Category Archives: Hadley

Hadley Farm Museum (1782)

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Daniel

Hadley Farm Museum

A barn, constructed in 1782 on the Porter-Phelps-Huntington estate, was moved in 1930 to the rear of the Hadley Town Hall. It is now home to the Hadley Farm Museum, which houses a collection of vehicles and equipment used on New England farms from the eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries. When it was moved, the barn‘s exterior was redecorated with white painted clapboards. A doorway was added, which is a copy of the famous Connecticut River Valley doorway of the Samuel Porter House in Hadley.

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Posted in Colonial Revival, Hadley, Outbuildings, Vernacular | Tagged | Leave a comment

John S. Bell House (1830)

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Daniel

In 1830, Dr. Reuben Bell purchased a lot in Hadley that was occupied by the blacksmith shop of Horace Seymour (d. 1829). Bell then moved the blacksmith shop and built a house (29 West Street) for his son, John Smith Bell, who received title in 1839.

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Samuel Porter House (1713)

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Daniel

This is the 600th post for Historic Buildings of Massachusetts! The oldest house in Hadley is the Samuel Porter House at 26 West Street. It was built in 1713 by Samuel Porter (1660-1722), the son of Samuel Porter, an original settler of Hadley. The house is famed for its Connecticut River Valley scroll pedimented doorway, which was probably added to house by Eleazer Porter in about 1761. The house remained in the Porter family until 1868, when it was purchased by Oliver Thayer, a stagecoach driver. It was later in the McQueston family for over a century. A nineteenth-century side porch was later replaced by the current two-level porch on the south side of the house. The property is currently for sale.

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Solomon Cook Tavern (1795)

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Daniel

By 1700 a ferry ran across the Connecticut River between Hadley and Hatfield. According to the National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Boundary Increase of the Hadley Center Historic District, Solomon Cook operated the ferry crossing and a tavern on the Hadley side of the river. In 1795, Andrew Cook purchased a home lot adjacent to the river in Hadley and erected his house (1 West Street) there around 1800. He operated it as a later version of Cook’s Tavern, also called the Ferryman’s Hotel. Other sources refer to the the building as the Solomon Cook Tavern, named for Solomon Cook (Andrew’s brother?), whose wife was Tryphena Newton Cook. The second floor of the tavern had a ballroom with seats built into the wall. In 2006-2007, the old tavern was restored and put on the market. It was sold, but was for sale again a year later.

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Hadley Town Hall (1841)

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Daniel

The Greek Revival-style Town Hall of Hadley was built in 1841. It was constructed by William Pratt, a builder who was the father of architect William Fenno Pratt.

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North Hadley Congregational Church (1834)

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Daniel

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The Religious Society of North Hadley was organized in 1831, having separated from the First Congregational Church of Hadley. The meeting house was built and dedicated in 1834 and the steeple was added in 1854.

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First Congregational Church of Hadley (1808)

Posted on December 27, 2008 by Daniel

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The current meeting house of the First Congregational Church of Hadley, on Middle Street, was built in 1808. The congregation dates back to 1659. The original meeting house was not built right away: although the town had planned to construct it in 1661, work did not begin until 1663 and it took seven years to complete. “Probably during this time meetings were held in the home of some leading church member.” By 1713, “The little old first edifice was falling in pieces,” and the Town decided to build a new church, completed in 1714. This was later replaced by the current building at the same location.

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