WPA

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.

77-79 Firglade Avenue, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 77-79 Firglade Avenue in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


This two-family home was built in 1899, with that year’s city atlas indicating that it was owned by William Cutler. However, he appears to have used the house as a rental property, because during the 1900 census it was rented to Leander Day, a traveling salesman who lived here with his wife Nellie, two daughters, Nellie’s mother, and a servant. A decade later, the house was owned by Robert and Mary Studley, who occupied the unit on the left. Robert was a contractor, and he rented the unit on the left to Samuel Chamberlin, a clothing store owner.

The Studley family later moved to a different house, located a block away on Magnolia Terrace, and by 1920 their former home was owned by Leon Harwood, a manufacturer of gold leaf. Like the Studleys, he lived in the unit on the right and rented out the one on the right to Jeremiah H. Whitehouse, who worked as a superintendent of a paper mill. By the next census, though, the ownership of the house had changed again, with William I. Barton owning it and living on the left side. He rented the unit on the right to Wendell Jay, a salesman who paid $72 for monthly rent in 1930.

When the first photo was taken in the late 1930s, Barton was still living here, along with his wife Gertrude and their 47-year-old son Sidney. However, they appear to have sold the house at some point in the 1930s, because the 1940 census indicates that they were renting the property for $30 per month. Despite no longer owning the property, though, the family continued to live here for over a decade. William died in 1944, but Sidney remained here, presumably with his mother, until around 1954, when the house was sold yet again.

In the years that followed, the property would continue to change hands a number of times, but despite all of this the house has retained its original appearance. Even the scalloped shingles, which were on the house when the first photo was taken, are still there, giving the house its distinctive appearance. Today, the house is, along with the rest of the neighborhood, a part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Alex C. Eastman House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 111 Magnolia Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


This house was built in 1907, and according to the state’s MACRIS database its first owner was Alex C. Eastman. However, if this was the case, he did not live here for very long, because the 1910 city atlas shows that it was owned by an E.A. Granger. He apparently used it as a rental property, because during that year’s census it was rented by Benjamin Franklin. Not to be confused with the 18th century statesman, this Franklin worked for a paper mill, and he lived here with his wife Jeannette, their two sons, and a servant.

By 1920, the house was owned by Adolf A. Geisel, a district manager for the Federal Motor Truck Company who here with his wife Angia, their two daughters, and Angia’s mother, Lizzie. They were not the only Geisels who lived in the Forest Park neighborhood during this time; Adolf’s older brother, Theodor, lived on Fairfield Street, and among his children was Theodor Seuss Geisel, who in later years would become the author Dr. Seuss.

Adolf Geisel was still living here in the mid-1920s, but by 1930 the family was living elsewhere in the city. The house appears to have been used as a rental property throughout most of the 1930s, but in 1938 it was sold to Harold and Mary Redden. The first photo was taken around this time, when the Reddens were living here with their son and five daughters. The family remained here for more than 20 years, until finally selling it in 1961.

In the nearly 80 years since the first photo was taken, the house has remained well-preserved. When Magnolia Terrace was developed over a century ago, it was intended to be a centerpiece of the neighborhood and it remains so today, with some of the finest homes in Forest Park. All of these homes, including this one, are now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

George H. Wight House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 101 Magnolia Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:


This house was built in 1909, and was originally the home of George H. Wight. He only lived here for a short time, though, because by the late 1910s the house had been sold to Fred I. Bemis, an insurance clerk for Massachusetts Mutual. He was the grandson of Stephen C. Bemis, the founder of the Springfield-based Bemis & Call Tool Company, and he and his wife Flora had one child, Anna. Fred and Flora were living here by themselves during the 1920 census, but by 1930 they had moved to nearby Spruceland Avenue, where they lived with Fred’s cousin. However, this house remained in the family, because in 1930 Anna was living here with her husband, Preston T. Miller, and their two sons.

Anna and Preston lived here until the late 1930s, around the time that the first photo was taken. They moved to Canaan, New Hampshire, where they were living by the 1940 census, and they sold the house the following year. Nearly 80 years later, the house has hardly changed, and still stands as one of Forest Park’s many historic upscale homes from the turn of the 20th century. Along with the other homes in the neighborhood, it is now a contributing property in the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Henry D. Williams House, Springfield, Mass

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The house at 83 Magnolia Terrace in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.

The house in 2017:

This house was among the many elegant Colonial Revival-style homes that were constructed in Springfield’s Forest Park neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century. It was built in 1901, and its original owner was Henry D. Williams, a superintendent for the American Writing Paper Company. He and his wife Mary had three sons, Roy, Howard, and Fay. All three graduated from M.I.T. in the early 1910s, and both Howard and Fay went on to serve in World War I. Mary died in 1913 at the age of 49, from complications after surgery to remove a tumor. Henry remarried a few years later, and around the same time he sold this house and moved to Holyoke, where he died in 1919.

By the 1920 census, this house was owned by Robert  Studley, a contractor who was living here with his wife Amy and their three children. However, Robert died the following year, when he was in his early 40s, and by the next census Amy and the children were renting a house elsewhere in the Forest Park neighborhood. In the meantime, this house was sold to Harry A. Sawyer, an insurance agent who worked as the Springfield branch manager for the Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford. During the 1930 census, he was living here along with his wife Grace and their three children, but they sold the house three years later.

The next owners of the house were Albert and Ruth Shaw. Albert was also involved in the insurance industry, working as a financial secretary for Massachusetts Mutual. They were still living here when the first photo was taken, along with their two sons, Lewis and Richard, as well as a servant. Since then, the exterior of the house has hardly changed, and like the rest of the neighborhood it remains well-preserved. It is now part of the Forest Park Heights Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.