Category: Commercial

Freed-Parker-Y. M. C. A. Building (1860)

by Dan//Commercial, Italianate, Westfield

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.

Old Methodist Church, Westfield (1843)

by Dan//Churches, Commercial, Greek Revival, Westfield

Former Methodist Church in Westfield

The building at 24-26 Elm Street in Westfield was erected as a Methodist Church (the congregation‘s second church building) in 1843. Commercial businesses were located on the ground floor of the building with the church above, a not unusual practice for urban churches of the time. When a new Methodist Church was completed on Court Street in 1875, the Elm Street building became exclusively commercial and the post office moved into the basement. The cupola, roof and third story were razed in the 1940s.

Morrissey Block (1842)

by Dan//Commercial, Italianate, Westfield

Morrissey Block

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)”

Commerce Building (1897)

by Dan//Commercial, Neoclassical, Renaissance Revival, Worcester

Commerce Building, Worcester

The building at 340 Main Street in Worcester was built c. 1894-1897 to designs by the prestigious architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns. Known today as the Commerce Building (named for later tenant Commerce Bank), it was originally built for the State Mutual Life Insurance Company. Founded in 1844-1845 as the nation’s fifth life insurance company, it had previously been located in an 1870 building at 240 Main Street.

Blaisdell, Wood Brothers & Farrell Buildings (1907, 1922, 1913)

by Dan//Commercial, Neoclassical, Pittsfield, Renaissance Revival

Haynes-designed Buildings in Pittsfield

Three buildings on North Street in Pittsfield are depicted in the image above. On the left is the Blaisdell, 413-419 North Street, built in 1907 for the head of the Blaisdell-Kavy Co., and designed by Pittsfield architect George Edward Haynes. In the center is the Wood Brothers Building, 421-429 North Street, also designed by Haynes. It was built in 1922-1923 to house the Wood Brothers music store, founded in 1880 and still in business today at another location. The building’s facade is constructed of 40 tons of cast stone from the Art Stone Co. of Millers Falls. The building on the right, 441-445 North Street, is the Farrell Building. Dating to 1913-1915, it is also the work of Haynes.