new england architecture

Westborough Savings Bank // 1928

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The Westborough Savings Bank was incorporated in 1869 and shared space in a building with another bank and the post office. As the population and prosperity grew in the suburban community, so did the Westborough Savings Bank, who would move into a larger space. Just before the Great Depression, the bank sought to build its first purpose-built structure, and they hired the firm J. Williams Beal & Sons to furnish plans for this handsome masonry bank, designed to showcase the strength and stability of the institution. Renaissance Revival in style, the 1928 building is constructed of buff brick with limestone trim. The facade is dominated by large, round arched windows and is framed by pilasters with an off-center entrance. The Westborough Savings Bank would eventually merge into Avidia Bank and the West Main Street building was sold. The handsome building is well-preserved and home to Westborough TV, which makes broadcast media programming that is by, about, and for the entire Westborough community.

Captain John Clark House // 1802

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The Captain John Clark House in Canterbury, Connecticut, is one of the finest examples of the Federal style of architecture in New England, and has remained in a fine state of preservation since its construction in the early 19th century. The house was built by 1802 for John Clark (1731-1834), who purchased an earlier home on the site from and had it either taken down or enlarged to its present appearance. The mansion is symmetrical with five bays, central entry and twin chimneys projecting through the hipped roof. The central bay is a showstopper with its triangular pediment at the roofline containing a fanlight, Palladian window at the second floor, and main entrance with its own pediment, sidelights, fanlight transom, all framed by two-story columns. The house’s south facade is equally beautiful with its own Palladian window and entrance.

Prudence Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color // c.1805

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Built c.1805 for Elisha Payne, this architecturally distinguished Federal style mansion in Canturbury, Connecticut is one of the most significant buildings in the state, not only for its architecture but historical significance. In 1831, a young white woman, Prudence Crandall, was asked to open a boarding school for girls in Canterbury. She purchased this mansion and began operations for the school, which was attended by many wealthy girls in town. In 1832, Ms. Crandall was approached by a young Black girl who worked as a servant in town, named Sarah Harris, asking to attend the school. Encouraged by conversations with both Harris and Maria Davis, a Black woman who worked for Crandall and shared copies of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator with her, Crandall agreed to admit Harris. Almost immediately, residents protested the school’s admission of a Black girl and parents threatened to withdraw their students, Crandall undeterred, closed her school and reopened in 1833, solely for Black and Brown students. Young girls traveled from several states to attend the school. The legislature of Connecticut responded by passing the “Black Law,” which prevented out-of-state Black and Brown people from attending school in Connecticut towns without local town approval. Crandall was arrested, spent one night in jail, and faced three court trials before the case was dismissed. In September 1834, a nighttime mob of men attacked the house, smashing the windows, leading Crandall to close the school out of fear for her students as no protections were afforded to them. These events made national and international news in the 1830s and galvanized the burgeoning abolitionist movement. Crandall would later marry and left Connecticut, never to return. For her vision and brave actions at this school, Prudence Crandall is Connecticut’s official state heroine and the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.

Asa Bacon Farmhouse // 1783

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Located in northern Canterbury, Connecticut, this rural farmhouse was built following the American Revolution, showcasing the emergence of the Federal style from the Colonial Georgian type farmhouses before. The house dates to 1783 and was built by Captain Asa Bacon (1735-1819), a wealthy farmer and captain in the Revolutionary War. The home was also occupied by his son, Asa Bacon Jr. (1771-1857) a Yale educated lawyer who practiced law in town before moving to Litchfield. Asa Jr. was a turnpike promoter, advocating for turnpikes through the formerly sleepy agricultural town, opening it up to trade and commerce. The early Federal-period home features a five-bay facade and central entry with triangular pediment and fluted pilasters. The house appears much like it would have when originally built besides the Victorian-era two-over-two window sashes installed in the late 19th century. The farm even retains a few 19th century barns, likely built when the windows were replaced by later owners.

Edward Waldo House // c.1715

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The Edward Waldo House in Scotland, Connecticut, is a vernacular Georgian house with saltbox roof and wings which from its erection about 1715 until 1971 was owned by members of the Waldo family. Edward Waldo (1684-1767) purchased land here along the Shetucket River in 1702 and by 1715, erected this house. The saltbox house which Edward Waldo built was one of the first houses in the town of Scotland and would remain in successive generations of the family for centuries. The house was the birthplace of Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), a portraitist who was a founder of the National Academy of Design as well as Daniel Waldo, chaplain of Congress, 1856-1858, and was one of seven Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution. The last Waldo owner, Miss Ruth Waldo died in1975. She insured the preservation of her family homestead by bequeathing the house, its contents, and about 15 acres of land to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society of Connecticut Inc. and the surrounding acreage to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, creating an enduring legacy for centuries to come. The house, set amongst a quiet country road, is evocative of early days in Scotland, Connecticut, and is one of the finest-preserved Colonial homes in this part of the state. 

Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill //1864

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Despite its name, this handsome mill structure, known as the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill, is actually located in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The building, located on Roosevelt Avenue on the banks of the Blackstone River, is a great example of a Civil War-era mill, built for one of the many wool and cloth companies in New England. Begun in a small factory across the street in 1856, this business became successful after the acquisition of patents for weaving haircloth (most of the raw material for which originally came from Russian horse markets) for upholstery, crinolines, and inner linings. The company is said to have once been the largest producer of haircloth in the world. The Italianate style mill stands pretty much as built, besides the tower that has lost its low pyramidal cap. The building was one of the first commissions by great Rhode Island architect, William Walker, who was just 34 at the time of designing this large, and complicated structure.

Kennedy-Stafford Mill // 1825

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One of the oldest mills in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is this four-story brick building constructed in 1825 is important as one of the earliest extant brick mills in Rhode Island, at a time when such buildings were shifting from wood construction to fire-proof brick or stone construction. Built on one of the first industrial sites in the city, along the Blackstone River, the mill was originally constructed for a John Kennedy as a cotton manufactory. The complex was purchased and expanded in the 1860s by the Stafford Manufacturing Company, who built a new dam on the river and extension to the 1825 building. The structure features a five-story square end tower with freight doors, and a monitor roof which runs the span of the original 1825 building, terminating where the Stafford Company addition begins. Originally, canals flowed directly under the building, powering the building and three mills downstream, but they were filled in by 1965. Elizabeth Webbing started in the Kennedy/Stafford mill buildings in 1933. After over 70 years of making cloth straps used for seat belts, dog collars, luggage straps and more, it ceased operations in March of 2001. The complex, which included 19 nearby mill buildings, was split up and sold off. In 2007 work began on converting the former mill to residential use with the first phase of the project opening to tenants in 2009. It’s another great example of adaptive reuse into housing, the best type of project!

Pawtucket-Central Falls Station // 1916

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The Pawtucket-Central Falls Railroad Station is a crumbling relic of a time once dominated by rail travel. This architectural landmark spans the border of the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls, along with the tracks of the former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and is one of the more unique buildings in Rhode Island. The station opened in 1916 to replace separate stations in the two cities from plans by F.W. Mellor, architect for the New Haven Railroad with Norcross Brothers of Worcester facilitating the construction over a structural steel base spanning the tracks. As many as 140 trains per day once passed under this station, but in 1959, it closed. The building was purchased by a private owner and plans failed to materialize for decades, leaving us with a crumbling masterpiece in architecture and engineering. In 2007, the lot was partially developed with the addition of a suburban, soulless CVS store and parking lot, which today, directly abuts the station. In 2023, a new Pawtucket/Central Falls station opened nearby, which has brought new calls to demolish this building, with people actively seeking grants to fund the estimated $10 Million dollar demolition.

Salem Christian Science Church – Witch Dungeon Museum // 1897

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This Shingle-style church building on Lynde Street in Salem, Massachusetts, was built in 1897 as a satellite chapel for the First Congregational Society in Salem. The chapel was constructed from designs by the Boston-based architect Edward B. Stratton. From 1908 to 1979, the building was owned by the Christian Science Church and was eventually sold to private ownership in 1979, where it has since been home to the Witch Dungeon Museum. The building has retained much of its original design, including the large Gothic sanctuary window, tower, and decorative trusses at the gable. Sadly, the original shingles have been replaced by later siding.  

Assumption Roman Catholic Church // 1922

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As Chicopee developed into one of the major industrial cities in Western Massachusetts, immigrant groups moved there, finding work at some of the major manufacturing companies. Irish and Polish churches were built and French and French Canadian residents too built their own church, where they could gather and worship in their native language. A wood-frame church was first built in the 1870s and used until it was destroyed by fire in 1912. It took a decade for the congregation to gather enough funds to purchase a new lot and build a new church, but patience was a virtue as their church is a stunner! The cornerstone for the church was laid in 1922 and the building was designed by local architect, George P. Dion, and constructed at the cost of $200,000. The building was dedicated in 1925 and is one of the finest, and most unique churches in the state. Italian Renaissance Revival in style, the church stands out for its 85-foot-tall campanile and cast-stone high-relief in the pediment at the facade. It is believed that within the relief, that depicts the figure of Mary surrounded by Cherubs, depicting the “Assumption of the Virgin,” George P. Dion used the likeness of his granddaughter as a face of one of the cherubs. The congregation moved out of the building but has been recently mortgaged to a new church, Iglesia Cristiana Casa De Paz y Restauración, showcasing the ever-changing demographics that keep our cities vibrant and stewards that do right by our collective history and buildings.