Amazingly, the story of Daly's Hotel namesake originated from the brief period Timothy and Bridget Daly operated the establishment in the 1930s. The building stood from about the mid-1860s until 1982, and the Dalys operated it for seven years.
Over the next 46 years, there were business leases to the various tavern and rooming house proprietors. The proprietors included Timothy and Bridget Daly (1933-1940), Michael Frodyma (1940-1957), and Thaddeus Makowski (1957-1959).
In 1959, Stanley J. Wielgosz Sr. became the manager of the business, and he continued to own the real estate he acquired in 1936. He was also proprietor of Yoerg's Garage on Chesnut Street, which he purchased in 1952.
Daly's Hotel continued on as a tavern and rooming house into the early 1980s. On a sub-zero early winter's morning on January 19, 1982, a fire started by an improperly disposed cigarette, resulting in a significant fire. Two lives were lost.
Firefighter Raymond Deshaies suffered significant injuries when a brick wall collapsed atop the cab of the fire truck he was about to enter. He died the following day. Raymond "Sarge" Finn, a retired Air Force sergeant and boarder at Daly's, also perished. Sixteen other boarders were able to exit the building safely. Thankfully, smoke alarms had been installed in the building.
This marked the end of a standing structure at 122-124 High Street. The debris was cleared, and Wernick Furniture Company purchased the empty land in March 1985, converting it into a parking lot for their customers. The liquor license was transferred in the preceding year to Good Ole Days on Northampton Street.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription), Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
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