While researching the most recent entries on several meat-packing companies in Holyoke, I came upon the name of George Nightingale, another who was connected with 24-26 Main Street.
George Nightingale was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, on May 19, 1846. He rose from humble beginnings, helping to support his widowed mother and sister by selling newspapers on the streets of Boston. He gained a measure of notoriety when he jumped off a Boston pier to rescue a drowning person. For this act of bravery, he was awarded a silver medal.
Around 1870, he arrived in Holyoke to work in the paper mills, first at the Riverside Paper Company and later for several years at the Whiting Paper Company.
In 1875, as one of the town's firefighters, he worked for 30 continuous hours during the massive Precious Blood Church fire. He was one of several who removed from the church many who had perished.
In 1877, he left Whiting Paper and became a founding member of the National Paper Company, a paper-stock business. This was located at 39 Main Street, later the site of Holyoke's U. S. Post Office (map below).
In 1880, he built the first house on Lincoln Street west of Pearl Street. Much of the western portion of Lincoln Street was undeveloped at the time (map below).
In 1884, his plan was to build a four-story commercial building across from National Paper Co.'s initial location. The land was purchased from the Holyoke Water Power Company and was the location of the Carpenter & Holmes bottling works. Mr. Nightingale anticipated using all four floors for his business.
The new building was designed with architecture resembling the Perkins Building, located at the northeast corner of Main and Dwight Streets. Some may recall or refer to the Perkins block as the site of the former Hotel Jess, which remains standing and has been refurbished.
This Nightingale building would be numbered 24-26 Main Street and later neighbored the Whiting Street Building, built thereafter (map below).
Prior to the completion of the new business building, he purchased an additional parcel at the corner of Cross and Race Streets in May 1884 for $5,000. This was the site of A. M Shepardson's tin shop.
There were some unforeseen problems in starting the construction of 24-26 Main Street. Daniel O'Connell's Sons was responsible for excavating and laying the foundation. Six feet into the dig, the subsurface was too soft for a foundation. It was discovered that the foundation would need to be 15 feet deeper than anticipated.
E. A Ellsworth was selected as architect for the new building, and A. A. Jones was chosen as the contractor. The brickwork would be performed by John Marra, and the stonework by G. W. Richards. Munn & Baush was hired for the iron work. The building would be 26 feet along Main Street and 103 feet deep toward the railroad tracks.
In March 1885, Mr. Nightingale purchased two adjoining lots at the corner of Mosher and Main Streets from the Whiting Street estate for $14,500. It was rumored that he bought the property for investors in Lowell, Massachusetts. It later turned out that the lots were purchased on behalf of E. C. Swift of Chicago, who would construct a large building for the storage and sale of the "All Rail" brand of dressed beef. Mr. Swift had a similar warehouse in Northampton.
In April 1885, A. A. Jones was finishing Mr. Nightingale's National Paper Company building. C. F. Shelby painted the 22-foot-long embossed gilt sign.
In 1887, Roswell Fairfield, President and Treasurer of the Fairfield Paper Company of Salmon Falls, relocated his offices to 26 Main Street.
In 1892, George Nightingale was brought on board the newly incorporated Syms & Dudley Paper Company. The company sold its plant in Holyoke to the Nonotuck Paper Company and relocated to the western United States.
Also in that year, Morris & Company, meatpackers from Chicago, signed a 5-year lease for the 24-26 Main Street site. Mr. Nightingale was one of several prominentlocal businessman who formed the Hampden Development and Mining Company. The concern was a gold-mining business with source sites in the West, including Wyoming and Colorado.
The gold-mining venture was central to Mr. Nightingale and his colleagues throughout the 1890s and into the 1900s. He also continued to operate the paper stock business at 26 Main Street until his passing on June 17, 1910. He was shown as living at his home of 30 years, 175 Lincoln Street, at the time of his death.
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 Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
1877 Bird's Eye View of Hoyoke, Mass., Bailey, H. H. (Howard Heston), Hazen J. C.
1884 Atlas of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts, published by Geo. H. Walker & Co. 1884
1889 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Holyoke, Hampden County, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Cultural Research and Information System, Boston, Massachusetts
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