Goodell, a physician who lived here for many years with his wife Ethel and their daughter Elizabeth. Born in Amherst in 1878, Goodell was the grandson of prominent missionary William Goodell, and the son of Henry H. Goodell, who served as president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College from 1886 to 1905. The college later became UMass Amherst, and Henry Goodell remains the longest-serving president in the school’s history. Despite his father’s position, though, William attended the more prestigious Amherst College, before earning his doctorate from Harvard Medical School. He graduated in 1905, and two years later moved to Springfield, where he opened an office on Chestnut Street as an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

The Goodell family was still living here into the 1930s, but later in the decade they moved to nearby Longmeadow. By the time the first photo was taken, the house was owned by James F. Dillon, who lived here with his wife Alice and their four children. At the time, James was the treasurer and manager of Dillon’s Package Store, but both he and Alice died only a few years later, in 1944. The house was subsequently sold, but his former business still exists today as Dillon’s Liquors, which is still located in the same building on Main Street in the South End.

In the nearly 80 years since the first photo was taken, this scene has hardly changed at all. The balustrade above the porch has disappeared, but otherwise the house and the other surrounding homes have remained well-preserved. The tree on the left side appears to be the same one in both photos, and even the street signs have not changed, although a couple extra signs have been added. Today, the entire area is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Charles T. Seaverns House, Springfield, Mass

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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.

Charles F. Wilkins House, Springfield, Mass

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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.