The Wakelin house at 1067 Northampton Street has its entrance on Mountain View Drive. The front lawn is an Olmsted Brothers design from 1924.
The James Wakelin house is on the corner of Northampton Street and Mountain View Drive. It is an Olmsted Brothers landscape. James Wakelin was the owner of the McAuslan-Wakelin department store on Dwight Street.
Prior to the 1924 home and landscape, this was the location of the Mt Tom club house. It was on the house to the south – the William Anger house. Notice the steps along the southern border of the Wakelin land and along the southern border of the Anger land. I believe these twin steps bracketed the Mt Tom club house.
The James Wakelin at 1067 Northampton Street is an Olmsted Brothers landscape.
The plans for the grounds have never been found as of 2022. This is most likely a double planned lot with the Anger lot to its south. They share a common front wall. They both also have outdoor steps to the south of each lot coming down against each southern boundary.
James Wakelin is the owner of the McAuslan Wakelin department store.
The Joseph B Woodruff home on Central Park Drive is a gorgeous home in the Tudor style.
This house at 28 Central Park Drive has an Olmsted designed landscape that was planned in 1923 and the landscape built in 1924. GROUNDS plans and HOME plan. FINDAGRAVE. The house was not ready until 1930.
Look at the shed in back since it too has the same design as the house. The steps down to the terrace and the terrace itself are Olmsted designs.
In 1924 there were sidewalks put in at the start of Mountain View Drive near the highway. In 1955 Mountain View Drive and Central Park Drive finally got some more sidewalks but not many more.
Thanks to Jeffrey Trask for the images below of the exterior and the interior of the home.
The Rock Valley Cemetery in Holyoke is the smallest of all the cemeteries in the city.
The Smith’s Ferry Cemetery walking tour booklet is available from me. They cost $4 for a black-and-white stapled copy. Each additional copy after that is $3 more when shipped together. For a color copy, the cost is $5 and each additional copy in color is $4.
Email me from my contact page for details. The booklets that you order will be mailed to you via USPS so I need a physical address. Other booklets are available at the BOOKLET page.
The Holyoke Contagious Disease Hospital was on Cherry Street in Holyoke. It is also called the Holyoke Sanatorium. It would open in 1912. It would close in December of 1937.
The Pulaski Park walking tour booklet is available from me. They cost $5 for a black-and-white stapled copy. Each additional copy after that is $3 more when shipped together. For a color copy, the cost is $8 and each additional copy in color is $6.
Email me from my contact page for details. The booklets that you order will be mailed to you via USPS so I need a physical address. Other booklets are available at the BOOKLET page. You can follow this tour at LINK.
The Church of the Nativity has its own page on my site. LINK
The Mount Carmel School is behind the rectory at 32 Mount Carmel Avenue (LOCATION). This school was ready for classes on September 5 1922. The convent for the Sisters of the Presentation was built in 1932.
The Maryland, the Allaire, and the Esther are across the street.
This church and parish is from 1940 and was an offshoot of Nativity Church. (840 Chicopee Street) (LOCATION)
stop 2 – BF Perkins and Sons Mill
At the corner of Adams and Chicopee Streets, see across the street the paper mill of the Perkins family. (939 Chicopee Street) (LOCATION)
stop 3 – Pendleton House
At the corner of Baptist Avenue and Chicopee Street, on the western sidewalk that you are on, find the Pendleton House at 994 Chicopee Street. (LOCATION) This is an 1820 farmhouse. Across the street find the Beulah Baptist Church a mission church of the Second Baptist Church of Holyoke.
stop 4 – Willimansett School
At the corner of Tourtelotte Avenue and Chicopee Street, see the Willimansett School at 1024 Chicopee Street. (LOCATION) In 1879 this was a public school.
stop 5 – James Emerson house
This stop at 30 Emerson Street is the James Emerson house. (LOCATION) He was a hydraulic engineer for the Holyoke Water Power Company. He ran the first test flume in Holyoke.
stop 6 – The Willimansett Bridge
The Willimansett Bridge (LOCATION) was made a year after the County Bridge a mile up the river. It was made in about 1891. It is a steel triple truss bridge.
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There once was another bridge from Chicopee across the river to West Springfield – the Ashley Avenue Bridge. It was at first built in 1849 and then replaced in 1906.
The Interstate 391 bridge that you now see to the south was dedicated on September 10 1982.
To the north is the Vietnam Veterans Bridge between South Hadley and Holyoke. Just beyond that and also beyond the Holyoke Dam is the Muller Bridge. This last bridge was dedicated October 20 1966. It was an enormous project that required the taking of 23 homes. See stop 1 at LINK.
stop 7 – The Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is 406 miles long. At this point it still has a long way to go to Long Island Sound. Look toward the bank on the Holyoke side and you will see Spillway 5 of the Holyoke Canal System. On heavy flow days the output of water is very high. Past the bend of the river is the start of the Chicopee Falls area and also the Chicopee River comes in at the left.
The Connecticut River Railroad Bridge (LOCATION) was put on the west bank of the river in 1841. The bridge that you see here was put in place in 1872. One small station was right on the bank itself on the Holyoke side and a similar station on the Chicopee side. The bridge is still used for freight and for Amtrak. Once it include a walkway for people that wanted to walk across into Holyoke or Chicopee. The Connecticut River flows at a very placid tempo at this location.
The Springdale Park walking tour booklet is available from me. They cost $5 for a black-and-white stapled copy. Each additional copy after that is $3 more when shipped together. For a color copy, the cost is $8 and each additional copy in color is $6.
Email me from my contact page for details. The booklets that you order will be mailed to you via USPS so I need a physical address. Other booklets are available at the BOOKLET page. You can follow this tour at LINK.
This double lot at 198 and 208 Central Park Drive was made in about 1923. Edward Twing had a lot on the eastern lop of Central Park Drive and he was a person that moved a lot so he had another one built at this double lot. The house is a planned house and the landscape is the lot to the north of the house. That lot is now with a modern house and the landscaping seems to be apparent only along the northern edge.
Edward Towne had his house and landscape designed by the Olmsted Brothers from 1918 to 1924.
The PLAN of the grounds show that most of the major elements are still there. Planting guide to the land.
Edward Towne shared the administration of the National Blank Book Company with his brothers – Joseph and Frank. Edward and Joseph would have the Olmsted Brothers as their landscape architects but Frank would not.
