Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District

Last updated

Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District
ChicopeeMA DwightCompanyHousing.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Chicopee, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°8′48″N72°36′44″W / 42.14667°N 72.61222°W / 42.14667; -72.61222
Area7 acres (2.8 ha)
Built1832 (1832)
ArchitectMcClallan, Charles
Architectural styleGreek Revival, Stick/Eastlake
NRHP reference No. 77000173 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 3, 1977

The Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District is a residential historic district in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Front, Depot, Dwight, Exchange, and Chestnut Streets, it encompasses a variety of housing built for mill workers at Chicopee's mills during the 19th century. This cluster is one of few remnants of such housing, which was built on a larger scale now diminished by urban renewal. [2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. [1]

Contents

Description and history

Chicopee's major industrial history began in 1832, when the Chicopee River was dammed, with textile mills beginning to operate soon afterward. Funded largely by investors from Boston, The Boston Associates, including early investors in mills at Lowell, a number of mills were built between 1832 and 1841. Four separate firms were consolidated into the Dwight Manufacturing Company in 1856; Edmund Dwight, for whom it was named, was from a prominent local family who was a lawyer and businessman in Boston. Early mill owners built boarding houses to attract single young women from area farms, offering concerned parents the security of a supervised living environment for their daughters. [2] One typical boarding house is the brick building at 2-6-10 Dwight Street, which was built about 1832 for the Springfield Canal Company and sold to the Dwight Company in 1844. Later housing catered more toward immigrant families, who eventually came to dominate mill employment. A good example of this type is at 15-17 Chestnut Street, a modest two-story brick building with Greek Revival style. [3]

The district is composed of buildings on or near the city block formed by Front, Depot, Dwight, Exchange, and Chestnut Streets, and includes buildings dating from 1830 to the 1870s. These buildings were owned by the mills until they shutdown in 1927, after which they were sold into private hands. These types of buildings were built in large numbers in the areas near the mills, but many have been demolished for subsequent development or significantly altered. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicopee, Massachusetts</span> City in Massachusetts, United States

Chicopee is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 55,560, making it the second-largest city in western Massachusetts after Springfield. Chicopee is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The communities of Chicopee Center (Cabotville), Chicopee Falls, Willimansett, Fairview, Aldenville, Burnett Road, Smith Highlands and Westover are located within the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicopee River</span> River in US

The Chicopee River is an 18.0-mile-long (29.0 km) tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving water and its extraordinarily large basin: the Connecticut River's largest tributary basin. The Chicopee River originates in a Palmer, Massachusetts village called Three Rivers as a confluence of the Ware, Quaboag and Swift rivers. It passes through Wilbraham, Ludlow, and the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somersville Historic District</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Somersville Historic District encompasses the historic components of the mill village of Somersville in western Somers, Connecticut, United States. The district is centered on a mill complex on the Scantic River, which divides the district. The most significant years of development were between about 1835 and 1935, although the area has a history dating to the 1760s. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Mill itself has since burned down and as of October 2018 is currently open field, although the canal structure remains in place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabotville Common Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Cabotville Common Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It is centered on the park now called Lucy Wisniowski Park, which was previously known as "The Common", and includes all of the buildings that face the park, as well as a few on immediately adjacent city streets. It was developed in the 1830s and 1840s as an area where mid-level employees of Chicopee's mills and factories lived, between the simpler tenements and boarding houses of the lower classes, and the elite mansions of the proprietors and top-level managers. Most of the building stock in the district was built between 1846 and 1870, and were single family brick or wood-frame Greek Revival houses. The Common, whose original purpose was to provide shared pasturage for area residents, was by the end of this period converted to a park. From the 1870s to the 1890s the housing stock was predominantly multi-family in scale, and exhibited the architectural fashions of the time: Italianate, Second Empire, and Victorian. Thereafter development was limited due to a lack of available land, and only a few brick apartment houses were built between 1890 and 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ames Manufacturing Company</span> United States historic place

Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools, and cutlery in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a significant provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the Union in the American Civil War. They also cast several bronze statues, which can be found throughout New England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baystate Corset Block</span> United States historic place

The Baystate Corset Block is a historic commercial block at 395–405 Dwight St. and 99 Taylor Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1874 and twice enlarged, it was from 1888 to 1920 home of the Baystate Corset Company, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of corsets. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willys–Overland Block</span> Historic place in Massachusetts, United States

The Willys–Overland Block is a historic commercial and industrial block at 151-157 Chestnut and 10-20 Winter Streets in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1916, it is a surviving reminder of Springfield early history in the manufacture and sale of automobile, housing the sales showroom and service center for the Willys–Overland Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Street Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Springfield Street Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district south of the downtown area of Chicopee, Massachusetts. It encompasses a significant number of Queen Anne style houses built in the second half of the 19th century by wealthy residents of Chicopee, as well as housing for skilled workers at the nearby textile mills. It is centered where Springfield Street and Fairview Avenue meet. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North High Street Historic District (Holyoke, Massachusetts)</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The North High Street Historic District is a historic district encompassing part of the downtown area of Holyoke, Massachusetts. When first added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, the district encompassed North High Street, between Dwight and Lyman Streets. This part of High Street was built between 1850 and 1885, and is lined with masonry buildings in Italianate and Second Empire styles. In 1992 the district was extended southward, adding three blocks of High Street between Dwight and Essex Streets. This expansions encompasses the growth of Holyoke during the height of its commercial success, between 1880 and 1930; it also includes the separately-listed Holyoke City Hall. The district was extended a third time, in 2008, adding a complex of three buildings at Dwight and Maple Streets that now houses the Holyoke Health Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wason-Springfield Steam Power Blocks</span> United States historic place

The Wason-Springfield Steam Power Blocks are a collection of three historic commercial blocks at 27-43 Lyman St. and 26-50 Taylor Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. They were built in the 1870s by the J.W. Wason Car Company and the Springfield Steam Power Company as facilities to support the development of new businesses in what was then called the North Blocks area of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mills-Hale-Owen Blocks</span> United States historic place

The Mills—Hale—Owen Blocks were a collection of three historic mixed-use commercial and residential blocks at 959—991 Main Street in the South End of Springfield, Massachusetts. They occupied an entire city block on the east side of Main Street, between Union and Hubbard Streets, and were some of the city's best examples of commercial Italianate architecture, prior to their destruction in the 2011 Springfield tornado. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Produce Exchange Building</span> United States historic place

The Produce Exchange Building is a historic commercial building at 194–206 Chestnut and 115–125 Lyman Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1899 and remodeled in 1926, it is one of the largest of Springfield's early 20th-century commercial buildings, used for many years as a wholesale produce market. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballardvale District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Ballardvale District in Andover, Massachusetts, encompasses the historic mill village of Ballardvale in the northwestern part of the town. It is centered on the crossing the Shawsheen River by Andover Street, and includes buildings on High Street, Center Street, and other adjacent roads on both sides of the river. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Canal Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The North Canal Historic District of Lawrence, Massachusetts, encompasses the historic industrial heart of the city. It is centered on the North Canal and the Great Stone Dam, which provided the waterpower for its many mill complexes. The canal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, while the district was first listed in 1984, and then expanded slightly in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawton Place Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Lawton Place Historic District is a historic district on Lawton Place between Amory Road and Jackson Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The district preserves some of the nation's oldest textile mill worker housing. The duplex houses located on the south side of Lawton Place were built c. 1815-17 by the Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC), the first mill to process textiles entirely under one roof. They were originally located at what is now the Waltham Common, and were moved to Lawton Place in 1889. On the north side stands a rowhouse that was built in 1889; it is the last instance of a type of row housing that was once commonly built for mill workers. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District</span> Historic district in Massachusetts, United States

The Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District encompasses the well preserved "Big Mill" complex of the Hamilton Woolen Company, built in the mid 19th century. Located at the confluence of McKinstry Brook and the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts, the complex consists of a cluster of mill buildings and a rare collection of 1830s brick mill worker housing units located nearby. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exeter Waterfront Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in New Hampshire, United States

The Exeter Waterfront Commercial Historic District encompasses the historic commercial and residential waterfront areas of Exeter, New Hampshire. The district extends along the north side of Water Street, roughly from Main Street to Front Street, and then along both sides of Water and High streets to the latter's junction with Portsmouth Street. It also includes properties on Chestnut Street on the north side of the Squamscott River. This area was where the early settlement of Exeter took place in 1638, and soon developed as a shipbuilding center. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It was enlarged in 1986 to include the mill complex of the Exeter Manufacturing Company on Chestnut Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama City Wall Street Historic District</span> Historic district in Alabama, United States

The Alabama City Wall Street Historic District is a historic district in Gadsden, Alabama. Wall Street was the main commercial street in the town of Alabama City. The city was founded in 1891 halfway between Gadsden and Attalla, with intentions of becoming the major industrial hub of Northeast Alabama. In 1895 the town landed its first major concern, a cotton mill built by the Dwight Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts. Its second major factory, the Alabama Steel and Wire Company, was opened in 1902. By 1915, a thriving commercial district had grown up around 7th Avenue, which became known as "Little Wall Street". A fire in 1927 damaged or destroyed many structures along Wall Street and Meighan Avenue. The city would never recover from the loss, especially as neighboring Gadsden flourished; Alabama City voted to merge into Gadsden in 1932. The architecture of the district represent the changing commercial styles of the 1910s through the 1930s. Most are constructed in simple, brick styles with parapet roofs, some with more decorative brickwork. Art Deco-influenced features such as terra cotta coping and glass tile accents are present on later buildings. Other notable buildings are an Art Deco fire station and the Classical Revival library. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nashua Gummed and Coated Paper Company Historic District</span> Historic district in New Hampshire, United States

The Nashua Gummed and Coated Paper Company Historic District encompasses a collection of former industrial buildings on the north side of the Nashua River in Nashua, New Hampshire. Located on Franklin and Front Streets west of Main Street, the complex was developed by the Nashua Gummed and Coated Paper Company, later the Nashua Corporation, beginning in the late 19th century. It was a major manufacturing and employment center for the city until mid-1990s, when the company's business declined. One of its former storehouses was converted to residences in the 2000s, and the main complex is, in 2015-16, undergoing the same process. The complex of surviving buildings was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District". National Archive. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  3. "MACRIS inventory record for 2 Dwight Street". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved February 19, 2014.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District at Wikimedia Commons