|
#TBT-1
Longmeadow Tennis Club |
Opening day for the
Longmeadow Tennis Club was Saturday,
June 28, 1913. The tennis courts were
built on the grounds of the original
Storrs Library by Vaughan & Kibbe.
Individuals that were interested in
playing the game had donated to build
these three courts. |
#TBT-2
Center School |
Older children in
front of the District 1 schoolhouse
which stood on the site of the present
Center School in 1878. In 1899 a new
Center School was built to replace the
two room Center School for grades 1 to
9. In 1929 both buildings were
demolished to allow construction of the
today’s Center Elementary School. |
#TBT-3
Country Store |
The Country Store
was built in 1805 by Calvin Burt and
Stephen Cooley. It is located at 776
Longmeadow Street. For many years
it was home to the Longmeadow Post
Office. In 1848 Dimond Chandler
established his first button factory
here. The building eventually became a
grocery store was owned and operated by
Charles L. Wood. It is currently
the home of the Spa-on-the-Green. |
#TBT-4
Doane Orphanage |
In 1902, George
Sanford Doane and his wife Lucy Maria
Cook established the Doane Orphanage at
the corner of Longmeadow Street and
Forest Glen Road. It is no longer in
existence. |
#TBT-5
First Church Parsonage |
In 1857 the First
Congregational Church parish voted to
build a parsonage on the site of the
Rev. Stephen Williams' original home
which was destroyed by fire in 1845. It
housed ministers until 1917, when Rev.
Henry Lincoln Bailey retired. It later
served as quarters for church school
classes and as the residence for the
church caretakers. The parsonage was
moved south of the church in 1921 when
the Community House was built by First
Church. The building currently is home
to the Longmeadow Montessori School. |
#TBT-6
A Changing Landscape |
In 1907 the Chapel
was located on the south side of the
First Congregational Church. In
1921 the Chapel was moved when the
Community House was built. The
First Church Parsonage was also moved to
its current location at 777 Longmeadow
Street. |
#TBT-7
Wolcott-Brewer
Young Mansion |
734 Longmeadow
Street was built in 1884 by Henry R.
Wolcott and Colorado Senator Edward O.
Wolcott for their father, Rev. Samuel
Wolcott. In 1901 it was purchased by
Edward Spaulding Brewer, who was a
prominent Springfield area businessman,
three-term chairman of the Longmeadow
Board of Selectmen and two-term
Massachusetts state legislator. In 1921
the home was sold to Mrs. Mary Ida
Young, a friend of the Brewers and wife
of the inventor of the horse (and later
human) liniment Absorbine, Jr. For
years thereafter, the mansion was a
focal point of many Longmeadow society
events. Mary Ida Young died on
Halloween, October 31, 1960, at age 95. |
#TBT-8
Thomas Watters House |
The Thomas Watters
House at 70 Longmeadow Street is a Queen
Anne style house in the north end of
town. It was built by Thomas Watters in
1880. Thomas Watters and his brother,
Joseph Watters, who built the house next
door (76), were successful contractors
in Springfield in the late 1800's and
early 1900's. One of their notable
projects was the Barney Estate in Forest
Park. Thomas Watters served as Park
Commissioner in Longmeadow in 1901 and
was elected Selectman in 1907. |
#TBT-9
Old Town Hall |
The Old Town Hall
was originally built as a school house
in 1855. This building is the old
North School which was used as a school
until 1906. It was then used as a Town
Hall/ Police Station from 1906 until
1930 when the current Town Hall was
built. It then became the headquarters
of the Albert T. Wood Post 175/ American
Legion. |
#TBT-10
Longmeadow
Garage |
The CVS/ Rinaldi’s/
Kate Gray Boutique building in an
earlier time period... This original
structure was completed in late 1916 and
has served as a home for the Longmeadow
Garage and Longmeadow Public Market,
Inc.+ many other local businesses
throughout the years. |
#TBT-11
A Changing Landscape-2 |
The Captain Simon
Parker house that was located at 777
Longmeadow Street and the First Church
Chapel were moved to Williams Street.
The First Church Parsonage (now the
Montessori School) was moved to make
room for the construction of the
Community House. |
#TBT-12
Longmeadow Water Works |
The Longmeadow Water
Works which was started in 1894
consisted of a pond, a screen filter. a
Deane steam pump, a storage tank
(connected to stand pipe) and an
engineer's house. The tank was open at
the top so the engineer usually pumped
it until it overflowed. The unused water
from the pond ran down to the
Connecticut River and was known as
Cooley Brook. Water was delivered to
town residents through pipes on
Longmeadow Street and side streets. As
the town’s water needs increased, the
town started purchasing additional water
from Springfield in 1912. |
#TBT-13
Longmeadow DPW |
In 1931 Longmeadow
Town voters approved moving the old
train station [“depot”] to the current
site of the Department of Public Works
Main Offices for use as a Caretaker’s
Cottage. The train “depot” building was
built ~ 1884 and remains as part of the
current DPW facility 130+ years later! |
#TBT-14
Old Red House |
The "Old Red House"
at 787 Longmeadow Street was built by
Captain Simon Colton in 1734 and is a
fine example of a New England "saltbox". |
#TBT-15
St. Mary's Church |
n 1868 a group of
five men purchased a building that was
believed to have been a spectacle shop
located across the Town Green from First
Church. They moved this building to
Williams Street opposite Longmeadow
Cemetery. On October 2, 1870 it was
dedicated as St. Mary's Church. In 1924
St. Mary's Church was moved to a
portable church that had been set up
behind the site of the current church at
the corner of Bliss Road and Longmeadow
Street. On Christmas Eve in 1931 a new
St. Mary's Church was opened. |
#TBT-16
"Meat Peddlar" |
Mr. Arthur A. Brooks
lived at 107 Hopkins Place. He worked in
Charles S. Allen's store at 766
Longmeadow Street and was best known as
the "meat peddlar". |
#TBT-17
Post Office |
Mr. Albion K.
Matthews was appointed the Longmeadow
Postmaster from 1885 - 1889 and from
1893 - 1897. During this period of time
postal business was conducted at 891
Longmeadow Street. He died in 1900. His
wife, Elizabeth operated a small store-
The Peoples Cheap Cash Store at the same
location selling various items including
thread, needles, pins and other
articles. |
#TBT-18
Bernard E. Graves |
201 Longmeadow
Street- Bernard E. Graves and his wife,
Mary lived in this home at the corner of
Longmeadow Street and Converse Street.
Mr. Graves spent his 52 year career with
the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Co. Throughout his life Mr. Graves
was an active citizen of Longmeadow. |
#TBT-19
Longmeadow Garage |
The GRAVES GARAGE
(also known as the Longmeadow Garage)
was located at the corner of Longmeadow
Street and Belleclaire Avenue.
Automotive repairs and gasoline sales
were its primary business. The Colonnade
built in 1917 also included a number of
stores including Ford Drug and The
Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. |
#TBT-20
Storrs House |
Storrs House located
at 697 Longmeadow Street built in 1786
and is the home of the Longmeadow
Historical Society. The house was
the pastoral home of Rev. Richard Salter
Storrs and his family. Its appearance
has changed numerous times. |
#TBT-21
Post Office/
Cornelius Shine |
The Longmeadow Post
Office was opened on March 4, 1814 and
closed on June 30, 1902. The Post Office
was located in a number of different
buildings around the Longmeadow Town
Green. After the Post Office was closed,
Mr. Cornelius “Cornie” Shine delivered
mailed to town residents for the next 15
years. |
#TBT-22
Willard House |
The house at 340
Longmeadow St was designed by Guy
Kirkham and built for William Willard in
1901. William Willard lived there alone
until the mid-1920’s when he died
without leaving a will. Mr. Willard had
always said that he would leave his
property (18 acres) to the Town of
Longmeadow for use as a park. However,
the property was inherited by his
sisters who sold it to a developer. In
the spirit of Longmeadow tradition the
house was moved in 1925 to the corner of
Warren Terrace (316 Longmeadow St) where
Mr. Willard had also owned a small piece
of property. |
#TBT-23
South Park Terrace |
South Park Terrace/
(South Park Estates) was a
forty-five-acre estate purchased from
the Colton family by J. William Cheney,
Theodore W. Leete, and Edward J. Murphy.
This section of Longmeadow was quickly
developed at the beginning of the 20th
century. |
#TBT-24
Wesson |
In 1907 Joseph H.
Wesson purchased 6½ acres of land on
Forest Glen Road. He was a resident of
Springfield, MA and the son of Daniel B.
Wesson, a co-founder of Smith & Wesson
Co. located in Springfield, MA. Three
beautiful homes were built- one for each
of Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Wesson’s children:
Douglas (109) who married Elba Cotton,
Victor (135) who married Eleanor M.
Williams, and Eleanor (161) who married
Flynt Lincoln. They each raised their
families on Forest Glen Road. |
#TBT-25
Morgan Wesson |
Morgan Wesson was a
resident of the town of Longmeadow, MA.
He was killed in action aboard the USS
Atlanta and his body was lost at sea
during the battle of the Solomon Islands
off Guadalcanal. He was the first man
from Longmeadow killed in action during
WWII. On July 28, 1943 Lieut. (J.G.)
Morgan Wesson was posthumously awarded a
Purple Heart. |
