Brightside was a creation of Saint Jerome’s Church in Holyoke. You can read much more about this church at the LINK. This tour can either be a short tour of about 1 hour or a medium length tour of 2 hours or a long tour of 3 hours. The short and medium tour use the map below and the difference is how much time is spent in the cemeteries.
- Private GROUP TOUR (COSTS) is of variable length for this Brightwood and Neighborhood walking tour. Also a one hour indoor presentation can be given..
- A free public tour comes up every five years.
- A self-tour is available for anyone using the maps and text seen below. – LOCATION
- A booklet is available for this tour in either B & W or color, go HERE for the information needed to buy it.
stop 1 – Mont Marie Cemetery
stop 2 – Mont Marie (Sisters of Saint Joseph)
stop 3 – Calvary Cemetery of the Sisters of Providence
stop 4 – Providence Hospital Cemetery for Babies LINK (same as above)
stop 5 – Brightside Honor Roll HONOR ROLL
stop 6 – Providence Hospital – LINK
stop 7 – Bethlehem Foundling Home of Holyoke – LINK
stop 8 – Holy Family Chapel – LINK
stop 9 – Brightside Land
The orphanages in the Brightside or Ingleside area were made for the children of Holyoke. The girls had a orphanage called the Mount Saint Vincent Asylum which was started in 1880. The boys had an orphanage called the Holy Family Institute (or also known as Brightside) started in 1893. It was dedicated October 18 1893. From 1880 to 1893, both orphaned boys and girls were at the Mount Saint Vincent Asylum. Youngsters under two years of age had the Bethlehem Foundling Home. Children in the first two orphanages needed a school to attend and that was the Holy Family School – a Catholic school with the Sisters of Providence as teachers. The school was taken down in about the mid-1950s.
The nuns that worked in Brightside had a convent here called Our Lady of Victory Convent. It was the home of the Warren Wilkinson family. The nuns took it over in 1893 and it lasted until 1960 when a fire destroyed it.
stop 10 – Beaven Kelly Home for Aged Men LINK
The first 10 stops were for the actual walking tour and you could enter the cemeteries and get close to the buildings. The next 5 stops (stops 11 to 15) are on private property and cannot be approached.
stop 11 – Sisters of Providence Motherhouse – LINK
stop 12 – Holy Family Institute at Brightside – LINK
stop 13 – Ingleside Neighborhood and the Connecticut River
Land of Providence (Holyoke)
stop 14 – City Farm LINK
stop 15 – Mount Saint Vincent Girls’ Home LINK
Brightside Pool – LINK
Sanborn map analysis
Sanborn 1956 map