Exploring Western Massachusetts: Postcards

Showing posts with label Postcards. Show all posts

Thursday, July 12, 2012

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.

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

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hampden County Memorial Bridge Spans Another Year Serving Western Mass.

The Hampden County Memorial Bridge (circa 1935-45)

The Hampden County Memorial Bridge is a vital link spanning the Connecticut River between the City of Springfield and the Town of West Springfield.

The magnificent structure was designed by architectural firm Fay, Spofford & Thorndike, in conjunction with Haven & Hoyt, architects, and its construction was contracted to H. P. Converse & Company, builders, on April 3, 1920. Fay, Spofford & Thorndike were retained as architects again in 1996 for the bridge's rebuild, contracted to the construction company, Daniel O'Connell's Sons.

The 1,515 foot-long Memorial Bridge was officially dedicated on August 3, 1922, "to those who had died as pioneers, and soldiers in the Revolutionary, Civil and Foreign Wars."

For more about the Memorial Bridge and the Toll Bridge that preceded it, check out previous EWM posts, Postcards: Hampden County Memorial Bridge and Postcards: The Old Toll Bridge Springfield, Massachusetts.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Postcards : Berkshire County Lakes and Ponds

"Card Lake, West Stockbridge, Mass."

With the summer of 2010 shaping up to be one of the warmest on record, telling someone to "go jump in the lake" doesn't quite carry the stinging ring of dissonance it once might have. Indeed, suggesting a dive in the lake may even be considered an act of benevolence as the mercury pushes higher and higher on the Fahrenheit scale.

One never has far to go in Western Massachusetts in the quest for cool, crisp and clear water: Another blessing to count when drawing up the list.

For generations, local families have escaped the sticky cares of hot towns and cities for short-drive perches lakeside, quick bursts of warm summer memories stored for long, cold winter months like so many canned tomatoes and dated jars of piccalilli. Water bodies banked with smiles young and old, happy shouts, barbecues and badminton. At night, flashlights and toasted marshmallows and fireflies compete with a billion stars joining overhead. Damp, sandy towels drying on the line for tomorrow. In Western Massachusetts, we thaw with our lakes and ponds and sparkle radiant under the same sun.

These postcards of Berkshire County bodies of water were borrowed from the ImageMuseum (http://imagemuseum.smugmug.com), an excellent website put together by Jim and Russ Birchall with thousands of vintage Western Massachusetts postcards and photographs (and more) to peruse. Captions in quotes are from the postcards.

"Otis Pond looking West"

"Green Water Pond, Jacobs Ladder Roadway, West Becket, Mass."

"Shaw Lake Near Lee, Mass."

"Scene on Onoto* Lake, Pittsfield, Mass."

"Pontoosuc Lake showing Greylock Mountain, Pittsfield, Mass."

Okay...ready for a swim? Here's a cool website for locating local swimming holes in Massachusetts: http://www.swimmingholes.org/ma.html.

Remember be safe: Swim with a friend!

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

*Onota

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Tekoa Reservoir, Montgomery, Massachusetts

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.

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/

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

View Larger Map

Friday, April 2, 2010

Duryea Motor Wagon Company Post at MassLive.com

Check out my latest post at MassLive.com:

The Driving Duryea Brothers, Springfield's Automobile Pioneers

Thursday, January 14, 2010

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.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Postcards: Court Street, Westfield, Massachusetts

Here are a few postcards from Westfield's Court Street at the turn of the twentieth century from the Barbara Shaffer collection. Thanks for sharing with us Barbara!

When this postcard was mailed from Westfield to South Deerfield on November 12, 1921, the Westfield State Normal School building at 59 Court Street was just months away from its thirtieth anniversary of stony silent service in the advancement of education. Dedicated on June 21, 1892, the following autumn brought eager students across new thresholds as regular classes commenced in the fresh facilities. The building - erected at a cost of $150,000 - was constructed in response to a burgeoning student body that had stretched the walls of the former school building on the corner of Washington and School Streets. In 1956, the school quit the Court Street building for a new campus on Western Avenue, turning the structure over to the City of Westfield (which still utilizes the monolith as municipal offices) for the grand sum of one dollar. The multi-medium, Romanesque edifice achieved architectural rock'n'roll star status on March 8, 1978, when it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the first building in Westfield to gain that distinction.

The Westfield State Normal School dormitory of Dickinson Hall on the Court Street campus was a mere five years old - new by most folks' standards- when this postcard was stamped on September 20, 1908. The sender is obviously pleased with her accommodations and, better yet, is expecting a friend to join her on her adventure. "N. E. W." writes to Marietta in North Adams (c/o North Adams Normal School): "I have marked our room. Don't you think it is a beauty. Was glad you may be sure to get your postal." Ah, the wistful stirrings dusted up by ink dried long a year; a century and life passed for good and bad as sure as the sun rose this morn'.

At the time this postcard was dropped in the mail on its way from Westfield to Belleville, New York on November 4, 1910, the house in the foreground, 81 Court Street, was in the middle of its second decade of occupation. Built in 1894 at a cost of $5,000, the home's original owner was William Lyman. This view of Upper Court Street is very much the same today, the homes retaining their elegance and charm assisted by the loving touch of a new generation, descendant at the dawn of another century's turn. History lives.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

For more Westfield postcards, check out the previous EWM posts:

'Postcards: Westfield, Massachusetts; July 22, 2007'

'Postcards: The Green, Westfield, Massachusetts; August 31, 2007'

Monday, August 18, 2008

195 State Street: Sweatin' in the Oldie

Some jobs are tougher than others come the dog days of summer. Roofers, road crews, fire fighters, shade tobacco pickers and office workers come to mind right off the bat. Wait a minute. Office workers? Why sure, especially when those fine filing folks happen to be melting away in poorly-ventilated old buildings built in the day when impressive architectural appearances outweighed the productive proclivity for practicality.

The offices of the Springfield School Department at 195 State Street fit that description. First occupied on July 3, 1905, as the headquarters of the Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company, the limestone Classical Revival-style structure is infamous for its warm weather oven-like qualities among the 150 or so education employees who work there year 'round. In a Springfield Republican article (link) dated August 4, 2008, Finance Control Board executive-director, Stephen P. Lisauskas, told the paper: "That facility, it's not even close to being an efficient model for a modern workplace." What a difference a day (or thousands of them) makes. In the book, 'Springfield Present and Prospective,' author J. Frank Drake avers - much to the contrary - that the brand new home of Springfield Fire and Marine is "...complete and adequate in every respect, finely appointed and fitted with every modern convenience and device for the transaction of the underwriting business of today..." Of course, when Drake was writing, in 1905, electricity was a "modern convenience," a welcome sparking citizen less than two decades old within the city's borders.

Here are some images of 195 State Street, all but the first and last scanned from the aforementioned book.

This postcard from the Barbara Shaffer collection captures two major Springfield-based insurance companies in one image. The Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company is in the left foreground, the eight-story Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company building in the westerly distance, on the corner of State and Main streets. Both began business in 1851. Notice the tracks of the Springfield Street Railway running along a hard-packed dirt State Street.

One modern convenience lurking around the corner from 1905, the automobile, was certainly not planned for in the footprint of 195 State Street, with virtually no land put aside for parking.

Not a clerk or agent a'stirring. Must be lunchtime. Or a hot summer afternoon...

Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company began opening branches and enlisting agents all over the country soon after its incorporation. Even 1882 Red Cloud, Nebraska, had an agency handling Springfield Fire insurance policies. The Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company was also a member of the American Foreign Insurance Association, "Organized September 1918 for the purpose of extending and promoting the operation of American companies in foreign countries." Hmm...outsourcing...Don't let Lou Dobbs catch wind...

In the days of devastating fires, when whole cities could burn virtually unchecked, the Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance Company paid out some hefty sums to folks who had lost it all. The Chicago fire of 1871: $8,550,000; the Boston fire the very next year: $260,000; and the San Francisco fire of 1906: $81,639,063.39.

195 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts - 1905

195 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts - 2008

For more old photographs of State Street, check out the previous EWM post, 'Photos: State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts.'

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Postcards From a Lost Town: Enfield, Massachusetts

Before there was the Quabbin Reservoir, there was the Swift River Valley. There were the towns of Greenwich, Enfield, Prescott and Dana. There were the villages of Millington, Doubleday and Bobbinville. There were lives and people and parties and progress. There were farms and headstones, swimming holes and ice houses. Fields were tilled, palm hats were woven, game was hunted. The three branches of the Swift River were fished for their fruit and harnessed for their power. Largely settled by land grants awarded to the men who fought in the Indian Wars, this fertile Valley was home to some of the heartiest stock in New England.

Dave Robison of Chicopee is a descendant of that stock, that particular breed of Yankee who can tame a wild forest and make it a working farm, who can coax sustenance year after year from the rocky earth, who can build to withstand the ages and survive frigid and unforgiving Winters to see another Spring. Dave can trace his North American ancestry back to the settling of Plymouth and 22-year old English pilgrim William Bassett, who bravely dared to cast his fate to the winds and sail off to the New World from Europe, arriving on the Massachusetts coast aboard the 'Fortune' in 1621. One-hundred and fifty-two years later, in 1773, a descendant of William Bassett - also named William - moved his young family lock, stock and barrel to the central Massachusetts town of Hardwick from Norton. Perhaps the death of his son, Calven, just one week after the celebration of his second birthday in February of that year prompted the move to fresher pastures for 23-year old William, his 20-year old wife Anna (Lane) and his infant son, William. Tragedy is impetus for many changes.

William and Anna had four more children and lived to be 89 and 69, respectively. Remarkably long lives for the times and conditions they had to endure, including William's service in the Revolutionary war. One of William and Anna's children - the fifth one to be exact - Ephraim Lane Bassett, Sr., was Dave Robison's great-great-great-grandfather. He lived in Enfield for most of his life - including its ending - with his wife Tabitha (Newton). He was named after Anna's father, Ephraim Lane.

Ephraim, Sr. and Tabitha had nine children, all of whom stayed in the Enfield area and most of whom were disinterred from what were once thought to be their final resting spots and moved to Quabbin Park Cemetery in Ware prior to the flooding of the Valley, where they can be visited today. Their ninth and last child, Ralph Harmon Bassett, was Dave Robison's great-great-grandfather. The combination of long life-spans and prolific production of progeny blessing this old New England family ensured that pilgrim William Bassett's bloodline would feed the pulse of the New World and the West Central Massachusetts frontier for ages to come.

Dave has done extensive research on the Swift River Valley area as a by-product of tracing his family genealogy, the results of which can be seen at his awesome web site (link), and has graciously shared these old postcards that capture some of the never-again-to-be-seen sights of the town of Enfield with EWM to share with you. Thank you, Dave.

The church was the center of spiritual, social and political activity in nearly every early New England town. The Congregational Church was built on land donated by Captain Joseph Hooker in 1787 , the year that the precursor to the town of Enfield - the South Parish of Greenwich - was incorporated. Enfield would evolve from the South Parish, officially coming to life as a town February 18, 1816, on land carved from the acreage of neighbors Greenwich, Belchertown and Ware. Originally a somewhat mundane structure, the church wasn't crowned with a steeple until 1814, when it also received its belfry and bell. The same year, the building was turned so that its front door faced Enfield's Main Street. In 1873, the church got another face lift with the installation of the clock beneath the belfry, an improvement undertaken and underwritten by the town. The church fell to fire on August 2, 1936, a conflagration suspected to be arson that claimed the outlying chapel as well as the home of Mabel Haskell. The chapel bell survived the blaze, and in 1938 found a new home at the New Salem Central Congregational Church.

The Town Hall was the last building to be razed in the center of Enfield. On September 10, 1938, a final auction of goods and buildings acquired by the Massachusetts Water District Supply Commission (MWDSC) during property purchases and takeovers vital to the construction of the Quabbin Reservoir was held in this handsome building. Indeed, even the Town Hall itself was on the block, sold for the high bid of $550 to be hauled away forever, brick and beam. Enfield's last town meeting was held in the hall on April 8, 1938. Enfield's Town Hall is probably best remembered as the site of the April 27, 1938, Farewell Ball, "commemorating the passing of the Town of Enfield and Swift River Valley", held the evening before the town's dissolution and attended by as many 3,000 souls. At the stroke of midnight, McEnelly's Orchestra played Auld Lang Syne while weeping townsfolk held each other close on the dance floor. By the time the song was over, the town of Enfield had ceased to exist.

Education was important in Enfield. In 1854, the town had 271 students ages 4 - 16 attending class in eight districts. By 1890, the town's public library boasted a collection of 2,000 volumes. By 1892, Dave Robison's great-grandfather, Edward Bassett, had won Emma Tuggey's heart. The two were married on July 16th of that year. Tragically, Emma died of cancer in 1916 at the age of 45, taken too soon from her husband and children, including Dave's grandmother, Hazel Bassett, the second of six.

A picturesque hotel along the main drag completes many a small town in rural Massachusetts and the small town of Enfield was no exception, the Swift River Valley Hotel settling on its foundation across the street from the Post Office for many a year, playing host to the weary traveler. William Galvin was Proprietor of the establishment when the Quabbin construction came.

The Enfield Manufacturing Company was established in the late 19th century and located near the center of town. With the use of hydro-power, the mill produced wool products and employed many local folks, including some of Dave Robison's ancestors.

The Swift River Company was the dominant business in Smith's Village, which was about a mile north of Enfield Village (the two of which comprised the Town of Enfield). Smith's was indeed a company-store type of arrangement, with most of the village's buildings and property - including tenement dwellings and houses occupied by company employees - owned by the Swift River Company. Expanded from property acquired from Packard Ford in 1822, founder David Smith included relatives Alvin and Alfred Smith in the mill's ownership in 1845, selling each partial interests. In 1852, the Smith's formed the Swift River Company, which continued under family control until 1913, when the property was sold. The mill was owned by the Federal Fabrics Corporation when it was sold to the MWDSC in 1926.

Known by locals as the "Rabbit Run" because of its frequent starts and stops at the multiple railroad stations along its trek through the Swift River Valley, the Athol Branch of the Boston & Albany railroad brought the world to Enfield and Enfield to the world on singing rails for more than six decades. The opening of the railroad in 1871 was a boon to Valley icemen, farmers and manufacturers, giving them access to consumers in Boston, Springfield, New York and beyond. Folks from the cities built summer camps and clubs in the newly accessible paradise and many local students took the train to school each day. Stations were located in: New Salem, North Dana, Morgan's, Greenwich Village, Greenwich, Smith's Village and Enfield. The railroad was dismantled in 1935.

Dave Robison's relatives were probably down there in town when this photo-postcard was taken from Quabbin Mountain. Before the flood. Before the drive of a Metro's unquenchable thirst - heartless in its need - turned a valley to a lake, homesteaders to gypsies.

Today, Enfield's voices whisper as ghosts beneath blue water. Go and listen...You will hear them.

Thanks again, Dave, for giving EWM a chance to share these images.

For more Quabbin history, check out the EWM exclusive feature, The Quabbin Page.

Thinking about visiting Quabbin? Take a look at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Quabbin page: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/quabbin.htm for directions and more information.

As always, thanks for stopping by and take care.