Northampton Memorial Hall in Massachusetts is dedicated to local veterans, but with a clear nod at the Civil War. The Hall was first proposed in 1867, just two years after the victory at Appomattox. In 1872, construction began. A year later the building was dedicated as a library and a Hall.
This practical use of a monument should not shock modern visitors. Many local sporting areas and highways are dedicated to veterans today. In 1888, a statue of a soldier and one of a sailor were placed at the entrance to the Hall. Inside, plaques were placed with the names of local men who died during the Civil War.
A Cincinnati architect, James McLaughlin, designed the building. He was in his mid-thirties while he was working on it. McLaughlin embarked on his professional career in 1855. Six years later, McLaughlin was a young lieutenant serving in the Union Army during the Civil War under John C. Fremont. The architect designed the building in what has come to be called a “General Grant Mansard” style.
This photo from 1907 shows the Memorial Hall with a cannon to the right of the sailor statue.
The two statues are bronze as are called the “Northampton Remembers” statues.
According to the memorial plaques listing the area’s dead Civil War soldiers, many were enlisted in the 10th Massachusetts. When the local company returned to the city after discharge, they carried their commander who had just died. The 37th Massachusetts was the second most popular. But local men enlisted in a variety of regiments, including the famous 54th Massachusetts African American regiment.
The soldier stands at parade rest, the most comfortable drill position. Melzar Hunt Mosman designed the two sculptures. He was, like architect James McLaughlin, a Union veteran. Many Massachusetts’ soldier statues use the same position, showing a man resting rather than fighting.
While the building shows wear and tear, the two statues look almost new.
The Memorial Hall is right at the southern tip of Northampton’s Main Street. This is an historic district filled with buildings from the second half of the 19th Century. At the time of the Civil War, Northampton had a population of 6,788. During the 1840s, the city had developed a strong Abolitionist movement, with a Utopian community in the Florence neighborhood. The city had some manufacturing, with a labor force strengthened by Irish immigration. However, sixty years earlier two Irishman were executed for murder in Northampton setting off a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. The two were later pardoned posthumously.
The statue of the sailor looks as fresh as when it was unveiled. While there were few sailors from Northampton, it is a nice counterpoint to the soldier.
You can see a lovely park next to the Hall, past the sailor. A block away, you can walk to Smith College. The women’s school was started during Reconstruction.
The Hall is at 240 Main Street, in Northampton, Mass. There are many restaurants and coffee houses to relax in within walking distance.
All color photos were taken by Pat Young. To see more sites Pat visited CLICK HERE for Google Earth view.
Further Reference:
Massachusetts Civil War Monuments Project
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Did you go inside? Anything left behind?
Have seen this beautiful building but only outside.
Alan Smolinski
Only to the lobby. The building was closed when I went there.
As a member of the 10th Massachusetts Regiment Civil War re-en-actors, I took many photos of our group in uniform on the steps of Memorial Hall each year, after Veterans Day ceremonies in Pulaski Park next door.
Great place to do photography.
The Google Earth “Civil War and Reconstruction Sites” you? have built I think is an excellent resource; for the northeast anyway. Thank you. I wish it covered a larger part of the US, and that CW Trails had something similar.
Thanks very much. I have more than seventy more sites that I am working on. Nearly all are places I visited in the last year.