Then & Now: Gage House, 8 Chestnut St., Worcester

Gage House, originally the home of Homer and Mabel Gage, was turned over to the Worcester Society for District Nursing in 1949.

The society would be known in later years as the Visiting Nurse Association.

The 20-room mansion at 8 Chestnut St. was left to the society in Mrs. Gage's will. Her husband, a noted surgeon and businessman in the city, died a decade earlier.

Mrs. Gage's many philanthropic efforts included the society. She served as its president for many years. Her involvement in charitable groups over the years earned her the label of "Worcester's First Lady."

After a decade at the Gage House, the nursing group was ready to move again. In early 1960 the organization shifted to nearby 50 Elm St., the Worcester Medical Center building.

Meantime, a neighbor of the old Gage place, Worcester Federal Savings & Loan Association, 22 Elm St., paid $250,000 for the property. Worcester Federal had the building demolished to make way for expanded parking.

Years later, the parcel, at Chestnut and Pearl streets, would be filled with another grand structure. In 1990, Fallon Health opened its headquarters at the one-time spot of the Gage House. The 11-story building, a block from Main Street, was recently earmarked for conversion to apartments, with Fallon planning to move to One Mercantile, across Main Street, later this year.

As the story goes, Gage House was a wedding gift to Homer and Mabel Gage from Mabel's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frances B. Knowles. The Knowles family was part of Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, a major business in the city.

The Gages moved into the new house shortly after their marriage in June 1893.

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