Bagg Hall – Princeton Town Hall // 1884

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Rising from the northwestern corner of the town common, Bagg Hall is the red-brick centerpiece of Princeton, Massachusetts, and it has shaped civic life in the village for well over a century. Funding for the structure came from wealthy businessman, Edward A. Goodnow. Born in Princeton, Edward Augustus Goodnow (1810-1905) was a storekeeper and manufacturer of shoes in Princeton before moving to Worcester where he made his fortune. He became the President of the First National Bank of Worcester and oversaw immense growth for the institution. Goodnow married four times in his 94 years of life, with his first two wives, Hariett Bagg and Mary Bagg (sisters) dying at just 28 years old and 31 years old respectively. In his later years of life, Edward began spending his fortune on charitable causes, including inveting in his hometown which lacked a proper Town Hall or Library. He donated funds for the Goodnow Memorial Library and in 1884, he funded Bagg Hall as the new Town Hall in Princeton, namedbagg in honor of the lives of his first two wives and his son, Henry, all of whom died prematurely. Mr. Goodnow hired Worcester architect, Stephen C. Earle, to design the building which resulted in this handsome brick structure in the fashionable Romanesque Revival style. The only stipulation was that the old Congregational Church was in the way. The solution: Goodnow paid to have the church moved from its site to the eastern edge of the town common. The Bagg Hall building is notable for its strong arched entrance beneath the gable, rounded corner tower with conical roof, and trimming in brownstone and terracotta accents. Today, the building is home of the town’s administrative offices and was restored by 2020.

East Princeton Mechanic’s Hall & Schoolhouse // 1852

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Suffering from neglect, the grand East Princeton Mechanic’s Hall & Schoolhouse stands on Main Street in East Princeton, Massachusetts, as a lasting landmark of the once thriving industrial village. The site was originally home to a one-room schoolhouse built in 1843. Originally a schoolhouse built in 1852 for $600 with timbers from the original schoolhouse that was built in 1843. After about 10 years, the village’s growth necessitated a larger District school. A committee was established to oversee construction and funds for a new schoolhouse, which the committee decided should also include a meeting hall on the top floor, above two classrooms on the ground floor. The Greek Revival style structure is said to have been partially built with timbers salvaged from the earlier building, hence the 1843 date in the pediment. The building operated as a public school until it closed in the 1940s as district schools consolidated. For decades, the meeting hall was used occasionally by the Princeton Farmers and Mechanics Association and later by the East Princeton Village Improvement Society and local American Legion Post until the building was vacated entirely. The building has been left to decay by the town, who own the building, letting this become yet another example of a demolition by neglect.

What would you like to see this building become?

East Princeton Congregational Chapel // 1885

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In the 1880s, members of the First Congregational Church of Princeton, Massachusetts, who lived in the area of East Princeton Village, petitioned their minister Reverend Archibald Love, to consider the possibility of building a small church to accommodate them. Prior to this, members had to travel over three miles every week and sermon, to the Town Center, where the Congregational Church was located. Reverend Love permitted the erection of a small Congregational Chapel in East Princeton, which broke ground on Main Street in 1885. The Queen Anne style chapel features a steeply pitched roof, offset entrance set within a tower with a belfry above, and bands of decorative shingles breaking up the massing of the building. Services in the East Princeton Chapel ceased in 1960 and the chapel was sold by the congregation and was converted to a private residence, while retaining its unique architectural quality.

Stuart Barn – J. H. Stuart Chair Factory // c.1850

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The small village of East Princeton, Massachusetts, developed in the mid-19th century due to its location along a fast running stream that could power small industrial buildings and mills. Chair manufacturing in the village began in 1841 in a shop built by Benjamin Stuart on the edge of Keyes Brook. Benjamin Stuart and his son, Joseph, started a factory where they made high-quality wooden chairs, which were sold in markets all over central Massachusetts. The business expanded and John H. Stuart converted this building, a c.1850 barn that he owned, into a factory/warehouse for the company. In 1904, the business was incorporated under the name of Temple Stuart Company, which moved to Baldwinville, Templeton, to an expanded factory. The barn-turned-factory was converted into a private residence in the middle of the 20th century, a use that remains today.

Parker Farmhouse // c.1777

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The enchanting town of Princeton, Massachusetts, was incorporated in 1759, created out of land that was previously part of nearby Rutland. The town was named after Rev. Thomas Prince, a prominent clergyman, scholar and historian. Known as the Parker Farmhouse, this Georgian-era residence in Princeton dates to 1777, when Thomas Parker (1727-1799) of Lexington, purchased farmland here and began constructing the family homestead soon-after. Thomas resided in the home with his wife, Jane, and their only child, Ebenezer Parker (1750-1839). The Parker’s laid out a family cemetery near the homestead, now known as West Sterling Cemetery, where many generations of the family are buried. Thomas and Ebenezer seem to have run the homestead as a tavern by the late 18th century. The farmhouse remained in the family for generations, and maintains much of its original character.

Robinson Tavern // c.1796

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This stately Federal style residence with prominent Palladian window on its facade, is located on the edge of the Town Green in the idyllic village of Strafford, Vermont. The residence was built around 1796 and owned by Daniel Robinson (1735-1820), a cabinet maker, who resided here with his son, Zadock. The father-son business partners also appear to have operated the building as a tavern, with its important location as a stop along the route between Boston and Montpellier. The second floor of the residence was a “long room” for meetings and a ballroom. The large former tavern is now a private residence and retains much of its original character.

Robinson’s Store & Royal Hatch House // c.1794 & c.1831

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Photo from real estate listing

It is not often that you will find a historic house added onto an older store, usually it is the other way around! Located on Brook Road in the charming village of Strafford, Vermont, Robinson’s store dates to the late 18th century was originally the old (left) wing of the current building. The store was purchased by merchant, Joel Hatch (1768-1804) in 1798, and managed until his death in 1804. His widow, Sally and her second husband managed the village store until Hatch’s son, Royal Hatch, came of age and could operate it himself. It is likely that Royal Hatch built the larger two-story Greek Revival addition as his residence above. The date is also likely to be 1831, the year of his marriage to Marian Chandler Hatch. The building has served as store, restaurant, and craft shop before rehabilitation by the owners back into a private residence. The building was lovingly preserved and is a significant addition to this charming Vermont town.

Strafford Municipal Building // 1883

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Designed and built by Senator Justin Morrill in 1883, this building in the village of Strafford, Vermont, was donated to the Town by Morrill in memory of his mentor and business partner, Jedidiah Harris. The gambrel-roofed building was given to the town to primarily serve as a public library, with a large collection of Harris’ personal collections. This structure remained a library until the Morrill Memorial Library building was completed in 1929. This building has remained in the ownership of the Town of Strafford and is currently used as the Town Office building providing space for the Town Clerk/Treasurer and Town Records. The white flushboarded building has Victorian detailing at the porch, but retains early characteristics of the Colonial Revival style with its gambrel roof and symmetry.

Morrill & Harris Memorial Library // 1929

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Located down the street from the village common in Strafford, Vermont, the town’s public library building has a history that began with a gift of gratitude. In 1883, Senator Justin Morrill designed and built a building for the town in memory of his mentor, Jedediah Harris, and donated it as a public library. Harris had been Morrill’s partner at the village store, and the library housed the collection created by Harris’s own bequest. The gambrel-roofed building would eventually be outgrown and the town’s library moved into the new Morrill & Harris Memorial Library building when it was completed in 1929. Funding for the building is said to have been set aside in the will of Louise Swan, Senator Morrill’s sister-in-law, for the acquisition of land and building of a library. Built in 1929, the small Classical Revival style library is three bays wide and two bays deep with a pedimented entrance and Doric columns. The building retains much of its original detailing and has been lovingly preserved by the small town for nearly 100 years.

United Church of Strafford // 1832

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After the public support of religion ended in Vermont in 1807, when before this tax dollars were used to support the Congregational Church in towns and villages all over the state, many congregations split and erected their own purpose-built houses of worship. The Congregaional Church of Strafford was once located in the Strafford Meetinghouse, a 1799 structure at the edge of the town green. In 1832, the churches left the building, with the Unitarians building a church in the South Strafford Village, and Congregationalists building this church that same year. The old Congregational Church blends Federal and Greek Revival styles both in the vernacular, but it retains much of its original features. The Free Will Baptists sold their church building in the lower village (South Strafford) and the Baptists joined the Congregationalists to form the United Church of Strafford in 1967, occupying this church building.

Universalist Church of Strafford // 1833

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The Universalist Society of Strafford, founded in 1798, is the second oldest in Vermont and fourth oldest in the nation. In the early years, Universalists met in Strafford’s Town House, sharing the building with other denominations. Eventually the Universalists, Baptists, and Congregationalists all built their own churches, with the Universalists building this handsome structure in 1833 in the South Strafford Village. Blending late Federal and Greek Revival styles, the white clapboarded church is sited on a small hill and is characterized by its belfry and large stained glass windows.

Dr. Pierce House – Hazelton’s Hotel // 1821 & 1858

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Located on the edge of the Town Common in Strafford, Vermont, this Federal period residence was “modernized” decades after its completion for a new use. The house was originally built in 1821 by Dr. Albigence Pierce (1789-1873) for his wife and seven children with a small office alongside where he worked as the town’s primary physician. Dr. Pierce maintained his residence and office here until his retirement, when he moved back to Royalton, where he was born. He sold the main building to Lucius Carpenter in 1857, who opened a tavern and public hall a year later. In 1858, he updated the house, adding an ell on the rear for parties, meetings, and dances, and altered the roofline, adding a third floor with gable, bracketed eaves, and replaced all the windows with sashes of the period. The only Federal period detailing that remains is the traditional entrance with blind fan above the entry and three-light sidelights flanking. In 1859, Henry Hazelton married Carpenter’s daughter Amanda, and he would purchase the property from his father-in-law in 1865, operating it as Hazelton’s Hotel and Hall. By the 20th century, the property was converted back to a private residence.

Harris Store // 1833

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In 1833, Jedediah H. Harris, who had run a general store in Strafford village since 1805, commissioned a local contractor to build a new brick and granite store. The brick store was added onto the early 19th century wood-frame building. Harris and his business partner, Justin Morrill, opened the store in 1834, selling provisions to locals and visitors to the small town. Morrill would later go on to construct a stunning Gothic Revival style home nearby and become a leading U.S. Senator. For more than one hundred years the store passed through a succession of owners, until C. William Berghorn Jr. closed it in 1951 to make it his residence. The Greek Revival style building has since been converted to the local post office branch with the early wood-frame wing housing a local coffee shop/cafe.

Justin Morrill Homestead // 1851

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Located in the village of Strafford, Vermont, the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead is one of Vermont’s most charming architectural landmarks. Built between 1848 and 1851, the house is a rare and exuberant example of Gothic Revival design, with steeply pitched gables, pointed-arch windows, and intricate decorative trim that give it the look of a storybook cottage. Justin S. Morrill (1810-1898) was a self-taught architectural enthusiast who drew inspiration from the popular pattern books of the day, and he is said to have designed much of the house himself. Morrill also planned the surrounding gardens, studying the romantic landscape movement with its formal yet picturesque plantings. He selected only those plants that would survive the wintry Vermont climate and annually monitored their success again the harsh elements. Justin Morrill was a regular storekeeper in the village who retired early, who went on to serve in Congress for more than four decades and is best remembered as the author of the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. Signed into law in 1862, the first act helped establish public colleges across the country and opened higher education to ordinary Americans, primarily focusing on agricultural and mechanical studies. While Senator Morrill spent much of his time in the nation’s capital, his Strafford home served as his respite during the summer months. Today the homestead is a National Historic Landmark and Vermont state historic site, where visitors can walk through rooms filled with the family’s belongings and see how the ambitions of a small-town statesman shaped both a home and a nation.

Barn

Judge Cobb House // c.1807

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Located at the edge of the Town Common in Strafford, Vermont, this handsome Federal style residence dates to the early 19th century and has ties to a prominent local family. The house was built around 1807 and originally owned by a Benjamin Wood and by 1823, the property was owned by Daniel Cobb. Judge Daniel Cobb (1787-1868) served as the town’s Chief lawyer, Assistant Judge of Orange County Court, the town’s first postmaster, and as an elected representative to the state legislature. After his death, the property was inherited by Daniel’s son, Nathan Cobb (1827-1906), who was largely housebound from an injury while a student at Norwich University. Nathan Cobb became Strafford’s town clerk in 1863 and would hold that position for 43 years. He would also serve as the town treasurer, tax collector, school superintendent, and librarian. He housed the town’s library in the home for a number of decades and was also a justice of the peace and ran a printmaking business. Dr. Gardner Cobb, whose mother died shortly after his birth, was Nathan’s only child. He became a pediatrician and owned the house until his death in 1967. For 150 years, the house has been known as the Cobb House and is notable for its pressed metal roof.