Springfield Municipal Group (1913)

by Dan//Greek Revival, Neoclassical, Public Buildings, Springfield

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On January 6, 1905, Springfield’s old City Hall was destroyed in a fire, said to have been started by a kerosene lamp overturned by a monkey. The city then undertook the project of constructing an ambitious new Municipal Group, which was completed in 1913. The group, designed by architects Harvey Wiley Corbett and F. Livingston Pell, consists of three structures: two matching columned Greek Revival buildings serving as the City Hall and the Auditorium (now Symphony Hall) and between them, rising to 300 feet, the Italianate-style Campanile (clock tower, above). The tower was attacked by an anarchist truck bomb during construction, but the thick walls survived. The tower has a twelve bell carrillion which plays sixteen notes of Handel‘s Messiah.

Below are pictures of the other two components of the Municipal Group: City Hall and Symphony Hall.

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Concord’s Colonial Inn (1716)

by Dan//Colonial, Concord, Hotels, Houses

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The Colonial Inn in Concord is on Monument Square. The Inn consists of three connected structures. The original East House (above), was built sometime before 1716 by Captain James Minot and deeded in that year to his son, James, Jr. The house passed to James Jr.’s son, Ephraim, and then to a cousin, Dr. Timothy Minot, Jr., a physician who tended to the wounded on April 19,1775. Some time in early 1770s, the Central Building (below) was constructed, which was used as a storehouse during the Revolution. This structure was purchased by Deacon John White in 1780 to use as a store (he added the second floor). In 1789, Dr. Minot sold the East House to Ammi White, his son-in-law and a cabinet-maker, who had killed a wounded British soldier with an axe on April 19, 1775. The very next year, White sold the house to John Thoreau, grandfather of Henry David Thoreau. John Thoreau’s wife, Rebecca Kettel, was the sister of the Deacon’s wife. Around 1820, Deacon White built the West House onto the end of his store and the eventually both the house and store was acquired by his partner, Daniel Shattuck. The young Henry David Thoreau lived in the East House with his family and his aunts from 1835 to 1837. Shattuck acquired the East House in 1839, which was leased to various tenants over the years. By the 1850s, the Central Building had become a boarding house and was then attached to the East House to become the Thoreau House hotel. Around 1900, the West House was attached to the Central Building and the entire structure became known as the Colonial Inn.
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First Parish in Concord (1901)

by Dan//Churches, Concord, Greek Revival

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Concord’s first church congregation was gathered in 1636 in Cambridge, with its first meetinghouse being constructed in Concord soon after (opposite the current church) on Lexington Road. This was replaced by the second meetinghouse, built between 1667 and 1673, and the third, built in 1711. This third church was rotated in 1741 to face the road, but burned down in 1900. It was therefore replaced by the current church, completed in 1901, which reproduced its predecessor as much as possible. During the ministry of Ezra Ripley (1778-1841), the congregation moved away from the traditional Puritan Calvinist doctrines and became Unitarian. Henry David Thoreau signed-off from membership in the church in 1841; his funeral services were later held there. Ralph Waldo Emerson affirmed his membership in 1865. Today, the First Parish in Concord is a Unitarian Universalist church.

20 Pinckney Street, Boston (1852)

by Dan//Boston, Federal, Houses

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The house at 20 Pinckney Street on Boston’s Beacon Hill is listed in some online sources as having been built in 1860, but it must have been built sometime before 1852, because from 1852 to 1855, it was the home of Bronson Alcott and his family. Louisa May Alcott’s room was on the house‘s third floor. While living here, Louisa’s first story was published, “The Rival Painters: a Tale of Rome” in 1852 and her first book, Flower Fables (1854). Later, after Louisa May Alcott became a successful writer, she lived in nearby Louisburg Square, looking after her father.

William Ellery Channing House (1835)

by Dan//Boston, Greek Revival, Houses

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Dr. William Ellery Channing was a leading Unitarian preacher and theologian, who was minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston from 1830-1842. Asher Benjamin designed the 1835 house at 83 Mount Vernon Street, on Boston’s Beacon Hill, where Channing and his family lived from 1835 until his death in 1842. Among the distinguished visitors at the house was Charles Dickens, who had breakfast with Channing in 1842. Dr. Channing’s nephew was William Ellery Channing, the Transcendentalist poet.

41-47 Mattoon Street, Springfield (1871)

by Dan//Houses, Second Empire, Springfield

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Mattoon Street in Springfield was first developed in the years after the Civil War. It eventually became the only street in the city to be lined with row houses. Many of these were in the Second Empire style with mansard roofs, like the two homes (see above) at 41-43 (the Slater House is on the left), both built in 1871. Next door, at 45-47, are two more homes with the same design: the Calhoun House and the Hallet House (see below), built the same year. Continue reading “41-47 Mattoon Street, Springfield (1871)”

Court Square Building (1892)

by Dan//Commercial, Renaissance Revival, Springfield

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Springfield‘s Court Square Building, built in 1892 along Elm Street, facing Court Square, was designed by Springfield architect F.S. Newman, whose earlier Chicopee Bank Building is located just around the corner on Main Street. The building is constructed of buff colored brick with detailing in granite, brownstone and terra cotta. The commercial and office building was expended in 1900 with the addition of a sixth floor and the construction of a hotel, which was eventually converted to offices in 1920. Many of the offices in the building were utilized by lawyers, given the proximity of the County Courthouse and City Hall. The Court Square Theater was also a part of the original building, but this was torn down in 1957 and replaced with a parking lot. There are currently plans to restore the building as part of the Court Square Redevelopment Project.