Category Archives: Holyoke

The Rutland (1910)

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Daniel

The Rutland, Holyoke

At 173-177 Elm Street in Holyoke is an apartment building called “The Rutland.” It was built circa 1900-1910.

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Posted in Apartment Buildings, Holyoke, Neoclassical | Leave a comment

Holyoke Savings Bank (1928)

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Daniel

At 99 Suffolk Street (aka 143 Chestnut Street) in Holyoke is a former bank building constructed beginning in 1928 for the Holyoke Savings Bank, which had been founded in 1855. An article in the Springfield Sunday Union and Republican (April 1928) announced that the new building was to be designed by Hutchins & French of Boston and that the construction contract had been awarded to the John F. Griffin Company of Boston. At some point the bank became the Vanguard Savings Bank, which failed in 1992, (Fleet Bank assumed Vanguard’s deposits). Three years later, the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department acquired the building from the FDIC. Interior and exterior historic renovation work on the former bank building was completed in 1996. (I would like to thank Eileen Crosby of the Holyoke History Room for helping me find information about this building).

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Posted in Banks, Colonial Revival, Holyoke | Leave a comment

Holyoke Masonic Temple (1922)

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Daniel

The cornerstone of the Masonic Temple (also called Masonic Hall) in Holyoke was laid on September 11, 1920. Located at 235 Chestnut Street, the building is home to Mount Tom Lodge, which began in 1850 and occupied Lodge rooms in three different downtown blocks before before its Masonic Temple was completed in 1922.

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Posted in Holyoke, Neoclassical, Organizations | Leave a comment

284 Maple Street, Holyoke (1880)

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Daniel

Now standing isolated on block that once contained a row of houses, 284 Maple Street is the sole survivor of an affluent neighborhood in Holyoke. Nothing is now known about who built the house (c. 1880) or who first lived in it. The concrete steps are not original. Today the building houses a law firm.

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Posted in Holyoke, Houses, Queen Anne | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Maplewood Hotel, Holyoke (1890)

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Daniel

Built c. 1889-1890 at 328 Maple Street, at the end of a group of row houses in Holyke, the former Maplewood Hotel was modeled on the elegant residential hotels of larger cities. It was constructed by Frank Beebe, of the Beebe, Webber & Co. woolen mill. He lived in the hotel from 1890 to 1906.

Next to the former hotel, at 330 Maple Street, is a Queen Anne-style house, built earlier in the 1880s. Since 1924, the house and the hotel have been connected on the interior and are regarded as a single property. 330 Maple Street is currently rented by Templo Emanuel Inc.

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Posted in Holyoke, Hotels, Houses, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival | Leave a comment

Clovis Robert Block (1888)

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Daniel

The Clovis Robert Block, at 338-348 Main Street in Holyoke, is a stylistically Eclectic Victorian commercial structure, with apartment space on the upper floors, completed in 1888. The the building‘s front facade has a distinctive Queen Anne-style three-story projecting central bay made of copper. It was constructed during a period when many French-Canadians were immigrating to Holyoke and seeking housing. Main Street was being extensively developed at the time. The Clovis Robert Block, designed by G.P.B. Alderman, was constructed originally in 1881 and expanded in 1888. It was built by Clovis Robert, a French-Canadian, who came to Holyoke in 1872. He worked as a blacksmith and became wealthy in the real estate business, encouraging other French-Canadians to save their money and do the same.

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Posted in Commercial, Holyoke, Italianate, Queen Anne | Leave a comment

Phoenix Building, Holyoke (1910)

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Daniel

The large commercial building at 592-604 Dwight Street and 221-233 Maple Street in Holyoke was built in 1910 for the Phoenix Realty Company. Designed by Lucius L. Bridge, the Phoenix Building was constructed of steel and reinforced concrete to make the structure fireproof.

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Posted in Commercial, Holyoke, Renaissance Revival | Leave a comment