The Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton, Mass., around 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The same building in 2014:
The Hampshire County Courthouse hasn’t changed much since 1904, nor has it changed much since it was completed in 1886. It bears strong resemblance to the Hampden County Courthouse that was built about 12 years earlier, and unlike that building, this one retains its top floor and its dormers adjacent to the tower. Around the time that the earlier photo was taken, the Clerk of Courts was a local attorney and former City Council member named Calvin Coolidge, who would eventually go on to work a much more notable job in a much larger and more prominent building. One difference between 1904 and now, although not visible in the photo, is a statue of said former Clerk of Courts, now on the grounds of the courthouse.
The First Church of Northampton, between 1900 and 1910. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
In 2014:
Built in 1877, Northampton’s First Church hasn’t changed much, although its surroundings are different than they were a century ago. Notice in particular the absence of trolley tracks or wires and the proliferation of cars. Nearly three centuries and three church buildings ago, this was the home to one of America’s most prominent theologians, Jonathan Edwards, who was pastor of the Northampton church from 1727 to 1751, and who led the Great Awakening from his pulpit here. The church building that he built in 1737 was replaced in 1812 by one designed by Isaac Damon, the same architect who designed Springfield’s Old First Church seven years later. That building burned in 1876, and was replaced by the present structure the following year.
The Buckman Tavern in Lexington, between 1890 and 1901. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
Between 1910 and 1920. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
In 2013:
This building, located just to the east of the Lexington Green, was built around 1710 by Benjamin Muzzy. His son John operated it as a tavern for many years, and the tavern was eventually acquired by John Buckman after his marriage to John’s granddaughter Ruth Stone in 1768.
It was during Buckman’s time here that the tavern gained attention as the site where many of Lexington’s militiamen gathered on the morning of April 19, 1775, just before the Battle of Lexington. This battle—really more of a small skirmish—occurred directly in front of the tavern on the Green, and it marked the start of the American Revolution. There was at least one bullet that passed through the front door of the tavern, and later in the day there were two wounded British soldiers who were brought here, and one of them died here in the tavern.
After the battle, John Buckman continued to operate this tavern until his death in 1792. Two years later, it was acquired by Rufus Merriam, who had witnessed the battle nearly 20 years earlier as a 13-year-old boy. He later became postmaster, and the town’s post office was located here starting in 1813, but the building does not appear to have been used as a tavern for much longer after that.
The property would remain in the Merriam family for many years, and it was eventually acquired by the town of Lexington in 1913. The interior was subsequently restored to its colonial-era appearance, and the old tavern is now leased by the Lexington Historical Society, which operates it as a museum.
2023 update: I have added some photos from the interior of the tavern, which were taken during a May 2023 visit:
The kitchen in the back of the tavernThe ladies’ parlorThe room in the northwestern corner of the ground floorThe front entryway. On the left side, behind the plexiglass, is the original front door, with a yellow arrow pointing to the bullet hole.The tap room, where the militiamen gathered prior to the battle.
The Hotel Worthy, at the corner of Main and Worthington in Springfield, around 1908. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The building in 2017:
Unlike many of the other views of downtown Springfield from the turn of the last century, almost nothing has changed in this scene. Taken from the corner of Main and Worthington, with Worthington to the left and Main to the right, most of the buildings in this photo have survived. The only exception is the building to the immediate right of the Hotel Worthy, which is now a public square. The historic hotel itself is now an apartment building, and the buildings beyond it to the left down Worthington Street now house a variety of bars and restaurants. One of these, Smith’s Billiards, has actually been open since before the 1908 photo was taken, and it is supposedly the oldest pool hall in the United States.
The United First Parish Church of Quincy, as seen in 1904. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The same scene, in March of 2013:
This church in Quincy was built in 1828, financed largely though former president John Adams. He and his wife, along with John Quincy Adams and his wife, are interred in the family crypt under the church – it is one of only two churches in the US that contains a presidential tomb. As seen in the two photos, not much has changed in the past 109 years with the building itself.
New Old South Church at Copley Square, between 1890 and 1899. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
The same view in 2010:
For the most part, this view hasn’t changed. The Boston Public Library on the left is still there, as is the brick building behind the church. The only real difference is the tower, which had to be taken down in 1931. Like the rest of the Back Bay, the church sits on filled-in marshland, so the weight was supported by wooden piles that were driven into the soil. However, the tower was too heavy for the piles, and as the ground settled it began to lean about three feet. It was rebuilt in 1940 on stronger steel piles, and the new tower has stood substantially longer than the original one did.
