Brimfield Timeline - Late Industrial Period (1870

Late Industrial Period (1870 - 1915)

Town Development

Published historical materials on the history of the town of Brimfield fall off considerably after 1879, when Reverend Hyde's history was published. Yet where the published documents become meager, the pictorial records of the town are abundant. Walter E. Corbin and F. Edgar Brown during this period made photographs of the town's buildings which are preserved as glass plate negatives in the Sherman Room of the Brimfield Public Library. Corbin and Brown annotated the photographs with historical information from Hyde, but also from Captain Francis Lincoln's notes, which were transcribed by his daughter Rebecca before his death in 1901. Together the photographs and annotations document the appearance of many parts of the town at the beginning of the 20th century. They also demonstrate the persisting civic consciousness that distinguishes Brimfield from many other towns.

This is a period in which the lack of industrial development and resulting preservation of rural qualities began to attract people to the town as a summer residence. The house at 23 Prospect Hill Road (MHC #113), was sold to become a summer residence, the one at 14 Sutcliff Road (MHC #104), was built as country residence, as was the house at 152 Old Palmer Road (MHC #100) .The Sherman House at 63 Brookfield Road (MHC #29) may also have been built primarily for summer use. Summer vacationers came to the Brimfield Hotel adding a resort quality to the old travelers' stopping place. A c. 1907 brochure for the hotel touted the healthful country air and the fact that a local farm provided the hotel with fresh food for guests.

Unfortunately, the Brimfield Hotel burned down for the second time in 1890. Its loss meant there was a literal gaping hole in the Center and an economic one as well. Without the hotel, the stages from Palmer and Fiskdale had to find a new stopping place, and business in the town slacked off. A group of Brimfield people rallied to repair the damaged town center and formed an investment company in 1895. Thy rebuilt a modified version of the extravagant original between 1895 and 1898, and the town center began to resume its general appearance and focus of activity, although the c. 1802 corner store was destroyed by fire in 1897, leaving a gaping hole until it too was more modestly rebuilt in 1916.

The Center added two important public buildings during this period. The first was a new Town Hall, 21 Main Street (MHC #8), designed by Springfield architect Eugene Clarence Gardner in 1878. The second was a new public library 25 Main Street (MHC #10), designed by Edwin J. Lewis in 1903. James Danielson Lincoln donated land on part of his family's farm and money for the library which was named in memory of his mother and wife. The Common Association turned over control of the town common to the town in 1880. In 1895 the center acquired a new monument (MHC #90) as well when the family of Marquis Converse donated a fountain erected on the common. A fountain was chosen in response to public concern for animal welfare, so it was designed to provide water for horses and oxen passing through town. The monument recognized the contributions Marquis Converse made to the town in government, as hotel keeper, and businessman.

Telephone service began in town as elsewhere at this time and the switchboard was kept in the Sibley- Bissell House at 17 Warren Road (MHC #73). Alma Bissell was the town's operator and slept in the room with the equipment, so as to give 24-hour service. Those with telephone service went to her office to pay their bills.