Springfield-History.com

After I saw your posting in the Masslive Nostalgia forum, I did a search in Ancestry.com, some of these names came up in the 1910 Census or WW1 Draft Registrations... the birth years are not exact, just based on their age from the 1910 Census

Elmer Beaudry, born 1893, living in Quincy St

Edward Kieley, born 1889, Wellington St

Livingston Gardner, born 1891, Hancock St

Ernest Haynes, born 1892, Green St

Edward Chapin, born 1894, State St

I hope this helps.

Looked at an old Real Photo postcard from 1907. I had and can see that the picture of the children you have was taken at Barrows School. The key is the decoration around the windows in the picture.

I attended Sacred Heart School in Springfield, and can tell you that picture looks like it was taken there. They allowed intergrated students there, for one, second, the structure in the background looks like the old entrance near Everett Street. By the way the students were dressed, it seems that the students were made to dress formally. Sacred Heart only became a uniformed parochial school in the early '80's.

That is NOT Sacred Heart School. Especially not the Everett St side entrance. I lived right next door to the convent on Everett. I attended there from 1959 to 1968 and wore a uniform daily for all those years. My sisters continued through HS, and they wore uniforms too. Also, it was labeled "grade seven" The grades were not mingled with boys and girls until the fifies. The boys and girls even had their own entrance.

Dear dtf07,

My sincerest apologies to my mis-information!! I seemed to have struck a nerve. Obviously you are far more knowledgible about Sacred Heart School. I merely looked upon the photo and drew to an hastly and incorrect conclusion. I only wish you could have been a little less stern in your response. Please, once again accept my deepest apologies on this matter. Thank you very much for a lesson well taken about jumping to incorrect conclusions.

Dtf07 undoubtedly meant no offense, Art, with his brash response to your post. I think we historian types tend to get overly zealous when it comes to accuracy. You certainly did not come across to me as jumping to incorrect conclusions. You were attempting to help solve a mystery and that's one of the things we try to do in this wonderful website.

I went to Barrows School in the 1930's. Before that, I went to Strickland School, on the corner of Union and Oak. The photo does not look like Barrows School to me. I could be wrong. But the windows do not look like what I recall. Barrows School was more "ornate". The iron fence was there in the 40's and in the 50's. We used to sit on that fence to watch local kids play baseball in Barrows Schoolyard.

Barrows School did not go to the 7th grade. it went only to Grade 6. After that, you went to Junior High School (Buckingham). Junior High Schools were 7, 8 and 9th grade. High Schools were Grades 10, 11, and 12.

so that is not Barrows School. It must be a Junior High School

Jim Boone

Between 1900 and 1910 a Humane Society distributed waterying fountains to every state in the country. Many of these came from Vinalhaven maine, as did the Holyoke Dam It is recorded that one came to Springfield. I have an old postcard of the intersection of Belmont and Sumner at the X and can just see a similar watering fountain in the middle of the road. I am trying to determine if this is one of them. Does anyone else have other pictures of this intersection?

Also, has anyone ever seen this fountain in storage anywhere in the City

Thanks Jim Boone

There is a wonderful fountain at Court Square but I think it was just for people, dont remember if there was a place for dogs to drink down near the ground. there is also a people fountain with dog drinking places at Mason Square put there by the Temperance League in 1899. It is made out of granite too. Thanks for reminding me of this one. Jim Boone