National Register of Historic Places Archives - Page 105 of 125

City Hall, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018October 16, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Worcester’s City Hall, seen from the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

City Hall in 2016:

This site on the western end of the Common has been the center of Worcester’s government for many years. In colonial days, the meetinghouse was situated here, and in 1825, a plain Greek Revival style town hall was built here. After Worcester became a city in 1848, this building served as City Hall for another 50 years, until it was finally replaced in 1898 by a much larger and more elaborate building on the same spot.

Designed by the prominent Boston firm of Peabody & Stearns, it reflects the Renaissance Revival architecture that was gaining popularity in public buildings at the turn of the 20th century. City Hall bears some resemblance to the Boston Public Library, which had been completed several years earlier, but it also includes a 205-foot tower in the center of the Main Street facade.

City Hall was not quite 10 years old when the first photo was taken, and not much has changed to its exterior appearance since then. Nearly 120 years after its completion, it remains the fourth tallest building in the city, and it remains in use as the seat of the city government. Along with the Worcester Common, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Main and Front Streets, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018October 4, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north on Main Street from the corner of Front Street, around 1895. Image from Picturesque Worcester (1895).

Main Street in 2016:

This intersection is right in the middle of Worcester’s commercial center, and most of the buildings in the first photo are gone today. Some would be gone within a decade or so, including the ones that stood on the west side of Main Street between Pearl and Walnut Streets. These were replaced with the 1907 Slater Building in the middle of the photo, and the 1897 State Mutual Building further in the distance.

Despite these changes, though, the buildings in the immediate foreground have survived to the present day. On the left, at the corner of Pleasant Street, is the Rogers Building. Completed in 1869, it was designed in the Second Empire style that was popular in the United States in the post Civil War years. Its original design was partially altered in the 20th century, though. The mansard roof on the left side still survives, but on right side of the building it was removed and replaced with a fifth story.

Another survivor from the first photo, just beyond the Rogers Building, is the smaller Taylor-Kelly Building, which dates back to around 1878. On the other side of the street, at the corner of Front Street, is Harrington Corner. This commercial block was built in 1850, and for over 160 years the Italianate building has been a distinctive feature in downtown Worcester. Today, it is still standing as the oldest building left from the 1895 photo here.

City Hall Plaza, Worcester, Mass

November 2, 2022September 28, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Looking north along Main Street from in front of City Hall at the corner of Franklin Street, around 1910-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The scene in 2016:

Despite being right in the heart of downtown Worcester, very little has changed in this scene over the past century. The first view shows the plaza in front of the then recently-completed City Hall. In the distance, commercial blocks from the 19th and early 20th centuries line Main Street, including the imposing Slater Building in the center, which had opened in 1907. It nearly matched the somewhat older State Mutual Building, which is visible further in the distance flying an American flag. Some of the businesses in the first photo included the Riker-Jaynes drugstore, in the distance on the right, which advertised itself as “The Largest Drug and Medicine House in the World.” On the left side of the photo was the John C. MacInnes Company, “The Popular Dry Goods Store,” which sold “Smart Clothes for Men, Women, Boys and Girls” along with rugs, draperies, and other goods.

Today, the buildings on the left are gone, having since been replaced by Worcester Plaza, the glass skyscraper that is partially visible at the edge of the photo. However, most of the other historic buildings are still standing, including City Hall, the Slater Building, and the State Mutual Building. Along with these, other older buildings include the 1869 Rogers Block at the corner of Pleasant Street, and the 1850 Harrington Corner Building, where the Riker-Jaynes drugstore was once located. The only major addition to this scene, aside from Worcester Plaza, is the 1971 Guaranty Building, seen in the distant center between the Slater and State Mutual Buildings.

Union Congregational Church, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018September 27, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Union Congregational Church, at the corner of Chestnut and Pearl Streets in Worcester, around 1906 and 2016. Historic image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The church in 2016:

This church building was completed in 1897, in a Gothic Revival style that bears some resemblance to a scaled-down version of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was originally home to the Union Congregational Church, which had been established in 1835 and had several different locations around the city before coming here at the end of the 19th century. Following a merger in 1936, the church became the Chestnut Street Congregational Church, and since then it has gone through several other owners. Currently, it is owned by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, who began holding worship services here in early 2016.

Over the years, the building has seen few major changes. The spire, seen in the center of the first photo, was removed in 1954, and since then the tops of the two towers have also been removed. Otherwise, it remains well-preserved as an excellent example of late 19th century Gothic architecture, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Union Station, Worcester, Mass

February 9, 2018September 26, 2016 by Derek Strahan

The Union Station in Worcester, around 1911-1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

Union Station in 2016:

Although Worcester’s Union Station looks largely the same now as it did over a century ago, the building has undergone dramatic changes in between. It was built in 1911, when the railroad tracks through downtown Worcester were raised above street level, requiring the replacement of the original 1875 Union Station, located just east of here. Although owned by the New York Central Railroad through their Boston & Albany subsidiary, the station served all of the railroads in Worcester, including the Providence & Worcester and the Boston & Maine. This new building was designed by the firm of Watson & Huckel, and its Beaux Arts architecture was very different from the Romanesque style of its predecessor, reflecting a major shift in architectural tastes from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries.

Although the twin towers of the building were its most iconic feature, the original ones lasted barely 15 years, and had to be removed in 1926 because of damaged caused by vibration from passing trains. The station, without the towers, remained in use for nearly 50 years, but by the mid-20th century passenger rail travel was in decline, and in 1972 it finally closed.

For more than 35 years, the station sat abandoned and decaying. Over time, the panes of glass in the skylight above the main concourse fell out, and for many years the interior was completely exposed to the elements. However, through decades of neglect the exterior remained structurally sound, and after several years of restoration work, the station reopened in 2000, complete with replicas of the towers that had been missing for nearly 75 years. Today, the restored building is a prominent Worcester landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, and from this angle is virtually indistinguishable from its original appearance.

Worcester Common, Worcester, Mass (2)

February 9, 2018September 25, 2016 by Derek Strahan

Another view of the Worcester Common, taken looking west from the corner of Church and Front Streets, around 1906. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.

The Common in 2016:

Taken from the northeast corner of the Common, on the other end of Church Street from an earlier post, this view shows the Soldiers’ Monument in the center, with City Hall to the left and Front Street to the right. The monument is the oldest feature in the first photo; it was dedicated in 1874 in honor of Worcester’s fallen soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, and was designed by prominent sculptor Randolph Rogers.

Along with the monument, several other buildings remain from the first photo, including the 1898 City Hall. On the far right, partially hidden by trees, are two 19th century commercial buildings. Both were designed by Fuller & Delano, a Worcester-based firm that was responsible for many other significant buildings in the city. The tall red brick building is the Chase Building, which was built in 1886 and, although the top floors were later altered, it is still standing. To the right of it, at the corner of Commercial Street, is the Ransom C. Taylor Block, built around 1897.

Today, the only particularly obvious change to this scene is the Worcester Plaza building in the distance. Originally built as the Worcester County National Bank Tower, it was completed in 1974, and is tied for the record of the tallest building in the city.