Willis Block at the Lyonsville Mill

Willis Block brick tenement in Lyonsville

If you were living in Colrain in the early 1950s, you remember this massive brick tenement on Route 112 in Lyonsville about where Matt Slowinski’s pallet shop is now.

Known as the Willis Block when it was built after the Civil War by Joseph Griswold, it was one of the largest tenements in Franklin County. The five-story center portion, known as the Boarding House, held 111 single rooms. In the two wings there were 21 apartments, each with six rooms on three floors, plus an attic and cellar. Some of these were later subdivided. 

Rents in 1877, probably for the single rooms, were 65 cents per week. Some of the workers then made only $2 per week at the Upper Mill next door. Families began to move out in the 1940s, and the building was razed in 1955. 

 

Moses Supprise was born there in 1893 and lived there all his life until 1954. He is buried in Colrain’s West Branch Cemetery.

Christmas House Tours 2023

Photo caption: Volunteers for the Colrain Historical Society learned how to make boxwood trees for the upcoming Christmas House Tours 2023! Will be sponsoring a wonderful event next year! (Saturday Dec. 2, and Sunday, Dec.3, 2023.)

2023 Calendars Now on Sale!

You can get yours at the Catamount Country Store, Hager’s Farm Market, Pine Hill Orchard Farm Store, or Boswell’s Books in Shelburne Falls for $15.00 each. They make wonderful Holiday gifts!

All 14 pictures in the calendar are from paintings in the 2022 Colrain on Canvas III Art Show. The cover is a painting of Colrain Center by Marshall Looman dating to the late 1950’s or early 1960’s.

(Check out our new website, colrainhistoricalsociety.org.)

Artist biographies for the paintings featured in the calendar are in the Art Show hand-out, photos below.

November 2022 Update and Membership Drive

Click on the photos below to enlarge and read.

Dear Members and Friends, 

Perhaps you attended the engaging Colrain on Canvas Ill art show in September, the magical Woodland Garden Tour in the spring (both of them fundraisers) or the nostalgic revisiting of the Dude Ranch at its former site in Colrain.

What you could not see was the extensive recent work under the Pitt House to ensure its stability as a refreshed museum. Over the winter, electrical work inside the house will include removal of knob-and-tube wiring, a new service box, and improved lighting. Enhanced insulation will help to reduce our heating costs.

For all this, and to meet ongoing expenses such as heating, insurance, and maintenance of our extensive collection, the Colrain Historical Society counts on your support.

You can help us as well by volunteering at events such as the summer daylily sale, or the fall art show, in building upkeep (we have five buildings to maintain!), or in maintaining our extensive, and growing, collection of Colrain artifacts, costumes, and ephemera, and in planning exhibits.

Check out our new website, colrainhistoricalsociety.org, and watch the Colrain Clarion for advance notice of events such as a fascinating program on Colrain's apple history next year.

We hope you'll consider joining the Helen Stacy Legacy Circle by including the historical society in your estate planning as a steward of Colrain's history into the future. 

Please fill out the form on the back of this letter and return it in the enclosed envelope with your generous donation.

Thank you,

CHS Board of Directors

Belden Merims, Joan McQuade, Ken Noyes, Phil Sherburne, Debby Wheeler, Sarah Hollister, Casey Ryan, Bill Cole and Cynthia Herbert

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I support the efforts of the Colrain Historical Society!

**Non-member friends who contribute $50 or more will become life members.

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Please make check payable to The Colrain Historical Society. Thank you! 

Note: The CHS is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, so all your donations are deductible to the extent of the Federal tax regulations.