Category: Organizations

Sudbury Grange Hall (1846)

by Dan//Organizations, Schools, Sudbury, Vernacular

Sudbury Grange Hall

In 1846, the same year Sudbury’s original Town Hall (rebuilt in 1932) was constructed, a schoolhouse was built on the southeast corner of Sudbury Common. The structure was later raised to two-stories. The building, later moved to its current location next to the Town Hall, served as a school until 1890, when it was sold to the Sudbury Grange. In 2006, the building was acquired by the Sudbury Foundation and has been restored and modernized, with a new rear addition. The first floor is now the Foundation’s offices and the second floor is used by the Sudbury Grange and as a public meeting space by the town.

Lexington Masonic Building (1822)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Lexington, Organizations, Schools

Lexington Academy

Opposite the Battle Green in Lexington is the Lexington Masonic Building. It was originally built in 1822 to house the Lexington Academy, which only lasted eleven years. From 1835 to 1837, it was used for the Lexington Manual Labor Seminary, an early trade school, and in 1839 the building was taken over by the state to become the first Normal School in America. A school for the training of teachers, it was established by Horace Mann, who chose Rev. Cyrus Pierce to run it. This educational experiment proved successful and soon moved to larger quarters, first to Newton in 1844 and then to Framingham in 1853. The building was later used for tenements and a grocery store. It served as the Hancock Congregational Church from 1868 to 1893. The former school became a Masonic Lodge in 1917.

New England Grange Building (1938)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Organizations, West Springfield

New England Grange Building

The New England Grange Building is located on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield. It was built through the cooperation of the six New England state Granges (part of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry) and was dedicated on September 21, 1938, just before the Hurricane of 1938 struck the fairgrounds. The Connecticut State Grange website has a section with more information about the building.

Old Masonic Building, Springfield (1893)

by Dan//Commercial, Organizations, Romanesque Revival, Springfield

masonic-building.jpg

The old Masonic Building, at the corner of Main and State Streets in Springfield was perhaps built around 1893, as a volume entitled, Masonic Building, Springfield, Mass, “Authority of Committee on Dedication,” was published that year. The building once had a brownstone facade in the Richardsonian Romanesque style which has since been completely removed. A new Masonic Temple building on State Street was built in the Classical Revival style in 1924.