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Historical Photographs of Methuen |
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To accommodate the
growing number of Irish Catholic factory workers, Bishop Fitzpatrick
purchased land to build a Catholic church on the corner of Broadway
and Park Streets in the mid 1800s. Father Marsden had been saying
Mass in the Town Hall. St. Monica's held it's first services
on Easter Sunday 1897. Edward F. Searles promised to build a
church and rectory for Saint Monica's but died before that project
could be done. Arthur Walker, trustee for Searles estate, later
deeded land to the church for the rectory which was begun in
1922. |
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Pleasant
Street looking toward monument park, circa 1910. |
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This house at 37
Pleasant Street was built by Richard Whittier between August
and November of 1830. Originally a rough stone farm house, the
building was purchased in April 1882 by Charles H. Tenney, who
converted it to the elegant Gate House. The Gate House is one
of two structures of the extensive estate to survive intact and
can be seen in many of the historic photographs of Grey Court.
It had recently undergone extensive restoration. |
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Grey Court was the centerpiece of the Charles
Tenney's Estate. Begun in 1890 and completed three years later,
the mansion served as the summer home of Charles Tenney' s family.
Ernest W. Bowditch, who designed Tuxedo Park in New York, designed
the grounds, which won a prestigious horticultural prize in 1902
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In 1951, the Tenney family gave 26 acres to
the town for a High School and sold the rest to the Basilican
Salvatorian Order. From 1977-1978 a series of fires eventually
destroyed the mansion.
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All Saints Episcopal
Church was one of a several major buildings constructed through
the generosity of Edward F. Searles. Its cornerstone was laid
in 1904. The church was designed by architect Henry Vaughn. When
it was begun in 1904, All Saints had 164 communicants, many of
them former members of the Saint Thomas Church of Methuen which
had closed in 1901. All Saints remained strong until after World
War II when the mill industry declined. In 1950 All Saints merged
with Saint John's of Lawrence and was renamed Saint Andrew's. |
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The bridge at the
Organ Factory was one of several public works projects donated
to the city by Edward F. Searles about 1912. The towers, were
designed by Searles' architect Henry Vaughan. |
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The First Baptist
Church was formed on March 1, 1815 with thirteen members, five
men and eight women. Services were held in the Daniel Frye house
and in the old meeting house which was enlarged twice. In 1840
a church was built on this site but burned in 1869. The present
church was built the same year and dedicated in January 1870.
The bell, which was cast in Baltimore and weighed 1600 pounds
was installed in 1878. In 1913, the steeple was removed.. |
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Hope Lodge 34, I.O.O.F.
was instituted in Methuen in 1844 and by 1879, meeting rooms
for the Lodge were located in the James Dodge Store (271 Broadway).
The Odd Fellows Building, dedicated in September of 1899, was
the culmination of a twenty year effort by the Hope Lodge of
Methuen to build a permanent home. The Methuen Post Office and
two stores occupied the first floor. The second floor held seven
offices and a small lodge room. A large lodge room occupied the
third floor, while a banquet hall, kitchen, and smoking room
were located on the fourth floor. |
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The First Church
was formed when the town was incorporated in 1726. The first
church building was erected in 1728 and occupied a site on Meeting
House Hill on the triangle of land across from the entrance to
the Holy Family Hospital. The second Meetinghouse was dedicated
for public service in 1796 but moved to the present site in 1832
when the village at the Spicket River Falls had grown to the
point that Meeting House Hill ceased to be a common center. In
1853 the wooden building was torn down and this stone structure
was built in its place. |
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Broadway looking north
near the old St. Monica's Church , circa 1910. |
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Perhaps one of the
saddest moments for many Methuen residents was at the loss of
the George Washington Monument. Here we see it being dismantled
prior to being shipped to Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale,
California. The statue was commissioned by Edward F. Searles
and was unveiled on February 22, 1900. It is a masterpiece by
Thomas Ball, a renowned American sculptor. Standing atop a rectangular
pedestal is a fifteen foot statue of Washington. The statue was
sold and removed from Methuen in 1958 to make way for St, Monica's
Grammar School. |
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This 1920's postcard
shows Harris Boat House located on an island on the north side
of the Spicket River at the dam near the Central Fire Station.
The public could rent a canoe to explore the river north of the
dam. The building has been taken down in recent years. Behind
the boat house is a rear view of the boarding houses on Pine
Street built by the Methuen Mills as lodgings for their workers.
Similar houses were built throughout the neighborhood. These
particular houses were moved to Lowell Street adjacent to the
Fire Station. |
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The picture above
shows the original Central School built in l905 by Edward F.
Searles and given to the town of Methuen to serve as a replacement
for the East School. The original building was an excellent example
of the style of architecture of Sir Christopher Wren. The original
plans were drawn up by Searles' architect Mr. Henry Vaughan.
The building was expanded in 1924 when additional classrooms,
a gymnasium and a cafeteria were added. Great care was taken
by the town, as you can see in the picture below, to keep the
architecture compatible with the original school, with its main
entrance still located on Ditson Place. In the ensuing years,
the building has been both a grammar and a junior high school.
In 1975 the Central School became a grammar school again. |
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Lawrence Street
looking toward the old section of East Street, now one of the
entrances to Presentation of Mary Academy, circa 1900. |
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In 1897, Mr.
Searles purchased these two Corinthian columns from the Bank
of America in New York and had them delivered to Methuen. These
20 ton granite columns had been in New York since 1838. They
were quarried from the same area in Quincy, Massachusetts as
the granite used to build the Bunker Hill Monument, Quincy Market
in Boston and many of the buildings in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Mr. Searles had wanted to make an entrance to his estate at the
corner of Park and Lawrence Street, so that visitors would come
up the driveway between the two columns and be greeted at the
Waldo House prior to being taken into the grounds of the adjoining
estate. The Baptist Church owned a small triangular piece of
land at the corner when the town took a strip of their land to
build Park Street. When the church refused to sell that piece
of land to Searles, the gates were removed and the opening was
sealed with granite blocks. |
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The West School
was built in 1890. At the turn of the century this two story
wooden school was enlarged. It stood at the corner of Lowell
and Barker Streets until 1983 when, by recommendation of the
State of Massachusetts, it was torn down. The Methuen Senior
Citizen's Center now stands on this site. |
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The Nevins Home
at 100-110 Broadway was built on the site of the home of Charles
Ingalls, one of Methuen's early hat manufacturers. In 1905 the
Ingalls property was acquired by the executors for the estate
of Julie F. H. Nevins who died in 1904. Mrs. Nevins left $100,000,
plus an endowment, for construction of the Henry C. Nevins Home
for Aged and Incurable, a memorial to her late husband. Ground
breaking began in June 1905 and dedication of the new facility
took place in July of the following year.The Nevins Home remained
in operation from 1906 until 1982. A modern nursing care facility
was later constructed behind the original structure. |
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The Searles High
School was built in 1904 for the Town of Methuen by local millionaire
and community benefactor Edward F. Searles. It was designed by
Henry Vaughan who also responsible for other Searles commissions
such as the Serlo Organ Hall (1899-1909), the Central School
(1904), All Saints Episcopal Church (1904), and the Railroad
Station (1908). The building remained a High School until it
was replaced by the new Tenney High School in 1952. It became
an elementary school until 1975 and school department offices
until 1983. The building was then sold to the Bergmeyer Development
Company. They developed the building for office space, opening
in 1986. In 1992, the building was repurchased by the town for
use as a town hall. |
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