Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Harrington Cutlery Company
1818 Cutlers
Manufacturers "Dexter" Knives and Blades
established June 18, 1818 by Henry Harrington

The Harrington Cutlery Company was established in 1818, in Southbridge, Massachusetts by Henry Harrington, a New England craftsman and inventor. The Harrington Cutlery company was the first cutlery manufacturing company established in the United States. Harrington manufactured surgical equipment, shoe knives and firearms. Some of his firearms are on display at the Old Sturbridge Village Museum in Sturbridge, MA. In 1884, Harrington introduced the Dexter trade name. Named after one of his sons, Dexter Harrington, the Dexter line of kitchen and table cutlery became known for its high quality in American homes and restaurants. wikipedia

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Hamilton Woolen Mills, postmarked 1910

"Located in the Globe Village section of Southbridge, the company incorporated in 1831, with a capital of $200,000, The company started a newsletter, called "The Hamiltonian", the first issue was published on January 1,1920. This plant is now home to Dexter-Russell Inc., the largest and the oldest manufacturer of professional cutlery in the United States." www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Hotel Columbia, postmarked 1910
Built in 1867, by Leonard Cutler. Purchased by Thomas F. Murphy in 1904.
"This hotel has forty rooms and a restaurant for its guests, and is a leading hostelry of Southbridge." www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main American Optical Co. Factory, Southbridge, Mass.

"The name 'American Optical Co.' dates back to a meeting on Feb. 26, 1869, of members of two neighboring Southbridge firms, Robert H. Cole & Co. and H.C. Ammidown & Co. They met to combine into one firm and chose the title American Optical Co. because it was broad in scope. The company's objective was stated as "to manufacture and sell spectacles and eyeglasses of gold, silver, steel and plated metals, also rings and thimbles, and such other like articles as said company may from time to time desire to make. The firm was formally incorporated March 6, 1869, with R. H Cole as president; G. W. Wells, clerk; E. M. Cole and A. M. Cheney, directors. The capital stock, of 400 shares, totaled $40,000. Robert H. Cole had 150 shares; E. Merritt Cole, 80 shares; Alpha M. Cheney, 50 shares; Hiram C. Wells, 50 shares; George W. Wells 40 shares; and Charles E. Edmonds, 30 shares. They agreed to purchase from R. H. Cole for $1,900, real estate occupied by R. H. Cole & Co. on the south side of Main street, and to buy from the company; all machinery, tools and stock for a maximum of $12,800. lso, the spectacle shop of H. C. Ammidown for $3,700 and the firm's stock and tools for $4,700. On Jan. 31, 1870. Hiram C. Wells and Charles S. Edmonds were added to the directors. On Feb. 24, 1870, 20 shares of stock were transferred from R. H. Cole to George M. Wells. The capital stock was increased to $60,000 on March 7, 1871."

Southbridge Evening News, Southbridge, Massachusetts, April 27, 1960

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street, 1870s
Geo. M. Lovell Portrait and View Photographer, Southbridge, Mass.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Town Hall & High School, Elm Street, postmarked 1910, built in 1888

Southbridge Town Hall is an historic town hall at 41 Elm Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The imposing Romanesque Revival building was built in 1888 to serve as both the town hall and the public high school. It is the only major Romanesque building to survive in Southbridge. and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
wikipedia

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Elm Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

View of South Main Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Town Hall (built in 1888) and Congregational Church

A new town hall, incorporating the high school and memorial hall, was built in in 1889 (the old one was torn down). The new building of brick trimmed in brownstone and terra cotta measured 119 x 75 feet
with a 137-foot tower.
www.sec.state.ma.us

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Bank Building, Main Street, postmarked 1906, razed January 3, 1975

"Constructed of brick with brownstone trimmings, located on Main Street, the Southbridge Savings and the Southbridge National Banks are adjacent to the YMCA building (razed January 3, 1975). The Southbridge Savings Bank was incorporated April 23, 1848. The building has two arched windows on the first floor and a large arch overhead. There are chimneys and a balcony depicted... The Southbridge National Bank was originally organized June 7, 1836, when ten of the most prominent town citizens met in the sitting room of William Healey's Tavern: Bela Tiffany, Ebenezer D. Ammidown, recognized as the leader of the initiative; Samuel A. Hitchcock, Linus Child, John Seabury, Theodore Field, Jr., Moses Plimpton, Holmes Ammidown, William Beecher, Chester Clemens, John M. Warren, Larkin Ammidown and Secretary Sam."
www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Hamilton Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Fire Department Headquarters, Elm Street, built in 1899, postmarked 1905

"The building for the Centre companies is in process of erection on Elm street and will cost upwards of $25,000, including land. The uniformed members of the department and a ladder truck are depicted in front of the Fire Department. An historic location, formerly, the site housed the tavern where the new town was planned, the Freeman blacksmith shop, the ancient elm tree planted by Mrs Freeman returning from horse riding, from a switch or sapling elm she had used as a whip."

"Southbridge: A Souvenir", published by the Ladies' Circle and YPCA of the First Universalist Society of Southbridge

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street, looking W. Southbridge, Mass.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Marcy Street School
(built around 1898, demolished July 1962)

"Marcy Street Grammar School, located in the heart of the Centre Village. The front entrance of the Victorian brick facade is shown. The building has a Queen Anne style turret, flanked by symmetrical arched entrances, two chimney stacks, and a conical broach roof. Three eagles are mounted over the arches. Two sets of granite steps lead to the symmetrical entrance ways, on either side of the turret. First occupied at the beginning of the school year in 1898, the building was razed, in 1962, to facilitate a parking lot, for the adjacent Mary E. Wells Middle School. In the 1899 publication Southbridge: A Souvenir the following description was included 'The Marcy Street Grammar School is the latest and best public school building in Southbridge. It is a brick house constructed according to the most approved methods of heating, ventilation and sanitation, at a cost of nearly $50,000. Located very centrally and conveniently on high land, it contains eight school rooms, with seats for four hundred pupils, accommodating at present all public school pupils in the village classes above the fourth grade. It was first occupied at the beginning of the school year in September, 1898, but its capacity is already tested, and, with the rapid increase of population, the time is probably not far distant when the town must consider the erection of both a new and commodious High School and another building for the lower grades.'"
www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Chapin Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Elm Street

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

July 4th Celebration on Main Street (around 1900)

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street Looking South

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Union Church, Hamilton Street

"The Evangelical Free "Union" Church was organized in 1854. The agent, executives of the Hamilton Woolen Company and other Globe Village businessmen initiated the construction project. As a consequence, it was often referred to as the Mill Church. The present structure was built in 1869. A large brick church with an impressive tower is shown. Built during a time when the designs of Protestant churches were changing from the severe and symmetrical Romanesque Revival, to the more imposing and complicated Victorian Gothic. The Romanesque Revival elements in this church are its regular fenestration, the tight, brisk articulation of the brick corbel tables, and the round arches. It's Victorian Gothic look is suggested by the imposing steeple with it's polychromatic roof slates. Romanesque motifs were preferred by the low churches. The Church is located on Hamilton Street in the Globe Village section of Southbridge. The rose window dominates the front of the building with its intricate stain glass. Steps lead to the stoop where the main entrance is located. There is an entrance to the east side of the church as well. In 1905, the Episcopal congregation named their mission Holy Trinity Church."
www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Residence of Channing M. Wells. This home was originally built by Moses Plimpton. Channing Wells was one of the owners of the American Optical Company.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

D. M. Rosenthal store, 1906

D.M. Rosenthal for David M. Rosenthal, also known as Rosenthal Brothers, a ladies' and gents' outfitters, at 11, Hamilton Street. According to the Southbridge Press, Saturday, July 2, 1904 "The firm of Rosenthal Bros. has secured a splendid reputation in this line. The business was started three years ago by Messrs. D. M. and J. Rosenthal and was then located in a small store across the street from their present location, increasing trade compelling them to seek larger quarters in September, 1902. They have secured a large and constantly increasing patronage through strict attention to business and a careful study of the wants and interests of customers. Great attention is paid to keeping the stock up to the latest and best things in the market, all those novelties produced each season finding a place among it as soon as introduced. The stock is very large and each department is noted for its variety and standard quality, as well as for the moderate prices at which goods are sold. The assortment includes clothing of all kinds for ladies and men, besides a complete line of dry goods and notions, the stock being up to every requirement of the best trade. The Messrs. Rosenthal have fully demonstrated that straight forward methods of transacting business are best for the dealer and the purchaser, and the ever increasing popularity of their house attests appreciation of their mode of dealing's..." digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Southbridge, Mass., Post Office Square, looking West - 1907

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

View on the Quinebaug, Shuttleville, Mass.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

American Optical Co. - 1910

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

St. Mary's Church

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Residence of Joel Cheney Wells

On the north side of Main Street were the side-by-side residences of George Washington Wells, founder of American Optical; and his son Joel Cheney (J.C.) Wells. This house no longer exists. It has been replaced by Dresser Park.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street View - Baptist Church

By 1837, the Baptist congregation had acquired
sole possession of the 1797 meetinghouse. The remodelled building was a two-story gable end structure with a recessed, columned portico. In 1848, they sold this structure and built a new church which burned in 1863 and was replaced by 1866 with the two-story, brick, Romanesque Central Baptist church. www.sec.state.ma.us

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Birds Eye View

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Central Mills Dam

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street, 1910

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

View from Page Hill (Paige Hill)

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Southbridge from Page Hill (Paige Hill)

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Railroad Station

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Railroad Station, built 1910

The former station is located on a roughly triangular parcel between Southbridge’s downtown and the Quinebaug River, where much of its industry was historically located. The parcel is bounded on the northeast by the former railroad tracks, the south by Larochelle Way (formerly Depot Street), and on the north and west by Hook Street. It is a single story wood frame structure, built in a Spanish Colonial style, with stucco walls and tile roof. A similarly-roofed passenger waiting area once lined the south side of the track on the platform just north of the station, but this has been removed.

Southbridge's railroad service began in 1866, with service provided by the Blackstone and Southbridge Railroad. The track originally extended further to the northwest, nearer the Hamilton Woolen Company mill complex, where there once stood passenger and freight depots and an office building. After a series of mergers, the service was taken over by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1907. This depot was built by that railroad in 1910, and served as a passenger station until 1930. Its style, which is uncommon in any sort of building in central Massachusetts, was somewhat typical for railroad-related infrastructure during the early 20th century.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 as New York, New Haven & Hartford Passenger Depot.
wikipedia

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Post Office Square, South Bridge, Mass., 1910

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Eglise Notre Dame
(Notre Dame Church) (1912)

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Brochu Academy

The Academie Brochu is located on the east side of Pine Street, south of its junction with Hamilton Street in central Southbridge. It is a three-story brick structure, set on a raised stone foundation, with a hip roof. Its red brick walls are contrasted by limestone and yellow brick trim, and a metal cornice and frieze below the roofline. The academy was constructed in 1899 by Chickering & O'Connell of Springfield in a Colonial Revival style to serve the growing French Canadian population of Southbridge.

The academy was named for Msgr. George Elzear Brochu, pastor of the Notre Dame Church, who gave personal funds to the effort. The academy served as the parish school for Notre Dame Parish, and was run first by the Sisters of St. Anne, and then by the Sisters of the Assumption from Nicolet, Quebec. The school had been established in 1881, and was by the late 1890s in need of proper quarters. The academy building has six classrooms on each of the first two floors, and a chapel on the third floor that is large enough to hold the entire school population. The Colonial Revival styling is at odds with the more traditional French styling of the neighboring church, but it is still one of the most imposing buildings in the town. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1989.
wikipedia

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

High School

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Jacob Edwards Library

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

American Optical Co., 1924

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Home of J. E. Paige
39 Elm Street
At one time this house was owned by United States Representative Calvin De Witt Paige, (1848-1930).

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Southbridge National Bank

"Southbridge National Bank built in 1930, by F. X. Laliberte & Co., of Southbridge. Stone plaque over door inscribed 1929. Located on the south side of Main Street between Elm and Everett streets. Four majestic columns define the front entrance. Granite steps lead to the doorway." www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

The Harrington Memorial Hospital

"Built during the Depression, the Harrington Memorial Hospital was opened on Labor Day, September 7, 1931. The first facility had 34 adult beds and 6 children's cribs. The brick structure was constructed by local company, F. X. Laliberte and Son, General Contractors. The twin end chimneys and hipped roof are Federal Revival in style, while the elaborate doorway is Georgian Revival. The hospital is typical of Laliberte's civic and institutional buildings which tend to have a plain brick facade relieved by an elaborate Georgian or Classical Revival entrance. Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Harrington (of the Russell Harrington company) pledged $150,000 to the project, as early as 1929, with the sum to be matched by community contributions. Additions have been added in 1958 and 1971." www.digitalcommonwealth.org

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

High and Grammar Schools

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Post Office, built 1928

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

A Portion of the American Optical Company Plant, Lensdale, Southbridge, Mass.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

American Optical Company, Southbridge, Mass.

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

Main Street, 1951

Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA (Globe) (Lensdale) (Saundersdale) (Shuttleville)

American Optical Company