Category: Westfield

79 Broad Street, Westfield (1820)

by Dan//Commercial, Federal, Houses, Westfield

The origins of the building at 79 Broad Street in Westfield are uncertain and complicated by the fact that the house has been completely altered inside. It was built between 1810 and 1830 and is said to have been a blacksmith shop. It was later converted into a residence and is now used as offices. The building is transitional in style from the Federal to the Greek Revival and has an addition and a projecting pediment and brackets that were added in the later nineteenth century. The front doorway was added in the late 1970s.

Clapp Tavern (1743)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Taverns, Westfield

The Clapp Tavern in Westfield has gone through many changes over the years. Ezra Clapp came to Westfield in 1743 and built his house in 1747. From 1766 to the 1790s, the house was used as a tavern and was a meeting place for Westfield patriots during the Revolutionary War. General Henry Knox is said to have stayed at the Clapp Tavern while on his epic journey hauling artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge in 1775-1776. In 1800, the house was bought by Samuel Fowler. In 1838, his son, James Fowler, first President of the Hampden National Bank, moved the house west from the corner of Elm and Court Streets to its present site at 53 Court Street to make way for a new house. Judge Homer Stevens had his home and office in the Tavern from 1870 to 1902. He made a number of alterations, including replacing the original central chimney with two smaller ones. A later owner, Zebina Caldwell, a carpenter, added the pent roof in front and the side porches.

Watson-Steiger-Loomis House (1858)

by Dan//Houses, Octagon, Westfield

At 28 King Street in Westfield is an octagon house, built between 1858, when Joseph H. Watson purchased the land, and 1864, when he sold the property, which by then included the house. Octagon houses were popularized by Orson Squire Fowler in his book, The Octagon House, A Home for All. A two-story rear extension was added to the house in the early 1870s. The front porch was added around 1900. Albert Steiger, founder of Steiger’s Department Stores, owned the house in the 1880s. After 1908, it was owned by the Loomis family. I’ve featured many other octagon houses on my Connecticut website.

Hampden National Bank (1825)

by Dan//Banks, Commercial, Italianate, Westfield

The building at 6 Main Street in Westfield has gone through many changes over the years. It was built in 1825 as the Hampden National Bank on land provided by James Fowler, who served as the bank’s president until 1842. Originally, the building had a Federal or Greek Revival style facade with four freestanding columns supporting a large pediment. In 1853, the facade was completely altered to become an Italianate brownstone. The expanding bank moved to a new building next door in 1924. Since then, other businesses have occupied the original bank building. The building was damaged by fire in 1974. At some point, the facade on the first floor of the building was completely altered to its present appearance and the bank sign atop the building was removed. Continue reading “Hampden National Bank (1825)”

J.D. Bartlett House (1865)

by Dan//Houses, Italianate, Westfield

The Italianate residence at 27 King Street in Westfield was built around 1865. In 1870, J.D. Bartlett is listed as the owner. This may be the same J.D. Bartlett who is mentioned in several sources as a local historian. Vol. 2 of “Our County and its People” A History of Hampden County, Massachusetts (1902) mentions “J. D. Bartlett, of Westfield, who has spent much time in gathering facts for a history of the town,” and Rev. John H. Lockwood, in Vol. 1 of his Westfield and Its Historic Influences (1922), mentions “the historical notes of J. D. Bartlett, gathered with such patience and at such personal cost.”

Noah Strong House (1873)

by Dan//Houses, Italianate, Organizations, Victorian Eclectic, Westfield

The house at 38 Broad Street in Westfield was built in 1873 by Noah Strong, a local contractor. The architecture of the house reflects an amalgam of styles. The town purchased the house in 1909 to use it as a vocational school. For Westfield’s 250th Anniversary celebration in 1919, the building was used for “The Hostess House and Loan Exhibit,” under the direction of the art committee of the Women’s Club of Westfield. According to The History of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Incorporation of the Town of Westfield Massachusetts, August 31, September 1, 2, 5, 1919:

Here tea was served every day to thousands of guests, who were received by hostesses in quaint, old costumes.

The rooms of the house were arranged for the occasion in a colonial style with many antiques, early portraits and family heirlooms on display. A “Museum Room” featured relics of past wars, including the recently concluded First World War. In 1920, American Legion Post 124 began leasing the building from the city and purchased it in 1962. The second floor was made into a meeting hall in 1928.