Puritan House (1810)

by Dan//Federal, Gloucester, Hotels

The oldest brick building in the town of Gloucester is a former hotel at 1-3 Washington Street and 2 Main Street that was built in 1810. It was constructed by Col. James Tappan, a New Hampshire schoolteacher who once taught Daniel Webster. An addition in 1840 doubled the size of the building. As related in The Gloucester Book (1921), by Frank Lucius Cox, “It has been known successively as the Tappan Hotel, Gloucester House, Mason House and Puritan House, but during recent years it has not been used as a hotel. During the middle of the nineteenth century all the important social functions of the town were held at this hotel.” Winslow Homer stayed at the hotel in 1873. Today it has a sign put up in 1978 that says “Blackburn Tavern” for a former restaurant located in the building. Currently Tono Restaurant occupies the building on the Main Street side, while GAP Promo is on the Washington Street side.

Mason Library (1913)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Great Barrington, Libraries

Dedicated July 24, 1913, the Mason Library Great Barrington was designed by Blanchard & Barnes of New York. Mary Augusta Mason, widow of Captain Henry Hobart Mason, left $50,000 to build and furnish the library, which replaced am earlier one located in a clapboard house that had previously stood on the site. The building was rededicated in April, 2007 after extensive renovations that doubled its size and made it handicapped accessible. Continue reading “Mason Library (1913)”

Bismark Hotel (1900)

by Dan//Commercial, Hotels, Italianate, Westfield

In the early 1860s, businessman John C. Buschmann established the Railroad House Hotel on Depot Square, near the train station, in Westfield. In 1899 his son, Thomas Buschmann, hired architect Augustus W. Holton to design a larger hotel to replace the existing one. Called the Bismarck Hotel, it opened in 1900. The building (16 Union Avenue) continued as a hotel until 1930, after which it housed a series of small industrial firms. In 2001 it was acquired by Pilgrim Candle, which already occupied Buschmann’s Block next door. Continue reading “Bismark Hotel (1900)”

Old Town Hall, Westfield (1837)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Italianate, Public Buildings, Schools, Westfield

The building at 20 Broad Street in Westfield, erected in 1837-1838, served as Town Hall from 1839 until 1920, when a city government was organized. It then continued as City Hall until 1958. The building also held the first formally organized Westfield High School classes from 1855 until 1867. The old Town/City Hall once had a cupola, which was removed in 1912. The neighboring First Congregational Church purchased the building in 1962. It now houses The Carson Center for Human Services.