Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Ross Farm (1800)

by Dan/February 2, 2014/Federal, Houses, Northampton

The farmhouse at 123 Meadow Street in the Florence section of Northampton was built c. 1830 by Theodore Burt, or perhaps c. 1800 by his father, Gaius Burt, who had purchased the farm in 1798. Samuel Whitmarsh, a pioneer of silk cultivation in Northampton, purchased the property in 1835. Whitmarsh’s Northampton Silk Company ceased operation in 1840 owing to a decline in the industry and heavy debt. The property was acquired abolitionist Samuel Hill in 1841 to become part of the utopian community called the Northampton Association of Education and Industry (founded in 1842). Hill, who was active in the Underground Railroad, lived in the house, which is the only surviving NAEI building left today. In 1849, Hill sold the farm to Abel Ross. He lived in the house with his nephew, Austin Ross, who eventually bought the property himself in 1857. Austin Ross also used the house as a station on the Underground Railroad. The property is now called Freedom Farm.

Bond Corner Store (1929)

by Dan/January 30, 2014/Boylston, Commercial, Foursquare

In 1811, the Bond family opened a store at the corner of Main and Central Streets in Boylston. When the store burned down in 1929 it was replaced by a new building, which today has the appearance of an American Foursquare house (1 Central Street) set above a modern storefront on its west side (700 Main Street). It was known as the Bond Corner Store, then the Boylston Center Store and is now the Boylston Deli.

First Presbyterian Church, Holyoke (1887)

by Dan/January 26, 2014/Churches, Holyoke, Romanesque Revival

Holyoke’s First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1886. The new church purchased the corner lot at Cabot and Chestnut Streets (237 Chestnut Street) from the Holyoke Water Power Company. Construction began in September, 1887, and the church was dedicated on March 5, 1889, although it had already been in use since August 1888. The church was built of granite with brownstone trim. It is now home to Centro de Restauracion Emanuel Inc.
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Boylston Town Hall (1830)

by Dan/January 8, 2014January 8, 2014/Boylston, Greek Revival, Public Buildings

The cornerstone of the old Town Hall of Boylston was laid on August 21, 1830 and the building was completed later that year. Construction of the granite ashlar building was made possible by donations from Ward Nicholas Boylston, a prominent Boston merchant who appreciated that the town had been named for his family in 1786. The first floor of the Town Hall housed a school room, while the upper floor contained a hall for public meetings. The building is now the museum of the Boylston Historical Society.

Alfred White House (1902)

by Dan/January 5, 2014January 5, 2014/Colonial Revival, Houses, Queen Anne, Springfield

The Queen Anne/Colonial Revival house at 60 Fairfield Street in Springfield was built in 1904 for Alfred White.

Worcester County Courthouse (1845)

by Dan/January 5, 2014/Greek Revival, Neoclassical, Public Buildings, Worcester

Early county courthouses in Worcester were built in 1733, 1751 and 1802. A granite courthouse with six columns, designed in the Greek Revival style by Ammi B. Young, was built between 1843 and 1845. An addition to the southwest corner of the building, designed in a Greek Revival/Victorian style by Stephen C. Earle, was made in 1878. In 1898-1899 a major expansion and remodeling of the building took place. The original courthouse portico was removed and a new facade created on Main Street which incorporated the original six columns and two new ones made to match the originals. The new facade, designed by Andrews, Jaques and Rantoul, features two pavilions (the one on the south is the original courthouse), with two columns each, flanking a central section with four columns. The Courthouse, located at 2 Main Street off Lincoln Square, is currently vacant.

Walker-White House (1879)

by Dan/January 5, 2014/Houses, Queen Anne, Worcester

The relatively early Queen Anne house at 47 Harvard Street in Worcester was designed by Stephen C. Earle. Its first resident was Benjamin Walker, a local ice merchant. With Stillman Sweester, Walker formed the company Walker & Sweester, which later became the Walker Coal and Ice Company. From 1881 into the twentieth century, the house was home to Walker’s daughter, Agnes, and her husband, Levis White. The house’s two-story porch and painted brick walls are later alterations.