My neck of the woods, I drive past some of these buildings everyday in amazement! Great video, about to watch your video of Holyoke where I see old world buildings daily driving to work.
I recall street curbs being about a foot tall as a child. Stepping off a curb was something you had to take care doing. They have piled up the asphalt over the brick.
Yes! It definitely ruined the view! And it split Springfield in half when it was put in. W. Springfield & Springfield & part of Agawam & Longmeadow were one big city, I’ve read in the Online Archives! More people wanted it on this side of the Connecticut River to keep with progress. 🙄
Atmospheric energy fluctuates, and the process of collection creates movement in the flow; the design of the electrode fins re-directs the flow back to the central electrode.
I was born in Springfield in 1949 and lived there until 1963. I went to high school in nearby Chicopee. I moved to California in 1969, and never went back. Yet, the weird thing about this video for me is how few of the buldings that you show here still even existed in 1950's. There are some that I remember from my childhood, but the Springfield that I remember in general looked plainer this. It seems that a lot grand buildings were replaced with those much less ornate even before I was born, but I'm at a loss to explain why this was even necessary. BTW, they planted a giant MGM Casino right in the center of downtown a few years which seemed wildly inappropriate to me, at least until I watched this incredible video.
I was raised in Springfield. I am still in the area. I was inside many of those buildings in the 1950's and the 1960's. I spent my saturdays roaming downtown through the 1970's. Most still did exist. I can name events I attended in many of them.
The stone bridge is the railroad through downtown. The factory at 3:00 is Smith & Wesson If you are looking at the Municipal Building straight on, the "temple" on the right is City Hall and the one on the left is Springfield's symphony hall. The Connecticut Valley Historical Society was housed in the Daniel Wesson mansion (since burned and demolished).
Forrest park was an inspiration for the famous children’s book author and illustrator Dr. Seuss he based the Lorax of the industrial part of Springfield. His dad worked at the small zoo within Forest Park. Hence why he gets all these ideas for animals from there. Mulberry street is an actual street in Springfield Massachusetts
The building with the massive cupola with the crescent moon at the top is still there, but the cupola is gone. Honestly comparing how Springfield looked 100 years ago and how it looks today, it looks like it's been flattened. A huge part of the city was flattened to make room for I-91.
@@ridgedtradcat8057 yeah, my friend who grew up here & now lives here in the same building as I, doesn’t recall it, so I’d like to tell him where it is! I thought I’d seen it years ago, but I might be thinking of the one my friend’s father worked on in Hartford, CT. (Her father would’ve been in his 80’s. Or 90’s by now.)
I lived in Springfield from 1966 to 1977. I remember the department store Forbes & Wallace, Johnson's bookstore, the South Congregational church, the beautiful houses on Mulberry Street, the old cemetery, Forest Park and more. It was a lovely city back then.
@@Jay_nicola you are right , too many rental units, and too many jobs and companies are gone, they have been replaced by poverty and absentee landlord.
Wow, thank you for sharing this. At 3:47 Springfield Institution for Savings aka SIS Bank, had my very first bank account there. I can still see my lil bank book in my minds eye. That was in the 1980s. My hometown. My aunt graduated from Technical High School in 1982 or 1983. The Indian Motorcycle building was converted into condos/apartments as was Classical high school. Kimball hotel is still very much standing on Chestnut Street, its lux apartments. 18:06 that's still standing at least in 2015 it was, Mass Mutual Insurance Company on State Street across from Putnam Vocational High School. Springfield was called the City of Homes. The ornate architecture was everywhere, even in my lifetime. The city has let many areas just go to the trash, it's really sad. The Eastern States Exposition aka The Big E, it's in West Springfield, MA. There are houses there that represent each of the New England states. Full of history, foods from the states and more. I graduated from Central High School but not the old one in the photos. That was long gone. The new Central High is on Roosevelt Avenue. A lot of the older structures were still standing but have been badly damaged downtown when the 2011 tornado ripped through the area. A lot was lost. Good memories to share💕
That was a sad day that tornado came through! They still haven’t fixed those mansions that made up that girls’ school! Such a shame. They were such gorgeous historical buildings!
Wow, thank you for the video, this gives me chills. Many of these buildings are still standing, but slowly disappearing every few years. I live here, I went to school here, I went to college here, I work here, and it is still a beautiful city, I wish people would take care of it better.
Fyi. Springfield has been around long before the 1700’s. Technically, 1641 would be when the location was officially named Springfield. It was very nearly destroyed along with many of the towns in Massachusetts during the King Philips war. This was a war with Native Americans. They burned down many of the Towns and killed quite a few towns people. Also, at 7:00 minutes into the video, the industry your are looking at was the Springfield Gas Light company which was started in the 1870’s if i remember correctly. They used to manufacture Natural Gas from coal and pipe it thru the city. This was very early in the natural gas industry. That company had been bought and sold several times but is now part of a company called “Eversource”
A lot of those buildings are still there. I was downtown today at the old Federal Building on Main Street. I love taking pictures down there or just walking around. It’s changed but remains the same if that makes sense.
Love your vids old world, I like that you are a tradesman that looks at these with that particular eye. My favorite phrase has become Explain this to me in a way that makes sense, because your story doesn’t stand up in court.
I'm from Texas, but work in the Harford area from time to time. I love coming to Springfield, driving up 75. It is such a beautiful drive and still a very pretty city to visit! Ty for the video!
I have spent most of my life in the Springfield area and I enjoyed the video. Springfield was an industrial powerhouse in the 1800s and early 1900s. Also, as you have shown, it had insurance companies, so the combination made it a fairly well-off city. It also had the very famous Springfield Armory which was put in place by George Washington to supply the US with small arms, so was there from almost the beginning. Springfield also had, and still has, a very large Italian heritage population which undoubtedly was a large factor in all the beautiful stone work. Back then, appearances and quality mattered, now it is mostly about what is the cheapest way to make it functional, and barely functional a lot of the time. If the building isn't going to contribute to a profit in some way, then it doesn't matter what it looks like, and we will probably raze it in 40 or 50 years for tax purposes anyway. There is too much to go into here for me, I could probably write an essay on the subject. I think part of the problem is that people started to lose a sense of community, a quality that has taken over the country in the 21st century. If it doesn't benefit me directly, screw it. I don't have kids in school so why should I pay for a new school? I'd rather buy some junk from China or buy a $70,000 SUV that will be rusted out after 15 years than build something that will help other people far into the future. Greed and selfishness have taken over. Keep questioning
It’s the best place and a time capture There is amazing things to see today Weekends are amazing and fun I love my town 😢 It’s a huge carnival and the big e is here it’s so cool thanks for your time
I can’t wait to see the rest of this! I live here in Springfield, MASS, but grew up in Holyoke, near Hampton Ponds! What a great superb in which to grow up! So...I’m looking forward to seeing that video, as well! Oh, great to see so many recognizable buildings! I’ve been in part of that Trinity Church Cathedral! It’s beautiful! They have quite a festival each year in there...the Boar’s Head Festival, I think it’s called, with Camels, etc.! I’ve never been, but hear it’s magnificent! Thank you so much!
I enjoyed this glimpse of Old World Springfield, being a Western Mass Hole however I had to leave a comment regarding the narration. I question weather the narrator knows how history "works". I'll set aside his struggling to pronounce Massachusetts and what that might tell the inquiring viewer. The almost paranoid discussion about not accepting what we've been told, and uncovering the lies: I don't even get it. You want to know about a given building in a given city,? look at the newspapers, look at what people have written about it, find the accounts of the people who lived then. That's how history is done. You want to know the "truth" about James Naismith? Go read everything that has been written about him and draw your own conclusions. This notion that history is a lie or that "they" are hiding the truth from "us" is laughable. Why would they build Central High school as ornate as they did? Perhaps the attitude to education was different then. One thing is for sure, labor was cheap and skilled, materials were readily available and regulation was limited. You doubt if they built a specific building in 3 years? Go to the library and check the papers. Maybe he's tying to be provocateur to increase the clicks but dude, you want the truth about Springfield? No one is hiding it, no one is covering anything up, no one is feeding you lies. Do some digging and read something.
@@oldworldexif you listen to Native Americans, they will tell you of the battles with the British who came here, stole their form of governance, their bird, their emblem of the eagle, the wars that took place & the types of buildings each tribe had, as well as other things their ancestors had told them. There are few tribes left from Massachusetts, not even the Massechusett tribe exists that I know, sadly. Those Natives living in Cape Cod might know! So...they’d be the people to ask, if you doubt history in books & it’s true, history is written differently in different countries! That’s my own experience with certain peoples who are now legal immigrants here. It’s very interesting! Though it does seem all these buildings were built as was said. I don’t see the same wear you do. Maybe from 1800’s to the 1900’s, but no more than that from that beautiful time when there was more cash in circulation. Good luck in your quest! {There are books in Forest Park Library, built by Andrew Carnegie, that show how barren Springfield was, especially at the “X,” where several roads converge on Sumner Ave., on which is the entrance to Forest Park!}
@@oldworldexI never saw any photos of zeppelins or blimps in this area back in the day, but I think Goodyear Tires had one in their parking lot, if I’m not mistaken, as an advertisement. I did see a few in 1980’s, but no more than 3 & I never saw 1 land. My parents were born In the 1920’s and the only one they ever mentioned was the Hindenburg.
Right, but before I - 91 was built in 1955, it was Springfield & so was part of Agawam & some of Longmeadow. The highway split Springfield & that’s how West Springfield got its name & why its nicknamed “West side.”
@Nick-gq2iy Sorry, but you are mistaken. Long, long before there was an I-91, or Springfield, or West Springfield, there was and is and ever shall be, the Connecticut River separating what is now Springfield on the East side and West Springfield on the West side of the river. Springfield, Massachusetts was incorporated as a town in 1641 and then as a city in 1852, and West Springfield was settled around 1660 and incorporated in 1774. I-91 runs on the West side of the Connecticut River until it reaches Windsor Locks, Connecticut. It then crosses to East Windsor on the East side of the river, running all the way through Enfield, at which point it then crosses into Longmeadow Massachusetts, continuing parallel to and in sight of, the Connecticut River, then through Springfield until it reaches Chicopee, where it then crosses West again into West Springfield, just South of Holyoke. Before I-91, the North End Bridge and the South End Bridge were how people crossed (and still do). The North End Bridge, built in 1877, and the South End Bridge, built in 1954, provided vital connections, and before the construction of these bridges, ferries were commonly used to transport people and goods across the river. The Eastern States Exposition, also known as The Big E, has always been held in West Springfield, Massachusetts, since its inception in 1916. The event was established by Joshua L. Brooks to promote agriculture and industry in New England, and the first exposition took place on the grounds in West Springfield, where it has been ever since.
@@mbgrafix thanks! I will look all this up! (But I found the info I shared on Internet Archives! Kind of surprising & somewhat confusing! 😳) But I’m glad you spoke up! Thanks, again for the corrections! I don’t wish to spread misinformation. Btw, loved Stryper’s ‘Honestly.’ - Cynthia
@Nick-gq2iy Do you currently, or have you in the past, lived in the Springfield Massachusetts area? I was born in Springfield, and I have lived within a 15 - 20 minute drive from Springfield my entire 60 years... so I am writing out of a combination of personal experience and online information. You need to check out the rest of STRYPER's catalog. They are still recording and touring to this day, 40 years later! As a matter of fact, they are releasing a new album, titled, "WHEN WE WERE KINGS" on September 13th. You can listen to the title track now, as they prereleased it not long ago in anticipation of the album's release next month. Coincidentally, Stryper record their albums at a recording studio about 20 miles North of Springfield in Northhampton Massachusetts.
I'm surprised the controllers have allowed the two Pantheon-like structures with the tall thin clock tower (Municipal Hall) to survive. The Poli's Theatre Block frontage is very striking 19 minutes in as well 🙂
@@DDXY2K He's right, and if you assume you have no control you won't *have* the control that you possibly have. Every ounce of power you assume you haven't got is one you lose to that assumption.
Springfield had several churches built by the great American architect Henry Hobson Richardson who specialized in Romanesque, most famously Trinity Church in Boston.
This is great :) learning more of were my mom and my grandparents grew up and lived in. My grandpa was born in Springfield mass and my grandma and my mom was born in Bridgeport Connecticut. I love New England and it’s history, I am also learning more of our family history from New England. I wanna go back there.
"Reincarnation of Peter Proud" 1975, Library, the Puritan Statue, Museums, former Baystate West(now Tower Squiare): it had Friendly's at the time! Many places!
Wow, you just blew my mind with this video totally I thought I was just going to be looking at old architecture from Springfield growing up here. I was interested to check your video out and it’s weird because when you started talking about the timeline being not as it is, it made sense to me… I came across some yearbooks from the 1930s from Central high school and I think from technical high school too and I’m gonna be looking at those yearbooks now with different eyes.
@@tomflynn2912 did you watch the video- I mean that the old world architecture must have used a different technology and or skills to build than what we have today-I’m not sure we could build like that again and I don’t mean because of cost or materials…
@@joshuafontanez1711 We had quarries near by. One was in East Longmeadow. Much of the red stone you see in those buildings were from a local source. They intended the buildings to last.
19:57 That's the modern day Union Station (or the artist's rendition of the plan) . They did a great job renovating it and making it a hub for Amtrak as well as city bus routes and regional bus lines. I've transferred buses there several times and sometimes I just sit there with a coffee and marvel at the decor . The old bus depot was real sketchy ... this one's clean, well lit and cameras every where. They shut down two streets around it and made them for buses only.
Dont forget Dr. Suess was born and raised in Springfield. They have a museum dedicated to his work. I may be wrong, but i believe they tore some buildings down to build the MGM casino. At 8:50 those buildings at the Eastern State Exposition (The Big E) are the state buildings.
Interesting I learned something new. I never knew Trinity Church was located on Bridge St. It’s still in Springfield but located in Forest Park section it a beautiful church. Thanks for the history lesson.
The building with the onion shaped domes is the Fuller Building at 1531-45 Main Street and is still there minus both domes and the other building you show after that is down at the corner of 1254 main and elm street at court square.
There is zero evidence of any ancient origin to the buildings of Springfield. I have been to many of these buildings, they were built during a time when a lot money was invested in public buildings.
I think Route I - 91 was built in 1955, when the Everett Hosmer Barney mansion, then a museum, was razed, to make room for the highway. Mr. Everett Barney & some others, gave their land to become what is Forest Park, a park/preserve, after his son’s untimely passing. The family is buried in the mausoleum built for his son, which was where his father would have built him a house. The archives say that George’s (Everett’s son) last wish was for what would become known as ‘Forest Park’ to be open to the public! I’m so grateful to them & the others who thought ahead & had such generous hearts to donate their land as a park & preserve of gardens & wild animals. Mr. Barney also owned 1 of the first 3, 3-Wheel Cars made in Springfield! In back of my building, are the beautiful homes built at the turn of the 20th century with their carriage houses & servants’ quarters. Sometimes, the servants lived on a certain side of the houses. That’s a great photo or old, yet well preserved, postcard of the Barney mansion! Great to see this! Thanks! 🙏🏼
There is a series of old books published in Springfield about the Civil War. The set was made 30 years after the war. The publisher burnt down during the second box of sets were being made. There are only a few in circulation. The bridge was made out of granite From Flynt Quarry in Monson, MA. Which provided granite to most public/government buildings in the area, and some of the granite was used to create the Lincoln memorial way out in DC. As well as the curbs you see in the streets. those were about a foot and a half long pieces of granite. If you look at the federal building its made of the same material, as well as union station. You can visit the Quarry where the material was extracted, cut and shipped in Monson. As it is a "Park" area now. But you can still see the giant walls of solid Granite that were cut out of the side of one of the mountains in "Granite Valley" (Monson) A place for a while that was home to Emily Dickenson's Mom, and Emily as well.
This video was terrible. All you did was plagiarize some old pictures. You added absolutely no extra information. You comments were bland and meaningless. Where are these places in Springfield? What happened to them? Who built them? This is a zero-value-added video. Are all your videos like this?
the big point here is ... where did all the money and the labor to build all of that come from? They did not have the money and the people to build them. Further, the architecture in some buildings look like russia or even islamic !
Springfield was an industrial/innovation powerhouse 1830's-1930's. Springfield armory which made most if not all weapons for the US Army (starting in 1794) was there and that spun-off a lot of other companies. A car company by the name of Rolls-Royce even assembled cars in Springfield for a short time in the early 1900's.
What do you mean they did not have the money to build them? Of course they did or they would not exist. Also, Russia, Islamic, huh? You need to get out more.
Between the insurance companies and all the industries they indeed had the money, and the know how to build them. There were lots of immigrants from Europe looking for work.
Wonderful video. I live North of Springfield. That one would be fascinating to look at some time. You had mentioned a couple of times earlier in the video that you would be telling us about the "mosque" looking building. Is it a "mason lodge?" I do know driving South on I 91 you will see a blue dome with gold stars on top of an old building. I always wanted to go inside. I do not know if it is still there?
Yeah, that stone bridge is over by the union station, now, if you were to walk down the side street that the bar is on, you would undoubtedly run into some very colorful characters, for some reason I never made my way down that road
I live in Springfield Massachusetts, & grew up in WEST Springfield, & one of the SIMPSONS creators Mike Scully graduated from West Springfield High School where I did! SO, I believe that Springfield in the SIMPSONS definitely is MASSACHUSETTS
They may have worked harder in the old days but they certainly did not know more. The civilization that built these structures had higher knowledge and their work ethic is a mystery.
@6:42 Thst low bridge IS STILL there, & the P.V.TA. (PIONEER VALLEY TRANSIT AUTHORITY) Bus Station WAS right down to the left there since way before I was born, & NOW is across the street! And the Bus station is a place called WAY FINDERS where people can seek Housing!
Wonderful video! I live in upstate NY and we still have many of these amazing old world structures which are astounding! Could you do a video on Providence RI and Newport RI...passed through both in our way to Cape cod on a side trip...filled with grand structures and fall river, Mass, too. The Cranston street armory in Providence RI was astounding...took up a whole block! It is in danger of being demolished, I learned on researching it after the trip. Thank you for these informative gifts! ♥️😊
Most of the buildings that you showed are still in place, some are converted into a different function, but still there, how do I know? I live in Springfield since 1985, and we love it here.
Springfield, Holyoke and Chicopee were such important cities, Springfield Armory, Basketball Hall of Fame, Indian Motorcycles, Smith and Wesson, Dr. Seuss….. Italian, Polish and many other cultures flourished through assimilation. Now it’s a hollowed out, crime ridden, impoverished city with a casino that only comes alive during March Madness. The only thing booming there now is the endless flow of traffic coming and going from the court ( Hall of Justice).🙄 Indian failed, left and resurrected, Smith and Wesson left, Dr. Seuss passed on. The bike path is now a crime ridden, giant homeless tent city with open drug use. It is now a place I totally avoid, it’s such a shame and depressing. I totally agree with this video creator/ narrator, history is very inaccurate and was usually unconfirmed, biased propaganda, as seen in the past war events- the victors decide History. Great video!
5:05 Those huge rounded peaks look just like the ones on the Shriners building in Auburn Maine. There's Several buildings shown here that resemble buildings around Portland Maine.
Go look at a dr seuss book you will see those building with things on the roof.ive been liveing here all my life .we were the first in many things the armory and shays rebellion smith and wesson the city of homes john brown lived here for a bit.
What do you mean gaps? Don't you think stone work stopped just because of price? I live here, thanks for the memories. I'd like to hear your thoughts tho
I drive by these buildings every day of my life and I have always known there is far more to this little city than meets the eye! Sadly they have destroyed much of what was standing. I want to know why in the ell would they ever tear down that Morish building on Main ST.????
the campanile, or clock tower is situated between City Hall and Symphony Hall. They do not have the funds or the ability to repair it. It's a lost art.
2:16 at the left base of that stone bridge is a little bar. Had my first beer there...i was like 16 😂 6:38 yep that was the one 😂 10:20 Trinity was my preschool 🥰
Boy, you said a mouthful there kiddo! Who and what we are, And ! Have Been! All Along. Yes, I've been looking at this, for quite some time, and I'm not sure we have the genetic structure to remember who we are and have been. Yet, we the lowly people of this world could take it back in a breath, if we could only come together and decide what it is, fundamentally that "" We "" want. And then see only That ! As Our World. No Doubting! And in a moment, it would be so. That's how powerful We Are. That is why they keep is divided, that's why they try soo hard to get us to believe in their His - Story. I can't help but wonder if the ones who left before us, the ones who manifested these awesome structures, did they leave us with a way to correct ourselves ? At this point, we would need a magical potion or something to bring back those ghost DNA, which would make everything the evil ones do, Moot. And then we could watch them turn to Dust.
On buying the first one shown, that was our great great grandparents, which in some cases, may be " us " 200 yrs round trip so they say. But as we are seeing, if you didn't agree with the given story, you got a one way ticket to the nearest asylum. And they had plenty! Must have been a WHOLE BUNCH Of us calling Bullchit on the narrative back then. Resistors! 😂
A lot of those buildings are still there. Kimball Hotel is now Kimball Towers apartments. The coliseum at the Eastern States is in West Springfield - I was there yesterday for a horse show. The library and museums, the city hall buildings. I don't know if Stonewall Tavern is still operating, but it was a micro bar that seated about 10 to 15 people. That's the first time I've heard a conspiracy theory about the history of those buildings. Springfield was a wealthy city back then and just like all cities, they built ornate buildings, mostly with labor from Italy and Ireland. I appreciated seeing the pictures, but the narration is lacking. You could have researched a bit more and you would have dicovered how many of those buildings are still in use (for instance).
Don't forget the German immigrants...I don't know why you think I'm trying to say all these buildings no longer stand. That's certainly not the intent. The purpose of this channel is to question official history. I appreciate you watching
@@oldworldex Question what? They built the buildings and later some were torn down. I don't know what you mean by "official history". You aren't doing UFO videos, you know?!
