Pottery, Old Sturbridge Village (1819)

by Dan//Commercial, Industrial, Outbuildings, Sturbridge, Vernacular

Harvey Brooks (1779-1873), of Goshen, Connecticut, began work at the age of sixteen as an apprentice potter. After 1819, he worked for himself as a rural farmer-potter, producing 26 different varieties and sizes of redware pots, pans and jugs. He had a pottery shop and an adjacent kiln, where he burned his last batch of ware in 1864, long after most other redware potters had given up practicing their craft. Brooks‘ pottery shop, built around 1819, was moved to Old Sturbridge Village in 1961 and a replica kiln was built in 1979.

Company Officer’s Quarters, Springfield Armory (1836)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Military, Springfield

A number of buildings were constructed at the Springfield Armory to serve as Company Officer’s Quarters. Pictured above is one of a pair of adjacent identical structures built in the Greek Revival style in 1836. Next to these is an earlier building, dating to 1833. A fourth one, facing Armory Square, was built in 1880. All four buildings are now part of the campus of Springfield Technical Community College. Scroll or click below to see pictures of the other three buildings: Continue reading “Company Officer’s Quarters, Springfield Armory (1836)”

Dr. S. H. Spaulding House (1829)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Houses, Natick

Dr. Stephen Hodgman Spaulding (1787-1866) was born in Chelmsford and studied three years at the Harvard Medical School. As described in the History of Middlesex County, Vol. III (1890):

He commenced practice in Littleton, Mass., remained a few years, then removed to Dublin, New Hampshire, where he secured an excellent and lucrative practice. After a few years he found that the severity of the winters, and the almost impassable state of the roads—being obliged to travel with snowshoes without any regard to boundary lines or fences —was telling upon his health, and this decided him to accept an invitation to settle in South Natick, Mass., where again he succeeded in building up an extensive practice.
In about 1841 he removed to Newton Upper Falls, and associated himself with his son-in-law, Dr. Samuel S. Whitney, who had married his only child, Sarah W. Spalding, in general practice. In 1843 his house and stable were burned. He then settled in Reading, Mass., and continued in practice there for several years. Later in life, after an active practice of thirty years, he retired, and removing back to South Natick, made that his home till he died. In his last years he was a great sufferer from disease. He was a member of the Unitarian Church and Parish of South Natick, and the large number at his funeral attested the respect and esteem of his towns-people.

His 1829 hipped-roof house is at 42 Eliot Street in South Natick.

Springfield City Library (1911)

by Dan//Libraries, Renaissance Revival, Springfield

Springfield’s City Library Association was formed in 1857. After occupying a room in City Hall, a red-brick Gothic style building was erected at the corner of State and Chestnut Streets in 1863. When this building was outgrown, plans were made to erect a larger structure. Andrew Carnegie donated funds to build the central library and three branches. In order to continue providing library service during construction of the new building, the old library was moved back 200 feet to make room for the new one. Charles R. Trask, one of the old library’s original builders, was hired to move it (it was later torn down). Christ Church also moved its Rectory to the other side of the church. The new library, designed by Edward Lippincott Tilton in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, was built of reinforced concrete with a pink granite base, white Vermont marble, and has a frieze of white terra cotta. The building was completed in 1911 and opened in January, 1912. Continue reading “Springfield City Library (1911)”

Fisher House (1830)

by Dan//Amherst, Houses, Vernacular

The Fisher House, at 227 South Pleasant Street in Amherst, was built in 1830, possibly by brick mason Hiram Johnson. The house was used as a school by the Nelson sisters, but opinion is divided as to whether or not Emily Dickinson attended school there or not in 1837. Amherst College purchased the house from Anna A. Fisher, wife of G. Edward Fisher, in 1917 and it served for a time as a student residence. It is now a single family home.

Wilson Admission Center, Amherst College (1810)

by Dan//Amherst, Federal, Houses

In 1780, Colonel Elijah Dickinson of Amherst married Jerusha Smith. Jerusha’s grandfather, Dr. Nathaniel Smith, had moved from Hadley about 1730 to become the first physician to practice in Amherst. He built a log cabin, next to what would later become College Hill, and eventually replaced the cabin with a new house, painted yellow. This house was moved to South Pleasant Street to make way for a new Federal-style house, built by Col. Dickinson in 1810. Dickinson gave the land on which Amherst College would be built. The house was later owned by John White. Known as the White Homestead, it was purchased by Amherst College from the White Family in 1924. It served as the College’s Faculty Club and was later converted to become the Wilson Admission Center, named for former Dean of Admission Eugene S. Wilson.

Thomas Bodkin House (1729)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Marblehead

The Thomas Bodkin House is at 6 Union Street in Marblehead. In its earliest form, it was a gambrel-roofed house, built in 1729 by Thomas Bodkin, a brewer and merchant, around the time of his marriage to Sarah Rhodes. His brewery was located in a separate building behind the house. Bodkin lived in Marblehead until 1748. The house was later owned by Capt. Benjamin Hind who, around 1765, connected the brewery with the main house, which he also enlarged. Hind was responsible for laying out Union Street, which had previously been a cart path.