The Portal Paper Trail

May is National Historic Preservation Month and it is only proper that we reflect on the current effort to restore the Conway Public Library's damaged entrance portal. For the Library Trustee statement on the incident and the plan for the restoration of the portal see the link here.

The last week of April was the American Library Association's archival preservation week, so in that spirit this blog starts with the archival (or paper) history of the portal including its design and construction. 

A sketch of the library design was featured on the cover of the brochure for the "Services at the Laying of the Cornerstone..." June 13, 1900. You can find the record for this item in our online catalog here. 

The same image was used again a year later for the "Order of Exercises"  brochure for the dedication of the library building on June 13, 1901

You can find the record for this item in our online catalog here. 

We have the original sketch framed and displayed on the wall just inside the original entrance room. 

Along with the sketch is a photograph of the architect Thomas Silloway with the sketch displayed in his office. You can read more about the photo on our facebook page at this link here. 

A detail of the sketch shows that the finished facade compares well with the entrance portal as built. 

Only steps away from the original sketch, the original supporters of the library left a memorial to those who helped build the library in our "red room." 

Flanking a pair of windows are a pair of framed photos of people involved in the building of the library. In the right framed panel, listed as number 2 is "James P. Falt, Springfield, Mass, Contractor for freestone work." 

His portrait is above the list. 

An internet image search yields a copy of an ad he ran in a stone industry trade magazine, The American Architect and Building News, p. xix, October 28, 1898. You can see it online through Google books here. 

mentions red sandstone, the type of stone used on our building. 

mentions the Carlisle Quarries in Springfield, Mass. 

refers to "delivered at any railroad point."

for the library this would have probably been .... Conway freight? still there? 

over the years the operations expanded to other quarries in Mass and to Indiana 

Archivist Cliff McCarthy from the Springfield MA Museum contributed the following from their files (source: Springfield of Today, 1898). 

this article notes established in 1882, ranking first in quality and volume of production

at this point in 1898 year, x year before the library was built, they deal in Longmeadow sandstone, Ohio sandstone and Indiana limestone. 

"fitted up with steam power and every modern appliance,,,:

seventy skilled workmen are regularly employed in the business 

x

from Springfield Daily News 1943 looks back at 

includes picture of some of the workers (click on images to enlarge them). 

x

detail of the top part 

x

photo of some of the quarrymen

tools, hammers and picks, all men wear hats, some aprons, bibs 

coats, bib overalls 

several smoking pipes 

heavy boots 

very similar to pictures workers in our own redstone granite quarry 

insert pic here 

x

detail of the bottom part 

The article refers to both brown and red sandstone

700 men 

stable housing some 30 horses and oxen 

copy more from this....

x

x

x

using our ancestry 

other archival, including library edition, ancestry 

x 

map Falt carlisle? or longmeadow? 

neighborhood known as "sixteen acres"

compare with modern gmap, usgs maps...

click on images to enlarge them.  

From The New England Business Directory here. 

"Quarrymen and Miners of Longmeadow Red Sandstone..." 

complicated history 

here. 

x

x

this map available through our online ancestry database. ?

source/link 

crop the black, red boxes for details 

need this to orient to the village above? 

or cut the whole thing and compare to modern map with the ponds? 

before it all became part of greater springfield?

call chinook guy about that? 

notice longmeadow on the bottom, adjacent town? 

check sanborn maps online for the "factory" at the bridge 

x

x

Note the Falt stone sheds and quarry northeast of Venturers Pond and another Falt quarry east of Bass Pond. (use paint to yellow or red box these in) 

compare to modern gmap, usgs, etc. 

lidar? 

insert them here 

x

ongoing research to find if anything remains of the original quarry 

sandstone quarry and sculpting techniques similar to our own Redstone granite quarry, but with some differences. and so we will explore 

x 

later in career moved to Indiana but according to ads, etc. continued to operate quarry and stone cutting operations in and around Springfield, Mass Armory Street Bridge 

x

crop the black around this 

put red box around falt ad

source: 

date 

link to online here. 

x

longmeadow 

steam 

another ad? source 

ancestry, 

google books?

the paper trail leading me to plan field trip 

ongoing research to find if anything remains of the original quarry 

I believe that some parts are part of park, open to the public 

now focus on the mysterious order, the rules, classical 

familiar with the nomenclature, names, parts 

abacus

architrave 

astragal 

cornice

echinus

entablature 

fascia 

filet 

frieze 

plinth 

scotia 

torus 

volute 

a good description on the Ionic order can be found here. 

ancient spanning time, and space, used all over the world, neo-classical buildings, 

temples, palaces, castles 

banks 

bridges 

furniture 

We also have online version of the Reporter News which followed all of the events, over time

link here. 

see the gdoc version notes on this blog

x 

from May 3, 1900 surveying the lot here to laying the cornerstone here to a report of the dedication ceremony here. (and many other points in between and since....

x

while traditional and widespread, the red sandstone of the cpl is unique in the area. and the only example I know of 

x

however, there are many columns based on some of the rules, 

banks, etc. kms, etc. 

wide range of materials, wood, granite, sandstone, 

examples throughout Conway and the MWV 

elegance, refinement 

cottages, (tolles) 

camps, 

churches 

cemeteries 

schools (such as KMS) 

theater curtains (Maxfield Parrish) 

follies

gardens 

clocks (mantle clocks) 

classical elements inspired by nature

tree, leaves, nuts, lamb tongues, 

reached the conclusion of the paper, next connection to the stone 

next blog, now to the physical creation of the portal elements, the stone

explore pieces of the puzzle 

how they were made, 

how they should go back together 

sandstone quarry and sculpting techniques similar to our own Redstone granite quarry, but with some differences. and so we will explore 

z