Prospect Hill School (1897)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Italianate, Schools, Westfield

The former Prospect Hill School at 33 Montgomery Street in Westfield was erected in 1897 to replace an earlier school building on the site, erected c. 1850s-1860s. The new school building was designed by local architect Augustus W. Holton and originally had eight classrooms and a recessed entry with a portico. In 1919 the building was enlarged and altered, with two more classrooms and an auditorium being added, the new front entry being in a projecting central pavilion. The school closed in 1991. The school building was later redeveloped as apartments.

Freed-Parker-Y. M. C. A. Building (1860)

by Dan//Commercial, Italianate, Westfield

A fine example of Italianate commercial architecture, the building at 110 Elm Street in Westfield was built in 1860 by John J. Freed. Originally the location of a saloon, the building was acquired in 1878 by a group intending to use it as a headquarters for the local temperance movement. Instead it was sold to R. F. Parker, who converted it to business use. The Westfield Y. M. C. A., formed in 1888, used the building until it erected a new building across the street in 1900. Moriarity’s Shoe Store occupied the building starting in 1957.

Old Methodist Church, Westfield (1843)

by Dan//Churches, Commercial, Greek Revival, Westfield

Former Methodist Church in Westfield

The building at 24-26 Elm Street in Westfield was erected as a Methodist Church (the congregation‘s second church building) in 1843. Commercial businesses were located on the ground floor of the building with the church above, a not unusual practice for urban churches of the time. When a new Methodist Church was completed on Court Street in 1875, the Elm Street building became exclusively commercial and the post office moved into the basement. The cupola, roof and third story were razed in the 1940s.

Crocker Mill (1870)

by Dan//Holyoke, Industrial, Italianate

Crocker Mill, Holyoke

I took the picture above in 2012 of a factory building in Holyoke which was demolished in 2013-2014. What became known as the Crocker Mill in Holyoke was built by the Hampden Paper Company in 1870 at 14 Water Street, between the Third Level Canal and the Connecticut River, to replace an earlier wooden mill building erected in 1864. The Crocker Manufacturing Company, which produced high quality colored and ornamental papers, was organized in 1871 and acquired the building. The company was sold to the American Writing Paper Company in 1899. The mill was acquired by Brown Paper Company in 1963.