Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church (1967)

by Dan//Churches, Colonial Revival, Harvard

Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church

The first Congregational meeting house in Harvard was erected in 1733. This was replaced by a newer and larger structure completed in 1774. A steeple was added in 1786 and a bell was acquired in 1806. The congregation split in 1821, with the more conservative Trinitarians leaving to form the Evangelical Congregational Church. The large old meeting house, which had fallen into disrepair, was replaced with a smaller building in 1840. This was destroyed by fire in 1875 and a fourth meeting house, designed in the Queen Anne style, was soon built. This church was also destroyed by a fire, on December 13th, 1964, after a Sunday service. The current Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, at 9 Ayer Road, was dedicated on June 18th, 1967.

John C. Hammond House (1891)

by Dan//Houses, Northampton, Queen Anne

John C. Hammond House

The house at 222 Elm Street in Northampton was built in 1891 for John C. Hammond (1842-1926), a lawyer. It was designed by R. F. Putnam, an Amherst Academy schoolmate of Hammond. The young Calvin Coolidge, the future president, read law in “Judge” Hammond’s law office and stayed in the house when the Hammond family was away during the summers in Goshen. The house remained in the Hammond family for many years.

Masonic Temple, Pittsfield (1914)

by Dan//Neoclassical, Organizations, Pittsfield

Masonic Temple

The Mystic Lodge of Masons was established in 1810 in Lanesborough. The Lodge acquired land at 116 South Street in Pittsfield for a Masonic Temple in 1912. The building, designed by Joseph McArthur Vance of Pittsfield, had its cornerstone laid on October 10, 1912. The building was dedicated on May 2, 1914. Members of the Mystic Lodge formed the Crescent Lodge in 1873. A third Lodge, the Pittsfield Lodge, was constituted in 1921. These two merged in 1990 to form the Crescent-Pittsfield Lodge. This Lodge merged with the Pittsfield Lodge to form the New Moon Lodge on December 1, 2015. The Masons have owned and maintained the building for over a century, but in 2015 the Pittsfield Masonic Association put the building up for sale.

Rinnova Building (1900)

by Dan//Commercial, Italianate, Organizations, Westfield

Rinnova Building

The building at 105-107 Elm Street in Westfield was erected in 1900 as the home of the YMCA. The Westfield YMCA was founded in 1888 (the dates 1888 and 1900 appear on the front of the building). Augustus W. Holton designed the building, which has a ground floor that has been used by many businesses over the years. A gymnasium was added to the building in 1903. The YMCA moved to a new building in 1950. Today the old YMCA is called the Rinnova Building. The first-floor commercial space was later home to Fine’s clothing store and more recently was leased by Westfield State University for a downtown art gallery. It is now home to Westfield on Weekends, which includes Westfield Creative Arts.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Stockbridge (1884)

by Dan//Churches, Gothic, Stockbridge

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, at 29 Main Street in Stockbridge, was founded in 1834 and in the 1840s a church was erected to designs by Richard Upjohn. The present stone church was built in 1884 of Berkshire limestone. It was designed by Charles F. McKim, who donated his services, and contains stained glass windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany and John La Farge. The church was a gift of Charles Butler in memory of his wife, Susan Ridley Sedgwick Butler. Stockbridge residents Norman Rockwell and Daniel Chester French were parishioners of St. Paul’s.