In 1864, David M. Butterfield, previously a finisher at Parsons’ Paper Mill in Holyoke, started the Valley Paper Company and built a new mill on the bend of the Second Level Canal, near the South Hadley Bridge (4 North Bridge Street). A wing extending toward the Connecticut River was built in 1877. The tower once had a Mansard roof.
The former Prospect Hill School at 33 Montgomery Street in Westfield was erected in 1897 to replace an earlier school building on the site, erected c. 1850s-1860s. The new school building was designed by local architect Augustus W. Holton and originally had eight classrooms and a recessed entry with a portico. In 1919 the building was enlarged and altered, with two more classrooms and an auditorium being added, the new front entry being in a projecting central pavilion. The school closed in 1991. The school building was later redeveloped as apartments.
A fine example of Italianate commercial architecture, the building at 110 Elm Street in Westfield was built in 1860 by John J. Freed. Originally the location of a saloon, the building was acquired in 1878 by a group intending to use it as a headquarters for the local temperance movement. Instead it was sold to R. F. Parker, who converted it to business use. The Westfield Y. M. C. A., formed in 1888, used the building until it erected a new building across the street in 1900. Moriarity’s Shoe Store occupied the building starting in 1957.
The Holyoke Transportation Center at 206 Maple Street was built in 1914 as the city‘s Central Fire Station. It was designed by Holyoke architect Oscar Beauchemin. The Central Fire Station closed in 2001 and firefighters moved to a new station, the old building being converted into the Transportation Center.
I took the picture above in 2012 of a factory building in Holyoke which was demolished in 2013-2014. What became known as the Crocker Mill in Holyoke was built by the Hampden Paper Company in 1870 at 14 Water Street, between the Third Level Canal and the Connecticut River, to replace an earlier wooden mill building erected in 1864. The Crocker Manufacturing Company, which produced high quality colored and ornamental papers, was organized in 1871 and acquired the building. The company was sold to the American Writing Paper Company in 1899. The mill was acquired by Brown Paper Company in 1963.
The building at 214 Maple Street in Holyoke was built around 1873 and was part of a block belonging to the Whiting Paper Company. By 1887 it was the residence of George H. Perry, a foreman of Parsons Paper Company. Alden Press purchased the building in 1917 and built a rear addition. As noted in The American Printer of April 5, 1917:
Alden Press Moves and Enlarges
The Alden Press of Holyoke, of which Edward S. Alden is president, has purchased the three-story building at 214 Maple Street. The firm took possession of the building some months ago and has spent a large sum in equipping it as a first-class printing plant. The Artisan, a labor weekly, is published here and there is a job department also. Among new equipment have been added a rotary press, monotype machine and two job presses.
The building on the corner of Elm and Main Streets (2 Main Street) in Holyoke, was erected in 1842 for Lyman and Thomas Lewis. Originally a boarding house, the building was soon operated as a hotel called the Westfield House. It was expanded on the north side in 1855. After the hotel closed in 1894, the local district courthouse occupied the upper section of the building from 1904 through the 1930s. Later names for the building were the Morrissey Block and the Park Square Building. Continue reading “Morrissey Block (1842)”
