Westfield Atheneum
The very earliest history of the library dates to around 1830 when Westfield attorney William G. Bates formed Westfield’s first library association, the Westfield Social Library housed above Snow and Hayes General Store on Elm Street. In 1850 H.B. Smith purchased the books from Bates and ran a circulating library from his bookstore next to the Hampden National Bank on Main Street. The books were then purchased by Dr. Simeon Shurtleff who left the collection to the Westfield Athenaeum.The Westfield Athenaeum was incorporated by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature, Chapter 88, on March 11, 1864. Hiram H. Harrison, president of the American Whip Company, announced he would provide a library and reading room for the town. A brick brownstone building, valued at approximately $10,000 was erected at 26 Main Street. Ten thousand dollars was raised by private subscription for the purchase of books. The Westfield Athenaeum opened its doors on January 1, 1868. A fee of $2.00 annually entitled one to full use of the library.In 1895 the library became free to all residents of town fourteen years of age and older. In 1898 the trustees of the Westfield Academy conveyed, without consideration, land and building (Fowler-Gillett Homestead) on the corner of Court and Elm Streets. The house was remodeled for library use and dedicated on March 6, 1899.The steady growth of the library and of the community soon created a need for a larger library. M.B. Whitney, President of the Athenaeum from 1893 to 1915 left the library $80,000 for building and remodeling. The new building and the remodeled Fowler-Gillett Homestead for the Boys and Girls Library were dedicated in 1927. The Jasper Rand Art Museum, a gift of Mrs. Florence Rand Lang in honor of her father and grandfather opened shortly afterwards. The Edwin Smith Historical Museum, a gift of William T. Smith in honor of his father, opened in 1928. The original library building on Main Street was torn down that same year.A new main library wing and extension to the Boys and Girls Library were dedicated in 1966. These additions doubled the floor space of the Athenaeum. The Athenaeum Bookmobile began service in 1972 and made 30 stops per week. The Branch Library service began at the New Westfield High School on Montgomery Road in 1973 with a 2,000-volume collection.In 1986 the library joined the C/W MARS automated materials sharing network and automated our collection of over 120,000 items, providing access to our circulating collections via the web. Since then a growing number of non-print formats have been added to the collection including e-books, e-videos and e-readers.Budget constraints forced the closure of the Branch Library and the Edwin Smith Historical Museum in 1990. Bookmobile service was terminated that year. An Outreach Program began servicing homebound residents of Westfield in 1996, and computers with Internet access became available to the public in 1998. Wireless internet became available in 2005.The Edwin Smith Historical Museum reopened in 2003 thanks to a grant from Westfield Bank and a tremendous volunteer effort.If a visitor is interested in walking through the Old Burying Ground, Point of Interest number six on the tour,the key for the gate may be obtained at the reference desk at the Westfield Athenaeum.
Westfield Civil War Monument (Court Street/Park Square)
The money to erect this memorial was raised by the Grand Army of the Republic about 4 years after the close of the war. It was sculpted by Melzar Hunt Mosman, and sent to the Ames Manufacturing Company to be poured. The whole statue stands 18 ft high with the statue itself being made of bronze and standing 8 ft tall. The base is 10 ft tall and made of granite with plaques on the sides that read: WESTFIELD HONORS THE MEMORY OF HER SONS WHO HAVE FALLEN IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY, UNION AND INDEPENDENCE/1861-1865/ERECTED 1871. The front of the statue is a relief of an eagle perched on a shield. The back of the statue has a relief of a fallen soldier.
General William Shepard Statue (Broad Street/Park Square)
William Shepard, a General in the Revolutionary War, was the highest ranking member of the Continental Army from western Massachusetts. He was wounded, by a bullet in the neck, while protecting General George Washington's retreat from Long Island. He recovered and continued fighting; ultimately, participating in twenty-two battles. After the war he was chosen by President Washington, in 1787, to lead the Federal forces to protect the Springfield Armory from rebel attack during Shay's Rebellion.The bronze statue of Major General William Shepard was created by sculptor Augustus Lukeman in 1918 and dedicated on September 3, 1919. It stands 8 feet high on a 7 foot pink granite pedestal. The pedestal contains the following inscriptions:(Front)MAJOR GENERALWILLIAM SHEPARD1737-1817 (Right Side)REPRESENTATIVE IN THE GENERAL COURTSTATE SENATORGOVERNOR'S COUNCILLORPRESIDENTIAL ELECTORMEMBER OF CONGRESSU.S. COMMISSIONER TO THE SIX NATIONSMODERATORXII YEARS SELECTMAN OF WESTFIELDXXVII YEARS DEACON OF THE CHURCHCHARTER TRUSTEE OF WESTFIELD ACADEMY(Back)ERECTED BYTHE DESCENDANTS OF GENERAL SHEPARDANDTHE PEOPLE OF WESTFIELD1919. (Left Side)CAPTAIN - FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS1754-1763MEMBER OF COMMITTEE OF CORRESPONDENCEAND SAFETYCONTINENTAL LINEENGAGED IN XXII BATTLES1775-1783COLONEL AND BRIGADIER GENERALMAYOR - GENERAL MASSACHUSETTS MILITIASUBDUING SHAY'S REBELLION
First Congregational Church (18 Broad Street)
The First Congregational Church, located on Broad Street across from the Westfield Green, is an impressive Italianate edifice. It is the church’s fourth meeting house. The first was built around 1673 and the second around 1720. The latter building burned in 1803 and was replaced in 1805 by a new meeting house, called the Bulfinch Church because of its Charles Bulfinch-derived design. According to Vol. 2 of Lockwood’s Westfield and its Historic Influences (1922):The old Bulfinch church building was purchased by Hon. William G. Bates, moved to a lot back of its old location, and, the steeple having been taken down, used for carriage making and other purposes for many years, until destroyed by fire.The present church building was erected in 1860, with L. F. Thayer as architect and George Green as builder. The efficient work of the latter was so highly appreciated when completed that the society voted him a gift of $500.The original steeple was damaged in a windstorm on February 27, 1886, when it was torn off and crashed into the church. It was replaced by an extremely elaborate second steeple, which was in turn replaced by the current steeple, erected in 1962.Reverend Edward Taylor(1642-1729)Edward Taylor was the minister of Westfield, Massachusetts, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He wrote poetry throughout his life, and his poems testify to his deep religious faith. He cautioned his family not to publish his poetry, and when it finally appeared in print in 1939, it was considered one of the great literary discoveries of the 20th century. Today, Taylor is regarded as one of the finest Colonial poets. His gravestone, and that of his first wife, Elizabeth, can be seen in the walkway of the First Congregational Church.
Knox Trail Marker (Main Street/Around the corner from The Tavern)
Number 8 of 26 markers in Massachusetts to commemorate General Henry Knox's transport of artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Cambridge.THROUGH THIS PLACE PASSEDGENERAL HENRY KNOXIN THE WINTER OF1775 - 1776TO DELIVER TOGENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTONAT CAMBRIDGETHE TRAIN OF ARTILLERYFROM FORT TICONDEROGA USEDTO FORCE THE BRITISH ARMYTO EVACUATE BOSTONERECTED BY THE COMMONWEALTHOF MASSACHUSETTS 1927
The Old Burying Ground ( Mechanic Street)
The Old Burying Ground is an historical gem that has gone unnoticed by many Westfield residents due to its secluded location. Set back some 100 feet from Mechanic Street and guarded by a handsome wrought iron fence and gate. The Old Burying Ground was not identified from the road and could be entirely missed by the casual passerby. A 2007 grant from the Community Preservation Act remedied the situation and made the Revolutionary War era graveyard easily identifiable by city residents with the installation of a granite sign marking the entrance.The cemetery was established as the first community burial ground in the 1600s. There are many smaller cemeteries in the outlying areas around Westfield which are local or even family plots. The Old Burying Ground (Mechanic Street Cemetery) was established on a small knoll that could be seen across the Fort Meadow from the stockade in a north westerly direction.Originally the cemetery was about half its present size and was enlarged about 1825. The original entrance was on Main Street on the southeast side of the second church built in Westfield. There was also a receiving tomb there for many years. At that time the western boundary was near the big maple that fell down from rot in 1996. The Mechanic Street entrance opened in 1834.If a visitor is interested in walking through the cemetery, the key for the gate may be obtained at the reference desk at the Westfield Athenaeum.
Bismarck Hotel and Buschmann's Block (16-36 Union Avenue)
John C. Buschmann emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1852 and moved from Feeding Hills to Westfield in 1857. He established a wholesale tobacco business in 1860 and soon built the Railroad House Hotel (later replaced by the Bismarck Hotel) in Depot Square in Westfield. In 1873, he built Buschmann’s Block at 36 Union Avenue in Dept Square. He used the building as a warehouse and offices for his tobacco and other businesses, which included coal, wood and ice. Buschmann’s Block later became a whip manufacturing plant, a furniture store and then a flower shop. In 1995, the building became home to Pilgrim Candle, which expanded to include the Bismarck Hotel building next door in 2001.
Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company, Inc. (360 Elm Street)
The building, located at 360 Elm Street, is the last of those plants that contains, and still uses, much of the machinery from that period in its current whip production, machinery that was designed and built in Westfield. Patent documents for that technology will eventually be part of the museum display. The building, constructed in 1894, is currently listed on the National Registry of Historic places and the state registry as well.
Gillett Block (100 Elm Street)
After the Masonic Block on Elm Street in Westfield burned down in 1896, Ralph D. Gillett constructed a new building (100 Elm Street) on the site in 1898-1899. It is a three-story granite and buff brick corner building with terra cotta and metal trim. Gillett was president of the Hampton Railroad, whose offices were in the building, along with McClure Laboratories (which tested food for imurities, gaining Westfield the title of" The Pure Food Town“) and The Great River Water and Power Company. Today the Gillett Block is owned by the City of Westfield and is used by the Westfield Gas & Electric Company.
