Wistariahurst Museum
Wistariahurst was first built in Williamsburg, MA by William Fenno Pratt, famous architect of Northampton, MA in 1868. When the Mill River Flood of 1874 destroyed the towns of Williamsburg, Haydenville, Skinnerville, Leeds and other hamlets in the area, William Skinner, silk dyer in Williamsburg, decided to move his home piece by piece to this location in Holyoke. Wistariahurst is the home of former silk manufacturer William Skinner. He lived here with his 7 children from 1874 until his death in 1902. The house was donated to the city in 1959 and today reflects the elegant tastes of two Skinner generations.

Mountain Park
Mountain Park bridged the gap between the leisure and working class. It was a simple place with gardens, a carousel, roller coaster and a few concessions. Mountain Park in Holyoke, Massachusetts began life in 1894 as a trolley stop for Holyoke Street Railway Company at the halfway point up to Mount Tom. In 1897 the state granted the Holyoke Street Railway Company a charter for a "pleasure resort." That year the theater was enclosed, with seating for 2,500 people. It mainly presented light opera. In 1909 they added a dance hall, a restaurant and a small German carousel. In 1929, Pellissier took ownership of the park. He expanded the midway with a new roller coaster (initially called The Wildcat), a carousel (housed in what used to be the dance pavilion), an Airplane Ride, Midget Auto Cars, Whip, Penny Arcade, Shooting Gallery and other amusements. A new automobile entrance was created off of Route 5. But Pellissier's timing was unfortunate: that year the Great Depression took hold. Even so, Mountain Park remained open for over twenty years under the leadership of Pellissier until the Collins family purchased it in 1952. That began the park's renaissance. Unfortunately, with the vast expansion of Riverside Amusement park, Mountain Park become less attended and eventually decided to close it doors in 1987.

Holyoke Turbine
Turbines were a contributing factor to the growth of Holyoke. It was the water turbine invented by John McCormick in his workshop at Jolley Water Wheel Company and Holyoke Machine Company that improved the mechanics of a water wheel by 30%. The Holyoke Turbine claimed that when the water reached the bottom of the tube, 80% of its energy had been transferred to the turning rotor. It was compact and took up minimal space in a mill, which is why it made such a huge difference for production of energy for Holyoke’s mills.

Mountain Park Carousel
The Mountain Park Carousel, also known as Philadelphia Toboggan Company #85, was built in 1927 and installed at Mountain Park in 1929.  The carousel contained 48 horses, 56 original scenic panels, and 864 colored lights.  But in 1987, John Collins' son, who had run the park for decades, felt it was time to close. As rides were advertised for sale, Collins received several offers to buy the merry-go-round. This was a period when individual carousel horses were selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Collins was offered $2 million for the ride, but wanted to see it remain closer to home. John Hickey, at that time the head of the Holyoke Water Power Company, approached Collins with a proposal to save the merry-go-round for the city of Holyoke. Collins agreed to sell the ride to the city for $875,000. Hickey gathered a team together including Angela Wright, a Holyoke resident known for her fundraising ability. Within a year the newly-formed non-profit group The Friends of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round had raised the money necessary to purchase the ride. In December of 1993, PTC merry-go-round #85 re-opened to the public in its new home at Heritage State Park.

Nick’s Nest
Nick’s Nest started as a popcorn pushcart owned by Nick Malfas starting in 1921. He is remembered for pushing his cart all over Northampton and Dwight Streets. His popularity of goods grew and Malfas decided to move his business to a small building off of I-91 in 1927.  Malfas’s wife called the small building a “nest” giving the quaint building its famous name.  The restaurant, notorious for its popcorn, hot dogs and baked beans, was later passed on to Malfas’s son, Charles. Custom made from Nick's original 1920's recipe, the hot dogs are still a blend of fresh cuts of beef and pork. Today, though no longer operated by family, Nick’s Nest continues to provide great traditional American food in a historic setting.

H.B. Lawrence School
Hiram Bartlett Lawrence, for whom the school was named, was a long-time and beloved principal of the Appleton Street School. Born in 1840, he came to Holyoke in 1872 to teach. He was the first teacher in Holyoke to introduce the study of nature into his classes. His obituary in 1910 notes that his school “was the pioneer in the City Beautiful Movement, planting the handsome trees and the ivy that has changed a homely brick building to a beautiful ivy draped school house.” Two new schools were opened in Holyoke in the early 1930s, HB Lawrence School housed the students of the old Lawrence School and the South Chestnut School. The use of Gothic Revival style, used here in 1931, is commonplace for educational institutions. Characteristic of this style are the pointed-arch windows, the large expanses of windows, the stone trip contrasting with brick, and the many gables.

Providence Hospital
The Sisters of Providence is the oldest mission in Massachusetts. They came to Holyoke in 1873 and completed the building of Providence Hospital in 1874. It was the first Catholic Hospital in Western Massachusetts and the second Catholic Hospital in the state. The new Providence Hospital at Brightside was dedicated in 1958.

Steiger’s Department Store
Steiger’s Department stores were a staple of Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley. Albert Steiger was born in Rosenberg Germany in 1860. In 1899 he took over the Ferguson and Logan Dry Good Store on High Street in Holyoke and built up his business with the help of his father-in-law. He moved south on High Street that same year and established his business across from City Hall. The elaborate monograms which are still seen on the façade were added in 1899. In 1954, the company purchased the Woolworth Building at 293 High Street and renovated the first floor after walls between the two buildings were torn down. In 1956, the second floors were renovated. In 1963, the third floor was renovated. Albert Steiger was a noted philanthropist in the city of Holyoke, having donated the land that later became the Holyoke Water department, and Wyckoff Country Club, which was then known as Mt. Tom Golf Course.

Holyoke City Hall
When City Hall was built in the 1870s, High Street was just developing as a business center, and it is said that there were cows grazing on three sides of the site. Nevertheless, the city of 10,000 people invested in this impressive structure to represent the prominence of the quickly growing city. Holyoke’s City Hall was the first monumental structure designed by Charles Bower Atwood, who later went on to design the Chicago World’s Fair and the Vanderbilt Mansion in New York City. The high windows with pointed arches are typical of the High Victorian Gothic style, modeled on the churches in Medieval England and France. Perhaps to the early residents, this planned industrial city, the churchlike construction is a symbol of the reverence for the city government. The original concept was for the building to house every aspect of city government, from council rooms and auditoriums to police lock-up. The circular driveway on the High Street side with the porte cochaire protected prestigious visitors from the rain as they stepped from their carriages into the building. Over 80 stonemasons worked on the building, which is made entirely of munson granite. The stones were ferried up the river, then brought downtown by the railroad, and finally delivered to the site by horse. The 220 foot tower houses a 4,925 pound bell. By the time of its completion, City Hall cost nearly $500,000 to build. One hundred years later, about half of that amount was spent on repairs to the slate roof alone.

Children’s Museum at Holyoke
The Children’s Museum at Holyoke is located in a former Skinner silk mill building on the first level canal. The Children’s Museum in Holyoke was founded in 1981 and hosts more than 43,000 visitors and tourists annually. The museum continues to provide rich educational activities and opportunities to all who visit.

Holyoke High School
Holyoke High School was created in 1852, with a focus on classical education plus scientific courses to prepare students for college. Classes in Greek, Latin and Chemistry were also offered. The first high school was located on High Street and later moved to the corner of Dwight and Race Streets.  In 1862, the new high school was built and called Elm Street School. Just before 1900, the high school moved to a building on Pine Street. Shortly after being replaced by the newer, larger facility on Beech Street the original Holyoke High School burned in a spectacular fire.

The Yankee Pedlar
Originally the home of Judge John Hildreth, the Yankee Pedlar was built in 1875, and was a private home until 1942.  In 1946 the Tambouri’s converted the home’s main building into a colonial inn, the first of its kind in Holyoke. They reopened as the Yankee Pedlar Inn in the summer of 1947. The Tambouri legacy, however, was the addition of the Opera House in 1973. In 1977, the Peldar was purchased by the Banks family. In 1995, the Yankee Pedlar Inn was purchased by the Clayton Family, who still own and operate the business as a banquet facility.

Kenilworth Castle
Kenilworth Castle was built in 1894 and sat on a hill with a commanding view of the Connecticut River. The Taft Family built it as a summer home to resemble English castles. Throughout the years, the home passed to various family members and in 1957, a woman left the home to the Hadley Falls Trust Company, who had difficulty finding a buyer for the eclectic property. The Holyoke Water Power Company bought the building in 1959 and considered putting a power station on the land. The proposal was thought to be too expensive, so they changed plans to moving their offices there. However, a study found that there was no significant historical value and the building was considered unsound. The building was demolished in 1959.

Mt. Tom Ski Area
The Mt. Tom Ski Area opened in 1962 and contained a double-chair, T-bar, rope tow, 3 slopes, and 1 trail, along with snowmaking.  By 1973, 4 more trails were added and in 1987 the mountain boasted 17 trails. Mt. Tom was also open during the summer and contained a wave pool, water slides and an alpine slide.

Holyoke Transcript-Telegram
Holyoke’s Transcript telegram was published as a daily since 1882.Charles H. Lyman became owner and editor of the Holyoke Transcript in 1863. The paper expanded under his proprietorship and in 1869, JP Wentworth built the structure which Lyman leased from him for the newspaper. At some point, Lyman sold out to WS Loomis, who formed a partnership with William G. Dwight in 1882. In 1888, Dwight became the sole proprietor of the paper, finally merging with the Telegram. It was located on High Street until moving to Whiting Farms Road in the 1970s. In 1993, the Transcript Telegram was purchased by a larger New England paper company located in New Hampshire.

Victory Theater
Built in 1919 and opened on New Year’s Eve, the Victory building is an example of the simple Beaux Arts style with overtones of early Art Deco. The Victory’s façade is ornamented with simple pilasters, Corinthian capitals, theater masks and garlands. The entrance was remodeled sometime in the 1960s. Originally used for vaudeville and silent movies, it switched completely to movies in the 1930s. The Victory also housed offices, apartments and a theater. The theater was closed in 1979. A fire in 1942 destroyed the second balcony and much of the roof. This led to extensive remodeling of the interior. Today the building stands vacant, in mute testimony to the grandeur of early twentieth century American theaters.

Holyoke Catholic High School
Holyoke Catholic High School is a complex of buildings.  In 1854 St. Jerome’s parish was established. In 1869 the church purchased a wooden school house on Elm Street for $3,000 and moved it to this location for $1,000. It became known as the Immaculate Conception of Notre Dame de Lourdes School for girls. 4 sisters came to teach and they boarded in the convent at 85 Chestnut Street. The new brick school building was built in 1883. In 1960, it became St. Jerome’s High School. Due to declining enrollment, St. Jerome’s, Sacred Heart and Holy Rosary merged to become Holyoke Catholic High School. The Chestnut Street campus was occupied from until the summer of 2002 when the Diocese of Springfield deem the buildings "unsafe" for occupation. The Diocese commissioned the small architectural firm of A.P. Casella to conduct the evaluation of the property. It is now operated in close cooperation with the Elms College in Chicopee.

The Canoe Club
Before the era of the motor car, boating on the Connecticut River was a popular sport and several young men who owned their own canoes decided to form a club. Every year, there was a regatta at the San Sauci Club House, which later became the Holyoke Canoe Club. It was incorporated in 1888 and was originally located north of Holyoke, consisting of a small barn like clubhouse, just above the present dam.  The clubhouse had one room, 12 lockers and space for 20 canoes. The Canoe Club motto is: “Go Early, Come Often, Stay Late and Enjoy Ourselves.” It is still a popular place for tennis, swimming, and general outdoor recreation.

The Holyoke Mall
One of the largest regional malls in New England, the three-floor 1.6 million square foot mall is owned by the Pyramid Corporation and was built in 1979.  Originally, there were only 85 stores. Once home to such pioneer valley mainstays as Steigers and G.Fox, the Holyoke mall also once contained cinemas and an indoor mini golf course.

Lynch School
Due to the increasing number of pupils in the public school system, Lynch School was built as a junior high school for the first graduating class in 1953. It closed in 2008 due to lack of funding.

Scott’s Tower
Scott tower was built by the W.P.A. in 1939 as the crown jewel of the Anniversary Hill Park complex, now known as Community Field.  Purchased in 1923 by the city of Holyoke, the Community field complex is the largest park in Holyoke.  Named after Colonel Walter Scott, Scott’s tower stands high atop the Anniversary Hill.

Hometown Charm
The Holyoke Heritage Charm Series echoes the magnificent heritage of our hometown.  This collection of historic charms are all Sutter originals, and each proudly represents special landmarks and traditions of Holyoke, “the paper city.”  New charms are added each fall and spring, and are available in Sterling silver or 14 karat gold. The collection is always growing, and we are open to suggestions of new charms.