Union Station (Interior)

Union Station is one of the most well known buildings in Worcester Mass. Located on two Washington Square, Union Station is the city’s main source of transportation. In 1835 the first trains arrived in Worcester, beginning the industrial era. In 1877 The Philadelphia Architects Watson and Hackle designed the train station and the building of Union Station began. When it was finally completed in 1911 it was a total of 75,358 square feet, included two twin towers on each side of the building standing 175 feet tall , stained glass windows and ceilings and marble floors with rounded staircases. On both sides of the entrance stood two large, granite Lions said to “guard the entrance.” Union Station ended up servicing 148 trains making it the tenth busiest stop in Massachusetts. Back then, a trip that would take three and a half hours would only cost 1.50 dollars.

In 1926 the constant vibrations from the trains caused the two towers on each side of the building to collapse. There was such little use of the station after that incident, Union Station shut down in 1972. For 28 years it was abandoned and started to deteriorate. In 1997 it was bought by the Worcester Redevelopment Authority and they began the 32 million dollar renovation. During the renovation the inside was restored and the two granite lions were moved to guard the entrance to East Park on Shrewsbury Street. Finally in July 2000 Union Station reopened. In 2008 a parking garage was built behind the station making it more convenient for commuters. The inside is so magnificent it is often used as a place to hold banquets and gatherings.

As of today, Union Station is used as a rail service, taxi service and hall rentals. It also has a catering business called Maxwell Silverman’s Banquet and Conference center. Union Station is a magnificent building and a tourist attraction to anyone outside of Worcester. It’s known as “The Beautiful portal to the heart of the commonwealth.”

Sources:
http://www.worcesterma.gov/development/economic-development/union-station
http://www.worcesterma.gov/development/economic-development/union-station
http://www.vistadome.com/wus/index.html

Kristen Morrissey

Asa Water’s Mansion and the Taft House, Millbury MA

houses, buildings

The mansion itself was built in 1826 by Asa Waters II a local man of the Millbury/Sutton area. The reason that Mr. Waters was able to afford this giant and historical house was the he and his brother were gunsmiths that got most of their fortune from the Civil war when the government came looking for weapons to supply the northern union forces with. The building was a six year construction process, in which most of the materials were shipped into Boston and drawn by horse and carriage to Millbury. These materials included wood of “Pumpkin Pine” from northern Maine, bricks from Baltimore; Marble was imported from Italy and Hard pine from the south. All of these materials were paid by Mr. Waters as a gift to his wife. The mansion sits on a little hill overlooking the street with the town hall behind it, the public library, fire station and Taft house across from it. The mansion is constantly in use, with tours, tea party’s, business dinners, when the town hall is under construction it housed our town council meetings, and it is always open on Millbury Jr/Sr High schools prom nights for couples to take pictures on the ground or inside of the elegant mansion. The mansion is a form of Federal style house and is part of the national historic places archive.

The Taft house sits across the street from the Mansion and is connected by a collapsed underground tunnel that ran under the street and front lawns of both building and was used as part of the underground Rail road during the civil war. The house is originally called the “Torrey House” but nicknamed the Taft house because it was Home to President William Howard Taft, when he vacationed to Millbury during the fall and summer as a young boy and he also stayed there during Millbury’s 100th anniversary.

Sources:
http://www.asawaters.org/

Asa Waters

1826

Tim Mazeika

Worcester State Hospital - Main Building

hospitals, mental institutions

Worcester State Hospital was once known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum and the Bloomingdale Asylum. Located on 305 Belmont Street, this hospital dates back to the 1830’s. It was on January 12, 1833 that the Worcester Insane Asylum held its grand opening. Overcrowding had become a problem, in order to fix this issue a new hospital was to be built. Construction of this building began in 1870 and opened in 1877. Between the 500 foot wings stood a clock tower. In July of 1991 a massive fire occurred on the Kirkbride building, destroying almost all of the roofs and floors. The administration building however and the right wing were saved. Worcester State Hospital still functions as a psychiatric facility in a large newer building located near the Kirkbride building. Even though the facility closed in 1991, operations still continue in the newer building. However in 2004 a proposal was brought about to build a totally new facility on the property and called for the remaining newer as well as older buildings to be torn down. The hospital threatens to close due to the fact that current patients had no air conditioning in the rooms. With the older buildings being torn down you can still visit the main one that is being used to house patients. They seem to have given the majority of the room’s air-conditioners which you can see in the pictures. Renovation is being done on the opposite side of the hospital to expand and create a newer institute. The administration and nurses buildings still remain intact as well. You can find the Worcester State Hospital located at 305 Belmont Street, if you keep driving you will soon hit route 9.

Sources:

[1] www.wikipedia.org
[2] www.opactity.us

Photographs taken March 2010

Maria Buonopane

Buonopane.Hospital1 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Buonopane.Hospital2 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Pleasant Street Firehouse

buildings, firehouses

The Pleasant Street Firehouse was built in 1873 and was finished in 1874. The Pleasant Street Firehouse was one of the oldest fire houses in Worcester. This building was one of the three firehouses that were built in this time period. One of them is now demolished and the second is used as a police station. This building was believed to be out of its time era because architects were building more of Victorian Gothic and Second empire style of buildings. The elements of the buildings such as the side pavilion with a pediment and open cupola that is centered on the roof are characteristics of the Federalist and Greek Rival style type buildings. The few things that are characteristics of the time period are the window lintels and the recessed wall panels with corbelled cornices. When looking at this building you can tell that the brick is old and that many people have been in and out of there. The building has a plaque on the side facing the building with 1873 carved into it. The interesting thing about his building is that it has a tower on the roof. There is a bell used to tell the firemen when their assistance was needed at a fire. The tower was also used to dry the fire hoses. Leger states this was done by, “The men would wash the cotton hoses in the basement and string them up vertically in the tower to drain.” This building tells us about Worcester in many ways; it explains the need for firehouses during that time period, It explains how Worcester was created many years ago and still has the need for more than just one firehouse. It shows that Worcester is a place where buildings were built and kept to serve the community. The building shows the foundation for the other houses to be built and need of the firehouses. [1] [2]

Sources:
[1] Knowlton, Elliot, and Sandra Quigley. Worcester's Best,a guide to the city's architectural heritage. 2nd. 1996. Print.
[2] Moniz, William. "Preservationists hope to transform historic fire station into museum." SouthCoastToday.com. N.p., 25-02-2010. Web. 10 Mar 2010. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100225/PUB03/2250419/-1/TOWN04

1873

Brittany Fournier

Old Pleasant Street Firehouse by Brittany Fournier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at picture

Boynton Hall - Two Towers

buildings, colleges

The “Two Tower Tradition” is something that Worcester Polytechnic Institute students pride themselves on. The Two Tower’s became a symbol of higher education; balancing theory and practice.[3] These two towers, which are on Tech Hill, consist of the Washburn and Boynton Towers; respectively these are the last names of the founders of WPI.[1] John Boynton was a prosperous tin ware manufacturer from Templeton Massachusetts. He began to see the need for a college for Americans that were on the career path as leaders. This is when he was introduced to Ichabod Washburn who also thought that the old way of schooling the emerging adult was outdated and should be replaced by a formal education program for tradesmen.[3] The Boynton Hall was the first building at WPI and on November 11, 1968 it was dedicated in memory of John Boynton who was never able to see the finished building due to his death a few months before its completion.[2] Stephen Earle was the architect who designed Boynton Hall.[2] He used only native granite from the local Millstone Mill. He was told to build the hall using a gothic revival look.[1] This was the first collegiate building in the United States with a gothic feel to it and its style has since then been copied several times at colleges across the country. Because the exterior of the Boynton Hall is such a historical artifact it has had nearly no changes done to it over the years. The interior however has been slightly modified over time. When the hall was first built there were classrooms inside of it. The students would ‘learn’ in the classrooms in Boynton and then go to the next building over, Washburn, which was laboratories, and the student would ‘apply’ what they learned there. Boynton Hall now houses the President’s office along with the Registrar’s office, accounting, administration, marketing, communications and university advancements. [1]

Works Cited
[1] "Boynton Hall." WPI - Tech Bible. Office of Alumni Relations-Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Web 3 Mar 2010. https://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Library/Archives/TechBible/campus.html.
[2] "Boynton Hall." WPI. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. http://www.wpi.edu/about/tour/boynton.html.
[3] "The Two Tower Tradition." WPI. Archives & Special Collections - Worcester Polytechnic Institution. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Library/Archives/Tower/.

Jessica MacPhail

Boynton Hall by Jessica MacPhail is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Morgan Co./ Siemens Building

Buildings, business, factories

Morgan Construction was a family owned business that was opened right here in Worcester in 1888. The company was sold to Siemens in 2008, but the original factory is still operated in Worcester on Crescent St. Morgan Construction Company designs, manufactures, supplies, and services rod, bar, combination mills, and handling equipment for steel and non-ferrous industries. [1] Morgan has designed and installed more than 450 rod, bar, and billet mills in over 40 countries worldwide. [2] From the later parts of the 1800’s and the early 1900’s the Second Industrial Revolution took place. The Morgan family seized the opportunity and over a hundreds year later this business is still flourishing in Worcester and around the world. Most history books give a broad overlook of this time period discussing railroads and industries in the North, but this shows that Worcester was a big part of the industrial revolution and still continues to produce today. During that time period people like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were being discussed as great leaders of the revolution but you could put the Morgan family in the same sentence for those who changed industry in this area. Morgan Construction gave people a place to work and steady pay. The building itself is very large, holding hundreds or large machines. The factory is split up into different bays, each specializing in something different like welding, paint, assembly line, the rolling mill and more. Also in the building are the engineers, the human resources department and the facilities maintenance department. It was one of the many businesses in Worcester that has helped make it the second largest city in New England today.

[1]Morgan Construction Company Overview, BusinessWeek, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4361821, Accessed March 2010.
[2]News Release, "Siemens to Acquire Morgan Company," 2 January 2008, http://cn.siemens.com/cms/cn/English/press/presscontent/Pages/20080103.aspx, Accessed March 2010.

Established, 1888

Morgan Co/Siemens by Chad Kasik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Worcester Insane Asylum (Kirkbride Building)

hospitals, asylums, buildings

The old Worcester asylum building which had opened in 1833 was the first of its kind in the state of Massachusetts. But by the 1870’s it was no longer adequate to fulfill the states needs. There was overcrowding which led to the construction of a new asylum complex. The building was designed by a Worcester architect by the name of Ward P. Delano, and cost well over a million dollars to build. The Worcester State Hospital also known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum was then opened in 1877. This building was home to hundreds of patients with mental illnesses. In 1991 the asylum was severely damaged by a fire. Sections of the building were torn down and now only part of the building remains. The clock tower is still standing and can be seen from route 9. The remains of the abandoned hospital are now boarded up and the building is fenced off. *Interesting side note: Sigmund Freud visited the Worcester State Hospital in 1909 during his only trip to America.

Information from: http://www.opacity.us/site56_worcester_state_hospital.htm and http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/buildings/worcester/

Opened in 1877. Photographed in October 2009

Ryan Foley

Kirkbride Building

Other names: Bloomingdale Asylum, Worcester Lunatic Asylum

Buildings, hospitals

In 1833, the Worcester Lunatic Asylum became the first psychiatric facility of its kind in Massachusetts. It was originally used as a shelter for the insane but quickly became overcrowded. Forced to expand its size, the asylum called in Ward P. Delano in 1870 to build what was known as the four leveled Kirkbride building, shown in the picture, famous for its high clock tower. By 1877, at the completion of the new buildings, the facility found its new name as the Worcester State Hospital. The Hospital remained in use until 1991, when a large fire destroyed much of the Kirkbride building. Today the facility is not in use as a mental institution but either left abandoned or used by the Worcester Fire Department for training.

Ward P. Delano

Jon-Michael Condon

Kirkbridge Building by Jon-Michael Condon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License

The "New Normal School"

Buildings, Worcester State College

Worcester's new Normal School opened on January 5, 1932. It was located on May and Chandler Street (present location of Worcester State College). The school cost $365,000 to build. On May 7, 1930, the Governor approved the bill which authorized Worcester to purchase the site. Two years later the new Normal School was built. Its name has since changed to Worcester State College.

Worcester T&G

WSC Scrapbook, 1932

1932

Steven Bracero

Washburn-Moen Building, Northworks

Buildings, factories, businesses

This building was built in 1831 as the manufactory of the Washburn and Moen Wire Company. The company was one of the largest employers in the city of Worcester for over one hundred years. When the company was acquired by US Steel, Andrew Carnegie had an office in this building. The room still has the original oak paneling from when it was Andrew Carnegie's office. This building was shut down as a factory in 1978 and today is home to many offices, restaurants and other businesses. The building still has many of the features of the original building such as the stairways, hallways and even the elevator is original. Many of the offices incorporate the original structure of the building such as its brick walls and original wood flooring. Much of the conversion to new uses is currently under way, but it is nice to see an old building like this find new life while maintaining so much of its character.

Washburn and Moen Company

Ricciardi, Dan, and Kathryn Mahoney, "Washburn and Moen: Worcester's WorldwideWire Manufacturer," Worcester and its People. Holy Cross College, 29 October 2009. <http://college.holycross.edu/projects/worcester/immigration/northworks.htm#washburn>

Building constructed in 1831. Photographs taken 25 October 2009.

William J. Santic, Jr.

Washburn-Moen by William J Santic Jr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License