A collection of photographs by Bill Hughes donated to the Wood Museum of Springfield History. Thirty-six images in all, they were taken in 1991 of the Latino community in the North End of Springfield. They show, in his words, “an…
Extended! This exhibit features 343 portraits by artist Dawn Howkinson Siebel, one for every New York City firefighter lost in the World Trade Center attacks. Together, the images create a wall measuring 21 feet long, allowing visitors to come face…
The M. Allen Swift 1928 Rolls-Royce Phantom I After World War I, Rolls-Royce, the British luxury car maker, decided to set up a manufacturing center in the United States. This was in response to the high demand for Rolls-Royce cars…
Early fire pumpers were a great improvement over the bucket brigade system of fighting fires. Now instead of throwing water onto a fire from small buckets, hand pumper engines were utilized, pulled to the scene by teams of firefighters. The…
Early 19th century leather fire bucket used to transport, via bucket brigade, water from the source to a hand-pumper fire engine. This is a domestic example, from the home of George Ashmun, and the numeral "2" confirms that Mr. Ashmun…
This Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was previously owned by S. Prestley Blake, co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream. The Silver Ghost, launched by Rolls-Royce in 1907, was a car esteemed for its smoothness, quiet ride, and durability. To demonstrate this, the Company…
Responding to feedback from racers, the original Indian Scout introduced in 1920 was updated with key modifications, making the new Scout 101 one of the most popular models ever built. Charles Franklin tweaked his original design, creating a bike that…
In 1858, Smith & Wesson revolutionized the firearms and ammunition industry with their Model 1 Revolver. It had a seven-shot cylinder for .22 caliber short rimfire cartridges. This small revolver was the first in a long line of Smith &…
Edwin L. Knight was born in Brimfield on January 25, 1839. He was mustered into the United States Service, June 21 1861 as First Sergeant of Company E of the Massachusetts 10th. His promotions included Second Lieutenant July 21, 1862,…
The Garand, Model M-1 rifle is considered by many historians to be the most important rifle ever invented. Developed at the United States Armory here in Springfield by John Garand, the semi-automatic gave American soldiers in World War II a…