The Foot-Wallace House is a Gothic Revival cottage-style structure built in 1844 at 201 Maple Street in Springfield. Its originally wood exterior walls were covered in stucco in 1898, the same year an orange tile roof was added. Later part of the campus of the MacDuffie School, the house‘s tile roof sustained major damage from the Springfield tornado of June 1, 2011. The above photograph was taken before the tornado.
Holy Trinity Catholic Parish in Westfield was founded in 1903 by Polish immigrants, who first settled in the town in the 1890s. Bishop Thomas Daniel Beaven of Springfield had asked the Missionaries of La Salette to come to the aid of his Polish-speaking parishioners. As there were no Polish speaking La Salette Fathers at that time, five missionaries were sent at the Bishop’s expense to Poland to learn the Polish language. In 1906, the first La Salette Father arrived in Westfield to take charge of the new parish. Holy Trinity Catholic Church, on Elm Street in Westfield, was built in 1909-1910. A parish rectory was also built next to the church, followed by Holy Trinity School in 1921.
The building at 1 Canal Street in Holyoke was built in the early 1870s to serve as an office for the Holyoke Water Power Company. Incorporated in 1859, the company took control of the property of the Hadley Falls Company, which had first begun construction of the dam and canal system that powered Holyoke’s industries. Originally a one-story structure, between 1875 and 1885 the building’s bellcast mansard roof with dormer windows was raised and a second level added. A number of additions were made to the building in later years to serve the company’s expanding operations.
Citizens’ Hall is a mansard-roofed Second Empire building located in the former industrial village of Curtisville, now called Interlaken, in the town of Stockbridge. Designed by Charles T. Rathburn, Citizens’ Hall was built in 1870 as a district schoolhouse, with a public meeting hall on the second floor. Used less frequently as a meeting place after the town’s district schools were consolidated, the building was restored in the 1970s by Old Curtisville, Inc. (pdf). IS183, a non-profit community art school founded in 1991, leased Citizens’ Hall before merging with Old Curtisville, Inc. in 2005. As the building‘s new owners, IS183 completed exterior repairs in May, 2009.
The house at 225 Elm Street, at the corner of Franklin Street, was built around 1910 by Elbridge G. Southwick (1842-1925). The house was constructed on the former homestead of Henry Edwards, which Southwick purchased in 1906.
The First Congregational Church of Westfield, located on Broad Street across from Westfield Green, is an impressive Italianate edifice. It is the church’s fourth meeting house. The first was built around 1673 and the second around 1720. The latter building burned in 1803 and was replaced in 1805 by a new meeting house, called the Bulfinch Church because of its Charles Bulfinch-derived design. According to Vol. 2 of Lockwood’s Westfield and its Historic Influences (1922):
The old Bulfinch church building was purchased by Hon. William G. Bates, moved to a lot back of its old location, and, the steeple having been taken down, used for carriage making and other purposes for many years, until destroyed by fire.
The present church building was erected in 1860, with L. F. Thayer as architect and George Green as builder. The efficient work of the latter was so highly appreciated when completed that the society voted him a gift of $500.
The original steeple was damaged in a windstorm on February 27, 1886, when it was torn off and crashed into the church. It was replaced by an extremely elaborate second steeple, which was in turn replaced by the current steeple, erected in 1962. Continue reading “First Congregational Church of Westfield (1860)”
The Memorial Church Parish House, at 2309 Main Street in Springfield, was built in 1894-1895. Is is a Classical Revival building, designed by Francis R. Richmond. Both Memorial Church and the Parish House were acquired by St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in 1940. In the 1970s, the Parish House was sold and converted into apartments.
