United States Post Office, Lee, MA - c1910

United States Post Office, Lee, MA, c1910

Settled in 1760 and incorporated in 1777, the town of Lee is one of the gems of the Berkshire hills.

In 1910, according to the U.S. census, the population of Lee was 4,106. In 2010, the head count was 5,943. Paper mills, stone and limestone quarries were a few of the town's early industries.

Marble quarried within the town's 27 square miles is known for its fine quality and graces such sites as St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and the U. S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Although they are home to new enterprises now, the buildings in the photograph above can still be found along Lee's charming Main Street, witnesses to the past 102 years and looking none the worse for the wear.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

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Photograph source: Library of Congress; Prints and Photographs Division; Washington, D.C. 20540 USA; Reproduction No.: LC-USZ62-33801; http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2012649405/

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Official town website: http://www.lee.ma.us/

Westfield's Municipal Building Gets a Facelift

A century and a score since its dedication as a State Normal School on June 21, 1892, the building that has housed the city of Westfield's Municipal offices from the late 1950s on is getting a well-deserved facelift. Scaffolding has wrapped the tired edifice in its promising embrace, anon dismantled to reveal a relic's rejuvenated skin, a face for the future. 'Tis a welcome sight, a work site worthy of the first Westfield structure to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, that distinctive date occurring on March 8, 1978.

Built at a cost of $150,000 to replace the old facility on Washington Street, the Commonwealth stretched about six and a half decades out of its investment before cramped and thoroughly antiquated quarters ("archaic" according to the eyes of Massachusetts Governor Paul A. Dever in 1951, on campus to speak at the June 23rd commencement ceremony) forced the decision and drive to move onto bigger and better things, an educational expansion that would one day transform a city wood known as Juniper Park into today's bustling and still-growing Westfield State University. An exchange of one dollar from Commonwealth to city secured the original 26 acre Western Avenue site of horse trails and shady glens and likewise a dollar from city to Commonwealth facilitated the purchase of the 59 Court Street structure, the agreement stipulating the building to be utilized "for municipal purposes only." Chapman Water Proofing, Inc. of Boston has been contracted to perform the current renovations at a cost of $3,400,000, a sum which would have allowed the building to be replicated another twenty times in 1892.

Granite, brick and brownstone under the cover of a slate-tiled roof, the Romanesque design - the work of Boston firm Hartwell and Richardson, established 1881 - is reminiscent of renowned architect Henry H. Richardson's style, but the two interests are indeed, separate. Although neither gained the stature of H. H. Richardson in northeastern architectural circles, many of Henry W. Walker and William C. Richardson's (and later, third partner James Driver) structural accomplishments have made their way into the National Register of Historic Places, including the town hall in Ware, Massachusetts. A local example of Henry H. Richardson's work is the old Hampden County Courthouse on State Street in Springfield.

Postmarked in wintertime Westfield of 1921 and mailed for a penny, the handsome building of higher learning - in a postcard frozen - had by then hosted nearly thirty years of students, matriculating and moving on through its double front archways, the fits and starts of a dawning age of excitement in education anchored by the stalwart's granite foundation whilst soaring peaks overhead encouraged opening minds to move above and ever beyond. Today, the edifice is Westfield's municipal anchor, a tether to the community, a well-known face passed on Court Street, finally getting a makeover.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

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Related links:

Postcards: Court Street, Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2009/03/postcards-court-street-westfield.html

Photos: Time and Water Flow, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1905 - 1920 ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2007/12/photos-time-and-water-flow-springfield.html

City of Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://www.cityofwestfield.org/

MassLive.com article, June 6, 2012, "Westfield launches school and municipal building upgrades" ~ http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/westfield_launches_school_and.html

Triennial 1839 - 1907, State Normal School, Westfield, Massachusetts ~ http://www.hampdencountyhistory.com/westfield/wn/toc.html

Map: Bird's-eye View of Westfield, Massachusetts, 1875 ~ http://explorewmass.blogspot.com/2009/03/map-1875-birds-eye-of-westfield.html

Getting there, via Google maps: http://goo.gl/maps/8dmH

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This Month in Western Massachusetts History: March

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BORN:

2 Mar 1904 - Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss - (2 Mar 1904 - 24 Sept 1991) - Author; Illustrator, Green Eggs and Ham, etc. - Born and raised in Springfield

5 Mar 1955 - Penn Fraser Jillette - (5 Mar 1955 - ) - Illusionist; Magician; Entertainer - Born and raised in Greenfield

12 Mar 1948 - James Vernon Taylor - (12 Mar 1948 - ) - Grammy Award-winning Musician, Member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - Resident of Washington

17 Mar 1951 - Kurt Vogel Russell - (17 Mar 1951 - ) - Actor, Silkwood, etc.; Baseball Player - Born in Springfield

26 Mar 1850 - Edward Bellamy - (26 Mar 1850 - 22 May 1898) - Author, Looking Backward 2000-1887 - Born and died in Chicopee Falls

26 Mar 1874 - Robert Lee Frost - (26 Mar 1874 - 29 Jan 1963) - Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet; English Teacher at Amherst - Lived in Amherst

27 Mar 1969 - Johnny April - (27 Mar 1969 - ) - Musician; Drummer, Staind - Resided in Springfield

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DIED:

13 Mar 1906 - Susan Brownell Anthony - (15 Feb 1820 - 13 March 1906) - Temperance Activist; Abolitionist; Suffragette - Born in Adams

16 Mar 1985 - Edward William (Eddie) Shore - (25 Nov 1902 - 16 Mar 1985) - NHL Hockey Player; Player, Owner, AHL's Springfield Indians - Resided and died in Springfield

19 Mar 1988 - Estelle Condit (Suzy) Frelinghuysen - (1911 - 19 Mar 1988) - Abstract Artist; Opera Singer, Philanthropist - Married to George L. K. Morris - Resided in Lenox

22 Mar 1785 - Jonathan Edwards - (5 Oct 1703 - 22 Mar 1785) - Fervent Preacher; Theologian - Lived in Northampton

22 Mar 1798 - Justin Morgan - (28 Feb 1747 - 22 Mar 1798) - Composer; Horse Breeder, Morgan Horse - Born and lived in West Springfield

24 Mar 1882 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - (27 Feb 1807 - 24 Mar 1882) - Professor; Poet, Paul Revere's Ride, etc. - Resided in Pittsfield

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HAPPENED:

Mar 1643 - Springfield settlers vote to build a bridge over the Mill River in Springfield.

Mar 1648 - The section of Springfield known to natives as Woronoko is annexed to create Westfield. Springfield had acquired the land per an order of the General Court in 1647.

Mar 1750 - Residents of South Hadley, requiring more space for worship and civic affairs, vote at assembly to build a new meeting-house. Fifty meetings and thirteen contentious years later, the structure is finally built.

Mar 1847 - Springfield's Main Street train station burns beyond repair. It is replaced with a larger, brick structure.

Mar 1848 - With debate whether to advance from town to city growing, a committee of the state legislature sitting in Springfield is presented with opinions pro and con.

Mar 1931 - The aqueduct connecting the Ware River and Wachusett Reservoir is completed, as Boston looks west to increase fresh water supplies to the city and its suburbs.

Mar 1674- Ferry service is established on the Connecticut River, just south of inlet of the Agawam (now the Westfield River). The ferry shuttled passengers, animals and freight across the river at this spot for almost 200 years, until the construction of the South-end bridge in 1879.

1 Mar 1651 - Joshua Parsons, young son of Hugh and Mary Parsons, passes away, leading an already-unnerved Mary to declare her husband a witch and murderer to Magistrate Pynchon, confirming many Springfield residents' suspicions. Mary, claiming to be possessed by Satan, recanted her story shortly after, taking responsibility for the death of the boy. Joining her jailed husband in Boston, she was held for trial. Although Mary was exonerated on the charge of being witch, she was convicted in May, 1651, and sentenced to death for Joshua's murder. Too sick to be hanged on the scheduled day, Mary was found dead in her cell on the next. Hugh Parsons was also convicted, but ultimately was spared the hangman's noose, leaving the area in due haste.

1 Mar 1842 - The Northampton and Springfield railroad corporation is formed.

2 Mar 1798 - The Berkshire County town of Clarksburg is incorporated.

3 Mar 1802 - West Springfield grows in area with the annexation of Westfield land.

4 Mar 1629 - King Charles I grants charter to the Company of the Massachusetts Bay.

4 Mar 1816 - Enfield holds its first town meeting. Enfield was one of four Massachusetts towns disincorporated in 1938 to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir, part of Boston's water-supply system.

6 Mar 1762 - The Franklin County town of Bernardston, formerly known as Falltown, incorporates.

6 Mar 1762 - The Berkshire County town of Sandisfield is incorporated.

6 Mar 1762 - The town of Tyringham, in Berkshire County, is incorporated.

6 Mar 1930 - Frozen food makes its worldwide debut as seven markets in Springfield offer curious patrons a variety of Clarence Birdseye's icy edibles for the first time in history.

7 Mar 1888 - The Springfield Daily Union newspaper offices on the corner of Main and Worthington Streets are swept up in a rapidly spreading fire, causing several deaths and injuries. Some victims jumped from the upper floors, where fire had trapped them. Others met their end in the blaze itself, unable to get out of the building. The tragic event prompted the city to buy the fire department's first aerial ladder.

7 Mar 1938 - Dana holds its last town meeting. The Swift River Valley town (and three others) would cease to exist on April 28, 1938, drowned by the man-made Quabbin Reservoir, a massive undertaking to expand Boston's water supplies.

9 Mar 1848 - Main Street, Springfield, was a somber scene as the body of President John Quincy Adams passed mourning dignitaries, military companies, politicians and residents on its way to First Church at Court Square.

9 Mar 1855 - The town of Norwich changes name to Huntington.

11 Mar 1864 - The Westfield Athenaeum is incorporated by legislative act.

12 Mar 1783 - The Hampshire County town of Middlefield is established.

12 Mar 1830 - The Massachusetts railroad corporation is established. The corporation's mission is to build a railroad between Boston and the Hudson river near Albany or Troy by January 1, 1835, passing through Springfield.

14 Mar 1793 - Cheshire is incorporated as a town in Berkshire County.

14 Mar 1805 - Great Island, in the Connecticut River, is annexed to the town of Gill, effective April 1, 1805.

15 Mar 1833 - The Western Railroad Company is established by charter of the Massachusetts legislature. The incorporation is charged with extending the western end of the Boston and Worcester railroad to the state's border with New York.

16 Mar 1854 - Holyoke firm Lyman Mills is incorporated.

16 Mar 1868 - The Springfield Street Railroad Company is incorporated. Before electrification, the rail cars were pulled by teams of horses

17 Mar 1801 - Dana holds its first town meeting.

20 Mar 1651 - Hugh Parsons, accused of witchcraft, is brought from Springfield to Boston to stand trial.

20 Mar 1784 - The town of Dalton is incorporated in Berkshire County.

20 Mar 1837 - The Westfield - Southwick border is adjusted.

21 Mar 1785 - Heath holds its first town meeting.

21 Mar 1936 - Springfield and other Connecticut River towns are devastated by a major flood.

21 Mar 1940 - Quabbin Reservoir receives its first flow of water from Ware River diversion. Quabbin reaches full capacity on June 22, 1946, 412 billion gallons.

25 Mar 1938 - Enfield Town Hall serves as site of town's farewell gathering, an emotional night well-attended by residents and friends alike. Just over a month later, Enfield is no longer, officially disincorporated to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir.

26 Mar 1855 - The border between Northampton and Easthampton is defined.

28 Mar 1938 - Final plans are filed by the Metropolitan District Water Supply Commission for the massive land-taking required for the creation of Quabbin. In all, 117 square miles become watershed property. By the year 2005, the reservoir quenches the thirst of over 2.2 million people in eastern Massachusetts daily.

31 Mar 1933 - The Civilian Conservation Corps is created as a result of the Reforestation Relief Act. The Corps was also referred to as the "3 Cs". Taming Holyoke's Mt. Tom State Reservation was one of the first local projects the Corps tackled.

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Quabbin Views

On August 14, 1939, the flooding of the Swift River Valley in Central Massachusetts commenced. Quabbin Reservoir was born.

View south from Soapstone Mountain - Petersham

The four towns of Dana, Greenwich, Enfield and Prescott were dismantled and their residents displaced to build Quabbin Reservoir, an expansion of greater Boston's water supply.

Monson Turnpike - Old North Dana

Miles of roads were abandoned, railroad lines torn up and train stations removed. Bridges were blasted away with explosives.

Shoreline - North Dana

On June 22, 1946, Quabbin Reservoir reached full capacity for the first time: 412 billion gallons cupped within 181 miles of shoreline.

View near Doubleday Village

The flooding of the valley resulted in sixty islands dotting the 24,529 surface acres of the reservoir.

Swampland in Petersham

Wetlands make up 2,272 acres of the 79,215 total acres of the state-managed Quabbin watershed area.

Remnants of old Route 21

Quabbin Park opened in 1945. There are 22 miles of hiking trails within the park's boundaries, many following the route of formerly settled roads.

Wild columbine

Several of the numbered gates found along the perimeter of its eighteen mile length provide public access to the Quabbin watershed. One of the most popular gates to hike is Gate 40, which leads to Dana town center.

Mount Zion and Mount L

Shore fishing was first allowed at Quabbin on July 5, 1946. On May 27, 1952, the Quabbin reservoir was opened to anglers in boats.

View east from New Salem

For loads of information on the Quabbin Reservoir and the Swift River Valley area, including more than fifty links to maps, history, photographs and directions, visit EWM's, The Quabbin Page.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.


Other links of interest on EWM:

The Quabbin Chronology: A Timeline of the Swift River Valley

Quabbin Gate 40: The Dana-Greenwich Road

Quabbin Gate 40: Dana Town Common

Map: Hampshire County, Massachusetts, 1854


Quabbin Fishing/Boating Regulations 2010:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/watersupply/watershed/quabfish.htm

Quabbin Visitor Center:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/quabbin.htm

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Westfield's Park Square Gets a(n) (Extreme) Makeover

Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

For better or worse, the familiar landscape of downtown Westfield is being altered in a dramatic and permanent way. A new, second bridge over the Westfield River now links the North and South sides of the city via Elm Street and Union Avenue, a modern truss twin to the original Great River Bridge, which is currently being refurbished. The railroad bridge over Main Street is coming down soon, its tracks ribbons of rust polished by nary a passing steel wheel for long years now. Water pipes that have saved many a home from flaming peril and quenched countless hot afternoon thirsts are being excavated and replaced. Traffic lanes are being widened and modified.

Perhaps the most radical and indeed, emotional, change to the center of the city, though, is the clear-cutting of all trees on the green at Park Square and the removal of decorative embellishments, including the landmark fountain. It is a circle of soil now. A blank palette on which to create the civic space of the future.

And tho' it may seem the heart and essence of the old town common may be torn asunder for good, there is a method to the marring: A plan, according to the Mayor and the powers that be. That plan and the decade-old study that led up to it can be found on the City of Westfield website here: http://www.cityofwestfield.org/detpages/departments1607.html.

The Westfield Business Improvement District website is also a great source of information, with weekly downtown traffic updates, handy for anyone planning a trip to the center. Here's the link: http://www.thedistrictwestfield.com/category/main-street-broad-street-project/.

The following photographs illustrate some of the changes that have taken place over the past two years in the Park Square area, the "before" images shot in June, 2008, the snapshots of the current state of affairs captured this past Sunday, August 1, 2010.

Looking north on Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

Looking south on Elm St. toward Green, Westfield, Mass.

26 - 36 Elm Street, Westfield, Mass.

Corner of Elm & Main Streets, Westfield, Mass.

Corner of Elm & Main Streets, Westfield, Mass.

The Green from the corner of Elm & School Streets, Westfield, Mass.

Corner of Main & Broad Streets, Westfield, Mass.

First Congregational Church, Broad St., Westfield, Mass.

Park Square from Broad St. looking west, Westfield, Mass.

Broad Street looking south, Westfield, Mass.

The Green looking toward Westfield Atheneum, Westfield, Mass.

Old Post Office (now The Tavern restaurant), corner Main & Broad Streets, Westfield, Mass.

Main Street & railroad bridge, Westfield, Mass.

The Town Green, as it was around 1841, Westfield, Mass.

The above etching of 19th century Westfield's common area comes from the 1919 publication, 'Westfield's Quarter Millennial Anniversary Official Souvenir,' found at the Internet Archive website here: http://www.archive.org/details/westfieldsquarte00plum.

For more on the history of Westfield's Park Square, including vintage postcards, check out the previous EWM post, 'Postcards: The Green, Westfield, Massachusetts.'

For a look at the layout of 1800s Westfield from a bird's-eye point of view, visit EWM post, 'Map: Bird's-eye View of Westfield, Massachusetts, 1875.'

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

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The War for the Union Pictorial Envelope - Great Barrington, Mass.

The War for the Union - Pictorial Envelope - Great Barrington, Mass

Each community in Western Massachusetts was expected to send its quota of men to fight in the war between the States.

Early on, when patriotism and war fever were high, volunteers and money were easily found and the war effort flourished. But, as the Civil War waged on and the true cost of  union began to be felt, volunteers became fewer and far-between and towns struggled to keep up with their quotas.

Bounties grew higher and higher to attract recruits and it is said that men would sometimes move into the towns that paid more lucrative bounties for enlistment. Towns strained the limits of their budgets and their male populations to provide for the defense of the Republic, ultimately requiring state aid to meet expenses.

Many ladies aid societies sprang up, raising funds to provide necessities and support for the fighting men of Western Massachusetts and the families they left behind.

For an excellent accounting of Berkshire County's cost in blood and treasure in the Civil War, penned in 1871, just five years after the defense of  liberty prevailed, visit the genealogytrails.com webpage: Berkshire County, Mass. in the Civil War featuring, A History Of Massachusetts in the Civil War, written by William Schouler at: http://genealogytrails.com/mass/berkshire/civilwar.html.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.


Image source:  Civil War Treasures from the New-York Historical Society, [Digital ID, nhnycw/aj aj04029]
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/cwnyhs:@field(DOCID+@lit(aj04029))

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President William Taft Speaks in Springfield's Court Square

Running for the Republican nomination and ultimately re-election as United States President, incumbent William Howard Taft visited Springfield during the height of a contentious primary campaign waged against his political rival, Theodore Roosevelt, giving a speech at Court Square on April 25, 1912, before a crowd of 20,000.

Taft went on to win the nomination, spurring Roosevelt (who had already served as President for the 7 1/2 years prior to Taft) to form the Progressive Party. The Republican Party thus split resulted in the first election of a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, to the highest elected office in the land in 20 years.


Photo source: Library of Congress; American Memory Collection; http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/ils:@filreq(@field(NUMBER+@band(ggbain+11216))+@field(COLLID+ggbain)); Believed taken April 25, 1912 (possible alternate date: 1909).

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Tekoa Reservoir, Montgomery, Massachusetts

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Although the image preserved in this postcard from 1939 or later is captioned "Montgomery Reservoir, Westfield, Mass.," the scene is actually the dam and head works of  Tekoa Reservoir in the neighboring town of Montgomery.  Montgomery Reservoir (as it's known to Westfield residents, if you're from Montgomery, it's Westfield Reservoir) is a couple of miles north up Moose Meadow Brook from its smaller counterpart.

The two Westfield water storage areas were built in 1874 following that city's successful statehouse request to acquire land in the town of Montgomery for the purpose of providing its residents with a steady supply of the life-sustaining natural resource. The 1873 act of of the Massachusetts Legislature resulted in the taking of nearly five square miles of property along and around Moose Meadow Brook to form the watershed of the Montgomery Supply System.

Businesses displaced that had utilized the brook as a source of power included saw and grist mills. Moore's whip factory was forced to close, the family later establishing the Mountain House north of the upper reservoir, an inn that specialized in serving up the fresh air of Montgomery country summers to its guests.

The head works is now missing atop the dam at Tekoa Reservoir and trees have risen along the banks of Moose Meadow Brook as seen in this 2010 spring season photograph.

Chauncey D. Allen was in charge of the major public works project, which carried a price tag of a hefty quarter of a million dollars. Allen lived in Westfield, in a house built on the lot General William Shepard's home once occupied on Franklin Street. He also owned the 10 acres between King, Smith and Grant Streets. This land later became a park named in his honor, bequeathed to the city in 1929 by Allen's son-in-law, Albert E. Steiger, the beautiful Grandmothers' Garden part of its grounds.

Two dams were built on Moose Meadow Brook under Allen's direction. An earthen dam located on the upper part of the brook held back the 38 surface acre, 125 million gallon capacity Montgomery Reservoir. Downstream, the brook was dammed with stone, creating Tekoa Reservoir, an acre and a quarter of water surface area with a capacity of nearly 4 million gallons.

Montgomery Reservoir was built as a storage reservoir and according to the Westfield Water Department's web site, has a modern-day capacity of 184 million gallons.

The reservoir was taken off-line in 1974 because of water purity issues. A step Chauncey failed to take when he built the Montgomery Reservoir was to scoop away the earth to the bedrock below the area to be flooded, an oversight which later came back to haunt the city with tap water that was unpleasant to the senses of taste, smell and sight.

Tekoa Reservoir once served the purpose of a diversion reservoir, the head works atop its stalwart stone structure controlling the gravitational flow of Moose Meadow Brook, dropping 480 feet in altitude on its roiling, two-plus mile journey southward between reservoirs. A 14 inch main at the base of the dam supplied a reliable stream of water to Westfield's center, over four miles away.

Today, the Montgomery Reservoir is maintained solely as an emergency supply and was most recently used as a water source for helicopters fighting a mid-April, 2010, wild fire on Russell's Tekoa Mountain that scorched hundreds of acres.

For more on Tekoa Mountain, including photographs from up top, check out the EWM post The View From Tekoa Mountain, Russell, Massachusetts.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

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More info:

Excellent Westfield Water Department history from the official city web site:

http://www.cityofwestfield.org/detpages/departments329.html


Chauncey Allen Park & Grandmothers' Garden history from the folks who support them:

http://www.grandmothersgarden.org/history.htm


For amazing photographs of Grandmothers' Garden:

http://lizziebelle.blogspot.com/

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To get to Tekoa Reservoir (and some great hiking!):


View Larger Map

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Springfield's Technical High School

In 1905, the population of Springfield was 73,484, an increase of well over 10,000 souls from the 62,059 recorded just five years before. As the city grew, the demand for classroom space grew as well. Between 1888 and 1904, citizens invested over one million dollars in educational infrastructure; Forest Park, Chestnut and Williams Street Schools included in these expenditures. Central (Classical) High School on State Street opened in 1898, expanding from smaller quarters; and in 1905, the Technical High School moved from rented space in the Springfield Industrial Institute at Winchester Park into a state-of-the-art campus on Elliot Street, captured in the following images.



Technical High School as drawn by the building architects, local father and son team, Eugene and George Gardner, prior to its construction. The Gardners were also involved in the design of the city's Myrtle and Washington Street Schools, the state sanatorium at Westfield (now Western Mass. Hospital) and the Wilkinson & Wright Blocks on the corner of Main and Worthington Streets in Springfield. This image is scanned from the book, Springfield Present & Prospective, published in 1905 by Pond & Campbell Co.



This grainy photograph, circa 1900-1910, is from the Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress. Affectionately known as "Tech," or "Tech High" to alumni, the school closed in 1986, combining with the also-shuttered Classical High School to form the 'new' Central High School, located on Roosevelt Avenue.



City schools were held in high-esteem and well-promoted by local citizens, including citizen businesses such as the Third National Bank, which included this image of Technical High School in its book Views and Facts of Springfield, Mass., The Magnet City, published in conjunction with George S. Graves in 1910. City industry and commerce depended on a well-equipped and competent class of independent thinkers to support its steady technological and financial progress at the turn of the 20th century. An outstanding public school system provided an able workforce whose exacting standards and strong work-ethic resulted in advancements and achievements that resonate throughout the world to this day.



Another image of Technical High School, circa 1910, this one captured from the View Book of Springfield, Mass., published in that year by the well-known and sorely-missed Johnson's Bookstore. Today, the building to the right in the photograph is gone and a parking lot has replaced the snow-spotted lawn in the foreground.



Found in the Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress, this image was snapped between 1905 and 1915. At 238 feet long by 214 feet wide, and with a capacity of 900 students, the Technical High School was the largest devoted to the industrial arts in New England at the time of its dedication in 1905.



An early 1900s postcard of Technical High School. No stranger to educational experiments - indeed, laying claim to the distinction of being the first city in the state to appoint a superintendent of schools (in 1865, after a failed attempt in 1840) - Springfield initially began offering technical training to its grammar school students in 1886. Ten years later, in 1896, manual training for city students was reorganized into a four-year course offered at Central (Classical) High School. The success of the city's efforts in the dissemination of practical knowledge blossomed into the Mechanic Arts High School, spun-off as a separate entity of Central in 1898, using rented space for teaching facilities. Mechanic Arts was renamed Technical High School in May, 1904, not long before moving into its new home on Elliot Street.



This linen postcard printed between 1930-1945 features the Spring Street side of Technical High School. Although this rear section of the building was razed some time ago, Governor Deval Patrick's announcement in early 2009 of the decision to build a second state data center at the location and the planned Spring, 2010, groundbreaking for the $110 million facility - which will fuse the Elliot Street facade with a high-tech, modern annex - promises new life for the 2+ acre lot and continues the onward progression of the improvement of Springfield's State Street corridor championed by Congressman Richard E. Neal, himself a 1967 graduate of Technical High School.



Springfield Technical High School, Elliot Street, January 9, 2010. Waiting to rise from a long sleep, the exterior of the nearly 80,000 square-foot building appears structurally sound to the casual observer.

"Drawing Room, Technical High School, Springfield, Mass."

This and the following six images were culled from the book, Art Education in the Public Schools of the United States, A Symposium Prepared Under the Auspices of the American Committee of the Third International Congress for the Development of Drawing and Art Teaching; London, August, 1908; edited by James Parton Haney and published by American Art Annual in New York. Original captions from the book are in quotes.

"Architectural Drawing, Fourth Year, Technical High School, Springfield, Mass."

It's not surprising that Technical High School students' work would be featured prominently in a discourse on how to instruct in the arts properly. Springfield's school system was admired by educators far and wide and had gained a well-deserved international reputation for high achievement around the turn of the 20th century. This excerpt, authored by William Orr from the 1905 book, Springfield Present and Prospective, illustrates that point:

"Tribute to the excellence of Springfield's school system is given in the attention her schools have received from students of education. In 1902, commissioners from New South Wales, officially delegated by their government to examine the school systems of the world, spent two days in Springfield, and in their report gave high praise to what they saw in this city. Many foreign delegates to the educational congress at St. Louis in 1904 made it a point of inspecting the schools of Springfield on their way home. Most significant was the visit of Dr. Paul Albrecht, minister of public instruction for Alsace-Lorraine, who made a special study of methods of teaching ancient and modern languages, a field in which Germans are supposed to be masters.

These visits were due in part to the impression made by the exhibition of the Springfield school as the exposition at Chicago in 1893, Buffalo in 1900, and finally at St. Louis in 1904. At the St. Louis fair three gold medals were awarded, one for elementary education in arithmetic, one for evening trades classes, and one for secondary education."

"Japanese Screens, High School, Springfield, Mass."

"Stencil Work, First Year (Girls), Technical High School, Springfield, Mass."

Females attended Technical High School, a new development in a system that previously denied them an education in the industrial arts. In another passage from Springfield Present and Prospective, William Orr, author of the book's second chapter, Educational Institutions, makes the case for co-ed "practical training" upon the inauguration of the new school:

"The new building will furnish facilities not only for more effective training along lines which are followed at present, but it will afford an opportunity for the development of many other lines of technical training which are much to be desired. On general principles there is no reason why the advantages of a technical high school should be offered exclusively to boys, as has hitherto been the practice in Springfield. The general policy of the school is to connect the education of youth during the high-school period with the practical life of the times, without sacrificing a strong academic course in all the essentials. Girls need this practical training during the secondary school period as well as boys. In view of the direct influence upon the home life, the teaching of home economics and domestic arts to girls in a practical way is of the greatest importance. Many of the industrial arts also offer to young women greater opportunities every year. In several cities where schools of this type have been carried on, girls were admitted from the first. In this respect Springfield is behind other cities; but with the opening of the new building for the Technical high school it need not long remain in that position."

"Raffia Baskets, First Year (Girls), Technical High School, Springfield, Mass."

"Pottery, High School, Springfield, Mass."

"Pierced Leather and Metal, High School, Springfield, Mass."

When it was built in 1905, Technical High School boasted its own forge shop and foundry along with rooms of machine shops and woodworking tools, such as joiners and wood-lathes. Mechanical drawing, electrical and plumbing trades were also represented in the well-rounded curriculum and campus facilities. The top floor of the main building consisted mostly of classrooms for physics and chemistry. Large windows provided light and ventilation and a 125 hp DC generator served as power plant for the school's electricity needs.



Edges crisp and clean against a blue January sky, Springfield's Technical High School patiently awaits the return to public service. The 115,000 square foot data center slated to be built on the site will be operational in May, 2012, if all goes as planned.



Four words etched in Indiana limestone welcomed and said farewell to thousands of Springfield students over the years. Through these portals passed poets and priests, artists and engineers, sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers...a legion educated to create a world improved. 'Tis fortunate the memory in stone is saved.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

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