Born in 1835 and educated in Athol, MA, Roland Turner Oakes was a pioneer in the electrical contracting business in the Holyoke area. Before becoming an electrical contractor, he worked in the dry goods business in Athol under the name of Oakes & Newton. After several years, he formed a partnership with D. Frank Hale in Chicopee and, later, Springfield to operate a general dry goods and notions store.
Leaving the dry goods business, he obtained employment at the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee. This company manufactured cannons and other weaponry during the Civil War.
His introduction to Holyoke occurred in 1880, when he worked for the Amherst Hydraulic Motor Company. The 1880 census listed Mr. Oakes as a Manufacturing Agent for the business, which was located at the first level canal between Cabot and Appleton Streets.
In 1885, Roland T. Oakes started his electrical contracting business in Holyoke. The company initially posted an ad showing a 46 Pearl Street address for its business activity. This included gas light fixtures, call bells, and electric appliances. Electrical service was available for residences, hotels, and commercial establishments, providing the latest products.
In 1886, he partnered with Arthur J. Newell, an electrician, and the business was named Roland T. Oakes & Company. City Directories showed the company with an office at 46 Pearl Street in 1886 and 1887. A news account at the company's 50th anniversary in 1935 showed the company first relocated to the second floor of the Wolcott Building at the southwest corner of High and Dwight Streets. Shortly thereafter, it moved to a rear office of a jewelry store at 281 High Street around 1888.
In April 1890, the business had settled into its office and retail location at 366 High Street, where it would remain until 1907. It had purchased the mantle and tile business from the John Tilley & Co. furniture store, so it would have items to display for sale in the store.
On December 12, 1891, the business was incorporated, and Mr. Oakes was the President and Treasurer. The 1893 Price & Lee Holyoke City Directory showed Roland T. Oakes, Co., electricians, gas fixtures, at 366 High Street; residence, 46 Pearl Street.
Some of the company's early notable accomplishments include: installing the city's first electric motor at McCallum in Constable in the Cabot Street mill complex (April 1889); installing the first electric motor in a church organ at the Second Congregational Church (August 1891), and rewiring the telegraph line from the Mt. Holyoke Summit House to Mt. Holyoke Seminary in South Hadley. The line was then connected to Holyoke.
Not long after, commercial work was bid throughout western Massachusetts. The company was awarded the contract to wire the Berkshire Block and annex in Great Barrington, MA, in 1901. Many commercial jobs were awarded by the city of Holyoke, as well as other municipalities, towns, and their electrical departments.
The Roland T. Oakes Company moved into a retail, service, and supply location at 271 Appleton Street in 1907. The property was leased from Margaret Baker at a rate of $2,000 per year for five years. R. T. Oakes Company had the building designed and constructed to meet its wholesale, retail, and service needs. This was a 90-foot by 50-foot two-story building with a full basement.
The company heavily advertised in the Holyoke Transcript, touting electric fans, lamps, appliances, irons, vacuum cleaners, lanterns, radiators, and other household aids and conveniences. The company would also service these items in its Electric Motor Repair Department.
Although Roland T Oakes retired in 1912 at age 77, City Directories show Mr. Oakes maintained his status as President and Treasurer of the corporation until he died in 1919. This was contradicted by a news article in 1925, when the company celebrated its 40th anniversary, indicating that 1912 was the year Mr. Newell ascended to President and Treasurer.
Some examples of the company's work in Holyoke from 1910 to 1912 included the installation of fire alarms in the Elmwood, Kirtland, and Highland schools and a recess bell in the Hamilton Street School. Also, the company installed all the electrical fixtures in the Metcaff School and twenty electric motors at the Whiting Paper Mill.
After Mr. Oakes died in 1919, City Directories showed Arthur J. Newell, the longtime Secretary of the corporation, as President and Treasurer, and J. Otis Whitehouse, the Vice-President. John M. Newton, an electrical engineer who joined the company in 1910, purchased an interest in the corporation shortly after the death of Mr. Oakes. A new era in the company's history was about to take place under the helm of the Newton family.
In 1921, the company purchased the 271 Appleton Street real estate from the Baker estate.
The next century of business will be explored in several installments to follow, including the formation of a sister corporation, the Oakes Electrical Supply Company.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Holyoke - Chicopee A Perspective, Ella Merkel Dicarlo, Publisher Transcript-Telegram, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1982
Ancestry.com (paid subscription), Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Assessors' Office, City of Holyoke, Massachusetts
MACRIS, Massachusetts Cultural Research Information System
Registry of Deeds, Hampden County, Springfield, Massachusetts
366 High Street Business Storefront Location (C. 1890 -1907)
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