Italianate – Page 8 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Hotel Hamilton (1850)

by Dan/August 26, 2012August 31, 2012/Holyoke, Hotels, Italianate

This building in Holyoke, now vacant and condemned, was built around 1850 as a hotel called the Holyoke House. Located on Dwight Street, between Main and Race streets, it was later known as the Hotel Hamilton and was extensively remodeled and expanded around 1890. The building was purchased in 1911 by Joel Russell and then housed the J. Russell Hardware Company. The hotel closed in 1943 and the building was drastically renovated in 1947, when the top floor was removed (except from the wing on the left). Recently used by several social service agencies, the building is now unsafe and may not long survive. Continue reading “Hotel Hamilton (1850)”

Henry L. Williams House (1846)

by Dan/August 18, 2012August 18, 2012/Greek Revival, Houses, Italianate, Salem

The house at 342 Essex Street in Salem, designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant, combines Greek Revival and Italianate elements. It was built in 1846 for Henry Laurens Williams, a partner in the merchant firm of Williams and Daland and president of the Five Cents Savings Bank. He served as mayor of Salem in 1875-1876.

Joseph H. Hanson House (1865)

by Dan/July 4, 2012January 25, 2020/Houses, Italianate, Salem

The c. 1865 house of Salem merchant Joseph H. Hanson is architecturally interesting because it takes the classic form of the earlier Federal-style houses (that Salem is so famous for) and updates it in the Italianate manner, which was popular in the mid-nineteenth century. The house can be found at 355 Essex Street in Salem.

Trinity Church, Waltham (1870)

by Dan/March 25, 2012/Churches, Italianate, Waltham

In the early nineteenth century, the First Parish Church in Waltham became a Unitarian church. The Second Religious Society of Waltham was established in 1820. Its meeting house was called the “Factory Church” because its membership was primarily made up of people connected with the Boston Manufacturing Company, which provided the funds for the building. This Society also leaned towards Unitarian views (it later united with the First Parish in 1839) and those with Trinitarian beliefs left to form the Trinitarian Congregational Church. The congregation erected a church building on the corner of Main and Heard Streets in 1826. The current church building, at 726 Main Street, was built in 1870. The organization of the church was changed in 1906, when it incorporated itself as the First Congregational Church of Waltham. It became a member of the United Church of Christ in 1957, but withdrew in 2006 to become an independent, trans-denominational congregation called Trinity Church.

Blanchard Campus Center, Mount Holyoke College (1899)

by Dan/March 14, 2012October 20, 2012/Collegiate, Italianate, South Hadley, Victorian Eclectic

Former gymnasium, now campus center at Mount Holyoke College

By the late 1890s there was clamoring for a gymnasium to be constructed at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. The College Gymnasium, noted at the time for its state-of-the-art ventilation system, was built in 1899-1900 and was designed by William C. Brocklesby. In 1950, the building was converted into offices and housed the campus post office. In 1988, it became the Blanchard Campus Center, named for Elizabeth Blanchard, an 1858 graduate who served as principal (1883-1888) and acting president (1888-189) of the College. The building was much expanded with additional facilities in 2003.

48 Pomeroy Terrace, Northampton (1850)

by Dan/January 22, 2012January 22, 2012/Houses, Italianate, Northampton

The house at 48 Pomeroy Terrace in Northampton was built around 1850, or perhaps as early as 1847. Its first resident was Rev. Rufus Ellis (1819-1885), a Unitarian clergyman who rented the property. In 1853, Edward Clarke sold it to Mary Ann Cochran and the house became known as the Miss Cochran Cottage. According to tradition, the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1850s, the house’s cupola had differently colored panes of glass and fugitive slaves were said to have known whether it was safe to proceed based on which pane was lit. The house is now used for the offices of the neighboring College Church.

Rust’s Block (1868)

by Dan/January 3, 2012/Commercial, Italianate, Northampton

Rust’s Block is a building at 207-211 Main Street in Northampton. It was built in 1867-1868 by Theodore Rust, whose grocery store, Rust & Sons, was located in the building, along with many other businesses over the years. Until about 1900, there was a public hall upstairs called Rust’s Hall. Rust bought the land, which had originally been part of the Judge Joseph Lyman estate, in 1867. Rust’s Block and Cracker Barrel Alley are located where the Lyman Mansion one stood.