The Steiger Building, at 259-271 High Street in Holyoke, is a Beaux Arts structure built in 1899. The elaborately ornamented building, designed by G.P.B. Alderman, housed Steigers Department Store. It has an asymmetrical facade due to the fact that the southern 25 feet were purchased by Albert Steiger in 1901 and thus that section was built two years after the rest of the building. Continue reading “Steiger Building (1899)”
The building at 1 Canal Street in Holyoke was built in the early 1870s to serve as an office for the Holyoke Water Power Company. Incorporated in 1859, the company took control of the property of the Hadley Falls Company, which had first begun construction of the dam and canal system that powered Holyoke’s industries. Originally a one-story structure, between 1875 and 1885 the building’s bellcast mansard roof with dormer windows was raised and a second level added. A number of additions were made to the building in later years to serve the company’s expanding operations.
The Caledonian Building, located at 185-193 High Street in Holyoke, was built in 1874 as the Crafts Block by Roswell P. Crafts, a businessman who served as mayor of Holyoke. The eclectic building combines a French Second Empire Mansard roof, two floors fronted in brownstone and a ground level that utilizes cast iron pieces purchased from the Architectural Iron Works of New York. Starting in 1879, the Caledonian Benefit Club, a group of Scots immigrants, used the building’s fourth-floor concert hall for their meetings. In 1907, the Club purchased the building from the Crafts estate.
At 163 Sargeant Street in Holyoke is a former National Guard Armory, originally called the M.V.M. Armory for the Massachusetts Volunteer militia. It was designed by local architect William J. Howe and built in 1907. Its facade was said to be a replica of New Hawarden Castle, once the residence of former British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone. In 1990, the building was seized by the Hampden County Sherriff to house excess prisoners. The Armory building is currently vacant.
Update 3-13-16: The rear of the building has been collapsing.
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom was celebrated for the first time in Holyoke in 1911 and Greek Orthodox services began to be regularly held in the city by 1914. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church was built in 1916-1917. Two decades later, the mortgage for the church was retired. The Consecration of the edifice, located at 410 Main Street, took place on November 30, 1938. The church was designed by the well known Greek architect, Kyriakos Kalfas of New York City. He modeled its Byzantine design on that of the Church of the Pantocrator in Patras, Greece. A fire on January 31, 1977 extensively damaged the church, but rebuilding process soon began. Services resumed in the church by July 1978 and the building was consecrated again on October 7, 1979.
At 439 Dwight Street in Holyoke a factory was constructed in 1873 by George W. Prentiss on land he acquired in 1871 for his Prentiss Wire Mills. His company produced piano, broom and industrial wire and produced the first wire stitcher for book binding in the United Stats in 1875. The building today looks different from that depicted in early illustrations. The current structure may have been significantly altered (with the removal of the original roof) or completely rebuilt (perhaps around 1900, which is the date given the building in the Holyoke On-Line Property Viewer). The factory was later home to the Holyoke Die Cut Card Company. Now vacant, the building, which is along Holyoke’s Canal Walk, may be restored in the future.
The Hotel Nonotuck opened in Holyoke in 1915 and featured such amenities as a fine restaurant and the rooftop Indian Garden, advertized as a “Glass Enclosed Restaurant” that “Affords Comfort from Wind and Chill” and provides a “Wonderful View of the Picturesque Connecticut” with “Perfect Cuisine” and “Dancing.” The building became a Roger Smith Hotel in the 1940s and from the ate-1960s was known as the Holyoke House. Continue on to see some more pictures of this historic building: Continue reading “Hotel Nonotuck (1915)”
