Worcester to Holyoke - Labor Day, September 2, 1889

The Boston & Albany Railroad offered the citizens of Worcester a trip to Holyoke on Labor Day in 1889. The round trip fare of $1.00 had to be worth it, for travelers could enjoy nearly 12 hours in the Paper City touring downtown or spending the day at Mountain Park and the Summit House.The 63 mile trip took around two hours and ten minutes to complete. Talk about "high speed" rail service!!! (Seminole Bailey Archive)

The Holyoke Envelope Co.

The Holyoke Envelope Co. was organized in 1880 by George N. Tyner and  James T. Abbe. The company started business in the Holyoke Water Power's Cabot Street building of that year with 25 employees manufacturing 200,000 envelopes daily. 

The company grew steadily, but at the beginning of 1888, a fire  at the Cabot Street facility wiped the business out.  Tyner and Abbe then purchased land in the south end of the city and built a new factory on Main Street.  The new plant employed over two hundred people and produced an amazing 3,400,000 per day.

The company was later sold to the United States Envelope Company which operated the Holyoke plant for many years.

An 1889 photo of the Holyoke Envelope Company's. new plant which was located at the south end of Main Street (Seminole Bailey Archive)

Downtown Holyoke - Early 1900s

The Marble Building built in the late 1800s was originally a hotel, but by 1900 was converted to stores and office space. Child's Shoe store was located here in the early 1900s.   The building which was constructed from Vermont Marble, stood at the northeast corner of High & Dwight Streets until the 1950s when it was torn down to make way for the W.T. Grants department store. Also shown in the photo is the Hegy Cleaners building.  Between the two buildings was MurrayCourt, where The Bud was located for many years. 

Looking north up High Street near the corner of High & Dwight Streets.

A close-up view of the south side of the Marble Building, Murray Court and the eventual home of Hegy Cleaners. 

A view taken from the northeast corner of High & Dwight Streets looking south down High.

A trolley heads south down High Street at the intersection of High & Appleton Streets. The original Y.M.C.A. located at the northwest corner can be seen at the left.  (Photos courtesy of The Seminole Bailey Archive)

P. J. Cray Soda Co.

The P,J, Cray delivery wagon circa early 1900s. The company was a fixture in Holyoke for many years delivering soda and mineral water to customers in the area and had a bottling factory off of route 5 just south of Beacon Ave. The family also operated a liquor store further south on Cray Ave.  The company was eventually purchased by the Polar Beverage Inc. of Worcester.  (photo courtesy of The Seminole Bailey Archive)

Hadley Thread Mill - 1870s

A picture of the Hadley Thread Mill looking northeast up the 2nd Level Canal. Started by the Hadley Falls Company as a machine shop complex, it would later reorganize as the Hadley Spool & Cotton Company under a Holyoke Water Power Co. divesture. (photo: E. & H.T. Anthony)

The Mountain Park Zephyr 

A somewhat blurry photo of the  Mountain Park Zephyr taken at an outing in the summer of 1957. The train's route was much different in the 1950s. As you can see, the tracks ran around what would become the western end of the Mt Park golf course and continued south and looped around part of the midway near the Penny Arcade. The children's "Paddy Railroad" was also located in the center of the Zephyr's route near the Arcade. In the 1960s when the golf course was built, a train tunnel and elevated walk/water fountain over the railroad tracks were added near the Stardust Ballroom in the background to the right.  (ebay auction photo)

Holyoke Street Railway-Westfield Route

A photo taken around 1908 of the Holyoke Street Railway's trolley car Number 39 enroute to Hampton Ponds.  Remnants of the old trolley route can still be seen behind the HCC and off of Apremont Highway. (Seminole Bailey Archive)