USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Springfield > King's handbook of Springfield, Massachusetts : a series of monographs, historical and descriptive > Part 9
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I A view of the building as it now is may be seen on page 22.
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
Boston, for this famous Springfield resort. Uncle Jerry outgrew the Bates Tavern, and his fate is seen farther on. The old building still stands, on the southerly side of State Street, a few rods west of its earlier location. It has been known, late years, as the Springfield House, and became quite - famous in connection with a beer-garden when run by August Sheppert, who died recently in Germany. South of the Bates Tavern stood the " Old Gaol," - the second which the village had, - built in 1677, and used for 114 years. The building was mostly upon the site of the present Belmont Hotel; but the jailer's house, adjoining it on the north, projected into what is now Bliss Street. This house is known as the "Old Gaol Tavern ; " as the jailer has always, until recently, kept open house for the court and bench. This tavern naturally succeeded to the patronage previously ac- corded the Ely " Ordinary ; " but the jailers took greater pains to please the court than did the persecuted Nathaniel, for they were never brought to account for the quality of their beer. When the county sold the property in 1794, it was taken by the last jailer, William Colton, who continued to keep open house (although not for criminals) until 1810. The property came into the possession of the late Elam Stockbridge, who occupied it for some time. Not long after the opening of Bliss Street, it disappeared.
Capt. Charles Colton is supposed to have " kept tavern " as early as 1774, on the "old Dwight homestead," at the southerly corner of State and Maple Streets. But the establishing of the Armory was the first impetus to the development of the forest tract on the plateau east of the "marish ; " and when, about the same time, Capt. Levi Pease, who started his Boston and Hartford stage-line, Oct. 20, 1783, secured the first charter for a turnpike granted in the State, and began to improve the highway between Spring- field and Palmer, tavern-keeping became a business on the hill. Curiously enough, the oldest of these inns sprang up five miles east of the centre of the town, and was known as the Five-mile House. When Rev. Bezaleel Howard came from Cambridge on horseback, in 1784, for a six-months" trial as pastor of the First Church, he stopped over night at this house. When it gave up its fame as a caravansary, it continued for years to be the · favorite, as it was for a time the only, suburban resort for sleighing-parties. In this connection, the names of Willys Russel and Orrin Dimmock com- mend themselves to many persons now living. In the days when the freight conveyance between the river and Boston was by team, the goods from the river-boats would be loaded at the wharf, and drawn to the top of the hill ; and there the teamsters delighted to stay over night, so as to get a fresh start early in the morning. Of these taverns patronized chiefly by teaming people, the first was kept by Elisha Tileston, at the corner of State and Walnut Streets. It was also a loafing-place for the Armorers ; and for this reason, as well as for its nearness to the government shops, it was called the
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
Armory House. In 1825 it was taken by Stephen O. Russell, who ran it a half-dozen years, and turned it over to Henry Stocking. It soon passed into the hands of Henry Adams and Solyman Merrick, and ultimately came into the possession of Aaron Nason, whose son-in-law, S. W. Sexton, now runs it under the name of the Rockingham House, by which it has been known for 20 years. It ceased to be a stopping-place for transient guests some time ago, but is still a pleasant home for some residents who do not care to keep house. In 1832 N. B. Moseley, now of Philadelphia, moved his father's inn from the Boston Road, a quarter of a mile west of the Carlisle Brook, to its present location, just east of the Rockingham House, and used it as the terminus of his two stage-lines, - the Springfield and Lowell, and the Springfield and Norwich. He called it "The Eagle," and, after keeping it two years, sold it to S. O. Russell. In two years more, when the railroad supplanted the stages, it became a boarding-house. Off toward Cabotville, on what is now called Armory Street, Japhet and Austin Chapin succes- sively kept a tavern, which was mostly patronized by toddy-loving Armorers, so that the way thither was nicknamed " Toddy Road." About the same time (1830-40) Ezra Kimberly kept a quasi-tavern, maintained mostly by regular boarders, at the Water Shop. The jailer's house connected with the present county jail, midway down State Street, was until half a century ago used as a tavern, like the " Old Gaol Tavern " on Main Street; among the better-known keepers being Harvey Chapin and Col. Ebenezer Russell.
The growth of the stage business early in this century, and the opening of Court Square in 1819, led to the building of two new taverns in the centre of the growing town. In 1820 Thomas Sargeant, who came to Springfield as a jeweller in 1785, built the Exchange Tavern. It was the first brick tavern in town, and was first known as the Springfield Hotel. But it was a stage-house from the first, and ought to be called a tavern; indeed, a lantern still hangs in front of the building, with transparencies lettered "Exchange Tavern." Benjamin Phelps was the first landlord; and among his successors are Moses Chapman, John J. Bishop, Marvin Chapin, A. P. Chapin, Zorister Bonney, Philo A. Rockwell, D. D. Winchester, Ezekiel Adams, and N. S. Chandler. This building is owned by William B. Walker, who thoroughly renovated it not long ago, increasing its conveniences and attractions. The present proprietors, F. Kingman & Co., strive to make it a popular business-man's house ; but this doesn't bar out theatrical people, who have always been its patrons. The other new tavern was the Hampden Coffee-house, built by Erastus Chapin in 1821, partly on the site of the old Moses Church Tavern, at the north-westerly corner of Court and Main Streets. After trying the business a couple of years, Mr. Chapin sold out to Miner Stebbins of West Springfield, who does not seem to have had better luck. He in turn sold it to Col. Ebenezer Russell, who had just
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
stopped running a tavern on State Street for the county. It obtained and maintained an excellent reputation under his management and that of his
several successors, who include Horatio Sargeant, Harvey Rock -- wood (who was afterward identi-
I Boston Mile Stone.
ROCKINGHAM
HOUSE
2
TL
BOSTON ROAD.
This Stand is Erected by Joseph WAIT Espi of Brookfield
For the Benefit .. " et of Travelleri
AD 1763
87 Man ...
3
copeland del
2 The Rockingham House, on State Street.
3 Benton Park.
fied with the United-States Hotel at Hartford), James Worthington, Vinton & Tucker, A. M. Alden, and I. M. Parsons. While Chester White was proprietor, 30 years after its erection, the place was accidentally burned. It
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
was most noted as being the starting-point of Chester W. Chapin's stage- line, his horses being kept in barns on the site of the present City Hall.
" Uncle Jerry Warriner" and " Aunt Phoebe " first made Springfield hotels famous, in the old Bates Tavern. By way of humoring the old couple's ambition, some of their friends built a fine brick building on the southerly corner of Bliss and Main Streets, investing about $150,000 in the enterprise. The new hotel was christened the Union House, and the local god and goddess of hospitality were duly installed. But both of them were homesick, and somehow things didn't go right in the new palace. Further. more, the opening of the railroad from Boston drew everybody up town ; and Uncle Jerry and Aunt Phœbe gave up the struggle. The premises have since been leased for short terms by various parties, none of whom met with great success, until Hiram M. French bought the property. Under his management the Union House gained a good reputation ; and when he retired, six or seven years ago, Lewis W. Cass became its proprietor. He re-christened it the Belmont, and under this name C. R. Gowen now keeps it as a family hotel.
The Massasoit House, the most noted of the local hotels, is practically a result of the opening of the Western Railroad from Worcester to Spring- field in 1839, which created an era of great change in various important matters in the town and its vicinity. Court Square had always been the centre of business, but the railway-station soon gathered about itself a large share of the town's activity, particularly all that falls in the line of hostelries, This epoch also marks the transition from the plain, free-and-easy tavern, the resort in common of travellers and of village loafers, and the more pre- tentious hotel, with its modern conveniences, designed exclusively for the travelling public. The Judge John Hooker property, next south of the rail- way-station on Main Street, was put up at auction in 1842. It contained about one acre and a half, of irregular shape, fronting 180 feet on Main Street, and falling away in the rear to a width of 75 feet. Men are still living in Springfield who pass the Union Depot with a sigh of regret that they were not far-sighted enough, 40 years or more ago, to buy a homestead, or a part of one, in this locality. But there was one shrewd man who knew that if his project of building a famous hotel near the railway-station should fail, the buying of land in the vicinity could not prove an unprofitable in- vestment. This man was Marvin Chapin, a native of Somers, Conn., who in 1836 began "keeping tavern" with his brother at Cabotville. A West- field tavern-keeper, Israel M. Parsons, was interested in the scheme; and these two bought the Hooker homestead for $8,000. The Hooker house was moved back, and has since been known as the Nayasset House. A contract was at once made with Charles McClallan of Chicopee to build a brick hotel; but Parsons soon became scared at the venture, and gladly sold
MASSASOIT HOUSE
DEP
NAPSATDIT HOUSE
M &E. S.CHAPIN.
Springfield.Mass.
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
his interest to Mr. Chapin, who at once took into partnership his Chicopee brother, Ethan S., and the firm of M. & E. S. Chapin has ever since been identified with Springfield's most famous hotel. McClallan fulfilled his contract, and the house was opened late in June, 1843. E. S. Chapin says that he intended to call it the Massachusetts House, but gave up the idea, by reason of the unpopularity of a Boston hotel by that name. His friends suggested several local Indian names; among others, “ Massa- soit," which was at once adopted. Shortly before the house was opened to the public, the barber-shop in the basement was fitted up; and its colored proprietor, Charles W. Hall, wishing to advertise his new stand, announced in the local newspaper the opening of his barber-shop under the new " Massasoit House," before the name had authoritatively been given to the public. The name thus given was never recalled, although for years it was very unpopular; few knowing how to pronounce it, and scarcely any one venturing to spell it. In its early days, people wishing to engage rooms by letter would resort to the most comical circumlocutions to avoid using the name. The original Massasoit was a small affair, about one- fifth of the size of the present building. It was built as it now stands, on the corner of the lot, about ten feet from the east and north lines. A three- story wood addition was built in 1847 on Main Street, joining the brick building on the south ; this gave place, ten years later, to the present brick extension. In 1853, another addition of brick was built in the rear, con- taining the large dining-room and kitchen.
Thus enlarged, the house has 130 sleeping-rooms, two fine parlors, and two ladies' reception-rooms. The smoking and reading room in the front corner on the office-floor, with its iron balcony, is perhaps the best-known part of the house ; the writing-room is more quiet, being retired behind the office and coat-room. The large dining-room usually seats 150, while the ladies' ordinary accommodates 80. The house cannot, perhaps, lay claim to general elegance in its furnishing equal to that of its more modern rivals, but the Massasoit has well earned its wide-spread fame for solid comfort and good living, and for large and comfortable rooms. Few hotels can show a longer list of famous guests, not only in later years, but when the supper-tables were lighted by tall candles placed in silver-plated sticks, one at each plate. The name of Horace Mann is the first enrolled upon the register. At other times appear the names of Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, Wendell Phillips, Louis Kossuth, Charles Dickens, President Johnson, President Grant, Jefferson Davis, Stephen A. Douglas, Secretary Seward, Gens. Sherman and McClellan, and Grand Duke Alexis. To this list should be added the names of nearly all the great actors and actresses and singers of the last 40 years. During this time supplies have trebled in value, and hotel-rates have risen accordingly. Yet the Massasoit, while
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
it has never been known as a low-priced house, has never held out for exorbitant or "fancy " charges. It has had a monopoly of the tourist pat- ronage, which always wants the best, and is willing to pay for it. This class of hotel guests has diminished in the last decade, largely owing to the through-train service on the roads centring in Springfield; but at every meal-hour may be seen a goodly number of travellers enjoying the always satisfactory bill-of-fare of the Massasoit. This house has been a training- school for several noted hotel-keepers : among them are Edward Chapin of the Occidental, San Francisco ; S. H. Moseley of the New-Haven House, New Haven ; Major Field, formerly of the Delavan, Albany; Charles Vinton of the Continental, Philadelphia ; and Henry Warner of the Metropolitan, New York. Several who held subordinate positions in the Massasoit have gained honorable positions outside of hotel-keeping: of these, may be men- tioned Messrs. Davis and Bridgman of San Francisco, and Lawyer Pelham of New York. The Massasoit-house farm, or the "Chapin farm" as it is frequently called, has been locally famous for a dozen years. It has fur- nished most of the vegetables and dairy-produce used at the hotel. A couple of years ago, as its manager, H. J. Chapin, a brother of the hotel proprietors, engaged in other business, its usefulness was considerably cur- tailed ; and part of the land has since been sold to the city.
The American House is one of the hotels of the past, and its history is short. Just north of the railroad, on both sides of Main Street, lay the estate of Capt. Robert Emery. The homestead occupied the site of the Boston and Albany Railroad's massive granite office building. This plat was sold for $7,500 in 1845, by the captain's widow, to Albert Morgan and Samuel S. Day; who turned the dwelling into a hostelry, and named it the American House. It attained considerable favor locally as a family hotel, but changed proprietors frequently. It was leased successively by James Warren, Thomas D. Winchester, and Henry Adams, and in 1857 was bought by James E. Russell, whose father has been mentioned as proprietor of two Armory-hill taverns. Mr. Russell kept the property six months, and sold it to his brother Charles O. Russell, who leased it to Daniel P. Kings- ley. Mr. Kingsley ran the hotel till Chester W. Chapin bought it, and turned the property over to the railroad-company. The building was re- moved to Sharon Street. .
The Cooley House, like the American, was built on the Emery estate. Chester W. Chapin bought the greater part, if not all, of that estate lying on the east side of Main Street; but the railroad would not take it all off his hands, so he disposed of it in parcels to different individuals. The plat at the corner of Liberty Street was bought, in 1848, by Justin M. Cooley, who had just come to Springfield from New York. He was not a stranger in the Connecticut Valley ; for all but the previous two or three years of his life
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
had been spent at his birthplace, Whately in Franklin County. He saw the prosperity of the then young Massasoit, so in the next year built, and in 1850 opened, the Cooley House. It was a brick building, four stories high, 45 x 100 feet on the ground. In 1856 he bought of John L. King a piece of land in the rear of the hotel; and in 1861 another piece was added, bought from Chester W. Chapin and the heirs of John Childe. In 1864 Mr. Cooley built upon these purchases, doubling the capacity of the first building. At the same time he leased of Daniel L. Harris his brick building adjoining the original Cooley house, fronting 49 feet on Main Street, and in 1867 bought it. The present Cooley House, a monument of shrewd and unostentatious man- agement, is one of the most popular hotels in New England. Year in and year out it has a steady patronage, and yet there seems to be no inclination to lie back on its good · reputation. Dur- ing the past sum- mer many im- provements have been made. A new DOM TOOTUTTO hydraulic passen- ger - elevator has been put in, the parlors have been refurnished, and modern steam- Cooley House, North Main Street. heating-apparatus has replaced the old. The hotel numbers 85 rooms, has a large and convenient office, with reading, smoking, and writing rooms in the pleasantest part of the house, and a large and inviting dining-room. Al- though the hotel may be surpassed in elegance, none surpass it in neatness, comfort, and good order. These qualities, together with its nearness to the Union Depot, are the causes of its popularity.
The Haynes Hotel rose phoenix-like upon the site of one of the largest fires that ever threatened the business part of Main Street. The fire oc- curred on the 24th July, 1864, and burned the old Music Hall on the south corner of Pynchon Street, and several small wooden buildings on the north corner. The losses were heavy, and the property-owners were glad to sell their smouldering building-sites to Tilly Haynes, a clothing-dealer, who came to the city in 1849 from Boston, where he now resides as proprietor of the United-States Hotel, after amassing ample means and gaining a lasting
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
reputation as the result of his thirty years of indefatigable and quite success- ful work in Springfield. Mr. Haynes rebuilt Music Hall on the scale of a modern theatre, and on the opposite corner built the Haynes Hotel, which is to-day the largest and most elegant of Springfield's famous hotels. The ground floor, in addition to its several large stores, was designed to meet the needs of the United-States Post-Office, which had outgrown its old quar- ters on Elm Street. The open court, having a broad entrance from Main Street, and smaller ones from Pynchon Street, was protected from the weather by a skylight, and for a decade was known as the "post-office rotunda." When Mr. Haynes bought the United-States Hotel at Boston, the Haynes House passed into the hands of C. H. Goodman and Emerson Gaylord of Chicopee. After six years of joint ownership, Mr. Goodman, in 1882, bought out his partner's interest in favor of his son-in-law, H. H. Waters, who had been associated with the old firm for three years. The post-office had been removed some time before the expiration of the lease, July, 1883 ; and the deserted rotunda had an uninviting appearance. But as soon as the lower floor of the building passed from the control of the gov- ernment, Mr. Goodman began to carry out his long-cherished plans for renovation. In three months the rotunda was transformed into one of the finest hotel-offices in New England outside of Boston. The floors are of marble, the wainscoting of party-colored marbles and slates, while the walls and ceilings are richly frescoed. The toilet accommodations are most con- veniently located; and the barber-shop, bar-room, and billiard-room have been given new and richly furnished quarters. These improvements cost somewhat over $15,000. The dining-room, seating 150, is still on the second floor; and the admirable arrangement of kitchen, store-rooms, and servants' quarters in a separate building, connected with the hotel proper by a half dozen bridges at different floors, is not disturbed. The parlors are on the second and third floors, and handsomely furnished. The house numbers 108 large, completely furnished rooms ; and other accommodations, held in reserve, make the number of guests provided for on special occasions not far from 300. On the ground-floor, in rear of the office, is a neatly arranged café. The Haynes Hotel had the first hydraulic elevator used in the city, a double car for passengers and baggage, put in in 1874. Landlord Good- man has been in the hotel business since 1833, trying it first in New Haven, Conn., and then in South Carolina. He has managed a hotel in Chicago, the Allyn House and City Hotel of Hartford, the Bonney House in Buffalo, and came to Springfield from St. Louis, where he had had charge of the great hotel at the gigantic East St. Louis Stock Yards.
The Hotel Warwick is the latest addition to the hotels for which Springfield is famous. It is just north of the Union depot on Main Street. The building was begun 10 years ago by W. H. Allis, and was bought in
ES
ging OPERAON
1/1
Od HOUSE quiONT
GILMORE'S
POST
OFFICE
THE HAYNES HOTEL. C. H. GOODMAN & CO., PROPRIETORS.
On Main Street, corner of Pynchon,
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
1875 by Horace Kibbe, who finished it at an outlay of $40,000. It met with varying success as the Allis House and then as the Marshall House, until 1882, when it was thoroughly renovated and vastly improved. Major William D. Field took it in its renewed state, and christened it the Warwick. His training at the Massasoit House, and his experience at the Delavan in Albany, would doubtless have established the success of this new venture, had not a long sickness deprived the Major of the oversight necessary to prosperity. In April, 1883, he turned over his lease to William Hill, whose name is a household word in the Connecticut Valley north of Springfield, and also with many summer visitors, by reason of his long and successful proprietorship of the noteworthy Mansion House at Easthampton, which he still retains, and keeps up in its ever satisfactory manner. The War- wick has a spacious corridor and office on the first floor, with barber-shop adjoining, and billiard and bar rooms in the rear. The large dining-rooms and parlors are on the second floor. It numbers 127 rooms, about half of which are heated by steam. An hydraulic elevator connects the five floors. The hotel is fast growing in popularity ; its modern furnishings, and near- ness to the railroad-station, backed by Mr. Hill's experienced management, are likely to make the house as famous as its older rivals.
The Hotel Gilmore is another big venture in the hotel line, which will probably soon be launched upon the city and the travelling public. Tilly Haynes sold his theatre property, in 1881, to Dwight O. Gilmore, who had built, more than a dozen years before, the brick building adjoining. More recently Mr. Gilmore has bought the large brick building around the corner on Court Street, for many years occupied by the Adams Express Company, and has just completed the work of tying these buildings together by a three-story structure in the rear. The original Main-street building, adjoin- ing the theatre, has been used for some years as a boarding-house, and of late, under the management of H. A. Converse, some attention has been paid to transient patronage. The Court-street building has at times been used similarly, and is commonly known as the " Hampden House." Mr. Gil- more's plan is thoroughly to rejuvenate both buildings ; to banish the kitchen, laundry, store-rooms, and servants' quarters to a separate building ; to put in elevators and similar conveniences ; and to fit up the Main-street portion as a transient house, and the Court-street building in suites for a first-class family hotel. When completed, the Hotel Gilmore will number 150 rooms, a supper and breakfast room seating 75 or 100, and a dining-room accommo- dating 200.
The Evans House is the leading family hotel. It was started by Mrs. C. F. Evans, more than a dozen years ago, on State Street. Outgrowing its modest quarters, it became necessary to seek larger accommodations ; and arrangements were made to have the greater part of the new and handsome
GILM
III OPERAI
GILMORE
HOUSE
THE HOTEL GILMORE, AND GILMORE'S OPERA HOUSE. Main and Pynchon Streets.
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KING'S HANDBOOK OF SPRINGFIELD.
Third National Bank building, on Main and Hillman Streets, fitted up for a convenient, pleasant, and home-like hotel. All the modern fittings, steam- heat, elevators, running water, baths, and the like, were provided ; and these, with satisfactory management, have caused the house to enjoy a a modest but none the less substantial success. It is now under the management of Mrs. Evans's daughter, Mrs. Lizzie E. Hutchinson.
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