Caledonian Building (1874)

by Dan//Commercial, Holyoke, Organizations, Second Empire

The Caledonian Building, located at 185-193 High Street in Holyoke, was built in 1874 as the Crafts Block by Roswell P. Crafts, a businessman who served as mayor of Holyoke. The eclectic building combines a French Second Empire Mansard roof, two floors fronted in brownstone and a ground level that utilizes cast iron pieces purchased from the Architectural Iron Works of New York. Starting in 1879, the Caledonian Benefit Club, a group of Scots immigrants, used the building’s fourth-floor concert hall for their meetings. In 1907, the Club purchased the building from the Crafts estate.

State Armory, Springfield (1895)

by Dan//Military, Romanesque Revival, Springfield

One of the many historic buildings that were severely damaged by the June 1, 2011 Springfield tornado was the former Springfield State Armory on Howard Street. Also known as the Howard Street Armory, it was built in 1895 to the designs of Robert Wait and Amos Porter Cutting, Boston-based partners who designed many of the state armories throughout Massachusetts. In more recent years, the Armory served as the South End Community Center. The tornado destroyed the rear drill shed, but the castle-like head house, which faces Howard Street, survived. Now an endangered historic resource, preservationists are hoping the Romanesque Revival structure will be restored. UPDATE: In 2014, the Armory was acquired by MGM Springfield, which demolished the rear section and restored the building’s stone exterior. It now part of the MGM Springfield Casino complex, housing ROAR Comedy Club.

South Deerfield Congregational Church (1821)

by Dan//Churches, Deerfield, Federal

The Congregational Church in South Deerfield was organized in 1818 and services were held in a schoolhouse on North Main Street. The current church building was constructed in 1821 to the north of the schoolhouse. The church was moved to its present location, at 71 North Main Street, in 1848. That year, there was a split in the church and the Second, or “Monument,” Church was founded, but the two congregations reunited in 1865.

Dr. Ebenzer Ames House (1816)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Wayland

The house at 24 Cochituate Road in Wayland was built in 1816 by Dr. Ebenezer Ames. Born in Marlborough, Dr. Ames came to town (then called East Sudbury) in 1814, the same year he married Lucy Weeks. He had an extensive practice as a physician until his death in 1861. From 1831 to 1875, the house was the residence of Judge Edward Mellen, who was made Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas in 1855. Judge Mellen’s old law office still stands across the street.

Capt. Edward Pousland House (1866)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Houses, Wayland

The house at 43 Cochituate Road in Wayland was built in 1866 by Edward Pousland, a retired sea captain. It was acquired in 1907 by Jonathan Maynard Parmenter, a wealthy farmer, cattle dealer and generous local philanthropist, who donated it to the the First Parish in Wayland as a parsonage in memory of his brother and business partner, Henry Dana Parmenter. In 1955, the house was converted to become a parish house.

John M. Cook House (1884)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Houses, Lenox, Shingle Style

Transitional in style between the Queen Anne/Shingle style and the Colonial Revival, the house at 120 Main Street in Lenox was built in 1884 by John M. Cook, a farmer and manager for E.J. Woolsey. He sold the house in 1886 and it became known as “The Willows,” a property rented out to summer visitors. In 1905 it was purchased by Father William F. Grace and in 1912 became the rectory for St. Ann Catholic Church. Later in the twentieth century, the house was sold and is now home to Roche Funeral Home.

Hall Judd House (1846)

by Dan//Houses, Northampton, Vernacular

The brick house at 21 Park Street in Florence in Northampton was built in 1846 by Hall Judd, a founder and last secretary of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry. Part of the communitarian movement of the nineteenth century, the NAEI was a utopian community that was dissolved the same year that Judd was building his home. From 1851 to 1894, the house residence to (his widow?) Frances P. Judd. Dormer windows and a wraparound porch were added to the house around 1910. The house has a hidden staircase that suggests it was used in the Underground Railroad.