<p>The Downtown Springfield Railroad District is a historic district encompassing a group of early 20th century railroad-related buildings in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. They are in an area roughly bounded by Lyman, Main, Dwight and Frank B. Murray Streets. The district includes the Union Station, the old freight house, commercial warehouses and a retaining wall and bridge designed in part by H. H. Richardson. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Springfield was from an early date a significant transportation crossroads, with traffic on the north-south Connecticut River and the east-west Boston Post Road as major transportation routes. With the arrival of railroads in the 1830s, the city became a major transit point for freight moved on railroads along similar routes. Its early train stations were located at the northern end of downtown, on the west side of Main Street near the main rail junction. A major former freight house, built in 1875, is located north of the tracks and east of Main Street. In 1889, the grade-level crossing of Main Street was replaced by a stone arch bridge. It and the stone embankment wall on the north side of Lyman Street were designed by H. H. Richardson. This change was accompanied by the construction of new stations on the east side of Main Street, which were consolidated into the single large Union Station in 1924. That building, vacant for many years, underwent rehabilitation in 2016-17 and again is a transportation hub.</p><br>
<p>Adjacent to Union Station stood the Hotel Charles, at 11 stories a major landmark. It was demolished in 1997 after a fire gutted its interior. Across the tracks from Union Station, the south side of Lyman Street was lined by a series of freight warehouses, all of brick construction, and varying in height and style. A number of these still survive, but some have been demolished since the National Register listing.</p><br>
<p>Als Diner is a historic diner at 14 Yelle Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was, at the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, one of only of two diners in Massachusetts built by Master Diner of Pequannock, New Jersey, which operated from 1940 to the 1970s. The diner was brought to Chicopee in 1958, and has been known variously as Als Diner, Als Restaurant, and The White Diner. Until 1983 Als Diner was a 24-hour operation; the diner presently serves breakfast and lunch, with limited dinner hours on Thursdays and Fridays.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Al&#39;s Diner stands on the west side of Yelle Street in the Willimansett area of northern Chicopee, just south of its junction with Pleasant Street. It is set close to the road, with the parking area to its north and west. The manufactured portion of the diner is oriented perpendicular to the road on a brick-faced concrete foundation, with a concrete block kitchen addition to the south. The diner is three bays deep and eight wide, and is clad in steel with bands of blue and red enamel. Entrances are located at the first and eighth bays of the long side, sheltered by metal hoods with quilted undersides.</p><br>
<p>The interior of the diner houses six booths and fourteen counter stools, with a counter that extends the length of the structure. A staff access panel is located at the center of the counter. The original grill is still in place behind the counter, and the rear wall has steel panels with starburst motifs. The ceiling has a monitor section that includes traces of the interior&#39;s original color scheme.</p><br>
<p>The diner was manufactured by Master Diner of Pequannock, New Jersey, one of about sixty produced by the company. It was brought to Chicopee in 1958, and opened its doors the following year as The White Diner. It was purchased in 1962 by Al Rubin, who changed its name to Al&#39;s Restaurant. Operation of the diner has been concentrated for many years in members of the Mathews family, who purchased it in 1975.</p><br>
<p>Ames Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of swords, tools, and cutlery in Chicopee, Massachusetts, as well as an iron and bronze foundry. They were a significant provider of side arms, swords, light artillery, and heavy ordnance for the Union in the American Civil War. They also cast several bronze statues, which can be found throughout New England.</p><br>
<h2>Company history</h2><br>
<p>The Ames Manufacturing Company has its origins in a factory established in 1774 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by the Ames family. Brothers Nathan P. Ames Jr. and James T. Ames moved their tool and cutlery business to a new industrial town on the Chicopee River near Springfield, Massachusetts in 1829. They were invited by Edmund Dwight, who owned textile mills nearby. The Ames company began manufacturing swords for the federal government and state militias.</p><br>
<p>As the town of Chicopee was formed in 1848, the Ames brothers were leaders in the new community. Upon the death of Nathan P. Ames in 1847, ownership of the company turned to younger brother James Tyler Ames.</p><br>
<h3>Iron and bronze foundries</h3><br>
<p>By 1835, the company was creating works in brass and bronze, and in 1845, an iron foundry was added. The company used the foundries for casting statuary and producing military cannons and cannonballs.</p><br>
<p>The bronze doors of the East Wing of the United States Capitol and Daniel Chester French&#39;s Minuteman statue at the Lexington-Concord bridge were cast at the Ames company. Other statues included large equestrian statues of George Washington (at the Boston Public Garden and in Washington, D.C.), a statue of Benjamin Franklin (Boston), and a statue of Major John Mason.</p><br>
<p>When the Mexican–American War broke out, the foundry&#39;s primary output switched to armament.</p><br>
<h3>Civil War</h3><br>
<p>Upon the declared secession and formation of the Confederate States of America, the United States Army lost access to its southern arsenals. Independent arms manufacturers became crucial to the success of the USA Army. Ames was one of the USA Army&#39;s most important manufacturers of side arms, swords, and light artillery and the third largest producer of heavy ordnance.</p><br>
<h3>Post-war diversification and decline</h3><br>
<p>In addition to producing military equipment for many years, including swords, cannons, and cannonballs, it produced sewing machine and bicycle parts in the later 19th century. The company was a major supplier of bicycles to the Overman Wheel Company from 1883-1887. The sword manufacturing business was formally separated into an independent company in 1881.</p><br>
<p>By 1907, the Ames foundries had been purchased by Chicopee&#39;s A.G. Spalding Company.</p><br>
<p>In 1848, E. Remington and Sons purchased gun-making machinery from the company and took over a contract for Jenks breechloading percussion carbines for the USA Navy.</p><br>
<p>National Sewing Machine Company purchased sewing machine dies and equipment from Ames.</p><br>
<h2>Surviving buildings</h2><br>
<p>The historic Ames Company factory, located at 5-7 Springfield Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is a complex of connected industrial buildings, the oldest of which dates to 1847. Most of the older elements are brick in construction and range in height from one to four stories.</p><br>
<p>This complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The largest surviving buildings have been converted into residences.</p><br>
<h2>Notable Employees</h2><br>
<p>Emerson Gaylord</p><br>
<p>John Quincy Adams Ward</p><br>
<p>Melzar Hunt Mosman</p><br>
<p>Karl Gerhardt</p><br>
<p>James H. Burton</p><br>
<p>The Bangs Block is a historic commercial building at 1119 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1870 for a grocer, it was built as part of a trend of increasing commercialization at the southern end of the city&#39;s downtown area. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Bangs Block is located near the southern end of the built-up commercial downtown area of Springfield. It is on the north side of Main Street, between the Burbach Block and McKinney Building on the block demarcated by Crossett Lane and Cross Street. It is a four-story brick building, with Italianate styling. Its windows are set in segmented-arch openings topped by a soldier brick keystoned hoods, with bracketed red sandstone sills. The right side of the facade has brick quoining, and there is a tall cornice with multiple bands of brickwork. The ground floor houses a single commercial storefront, with the building entrance at the left.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1870 for John Bangs, who was operating a dry goods business in the Gunn and Hubbard Blocks on State Street, and moved it to this building. His son, Adam Bangs, used the space as a meat market, and it has seen a variety of commercial uses since then. The area was, at the time of construction, beginning a transition between a mixed residential-commercial area with smaller scale (two-story) buildings.</p><br>
<p>The Baystate Corset Block is a historic commercial block at 395–405 Dwight St. and 99 Taylor Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1874 and twice enlarged, it was from 1888 to 1920 home of the Baystate Corset Company, one of the nation&#39;s largest manufacturers of corsets. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Baystate Corset Block stands on the north side of Springfield&#39;s downtown area, at the northeast corner of Dwight and Taylor Streets. The main portion of the building, facing Dwight Street, was built in 1874 by Marsh & Robinson. It is a four-story brick structure, whose original styling, visible on the side elevation, includes segmental arch windows and a corbelled cornice. The front facade, which was redone in 1918, consists on the upper level of five bays of tripled windows, separated by brick piers. The storefronts are largely unaltered.</p><br>
<p>The first tenants of the building were woodworking shops, who occupied it until 1883, when it was occupied by a paper products business. P. P. Kellogg, its owner, expanded the premises, building an extension along Taylor Street in 1888. In 1886, the Baystate Corset Company, founded two years earlier in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, leased space in the building. Baystate grew rapidly, and purchased the building in 1895, occupying it until 1920. It was one of the nation&#39;s largest corset manufacturers at the time, shipping products all across the country. Baystate used the top floor of the building as a cutting room, with the second and third floors arrayed with sewing machines at which its products were manufactured.</p><br>
<p>The Worthy Hotel is an historic hotel at 1571 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1895 and advertised as "Springfields leading commercial and tourist house," the Worthy Hotel was Springfields finest hotel until the opening of the Hotel Kimball in 1911. Located only two blocks south of Springfield Union Station and featuring 250 rooms, the Worthy Hotel&#39;s period of greatest significance was from 1895-1925. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983. It is historically significant not only for its commerce but for its Renaissance Revival architecture. Currently, the Worthy Hotel is an apartment building.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Worthy Hotel building is located in downtown Springfield, at the southeast corner of Main and Worthington Streets. It is an eight-story masonry structure, with a roughly L-shaped plan that extends south to North Church Avenue at the rear. It is Romanesque in style, with a variety of window trims and styles, including a number of round-arch windows typical of the style. The building is crowned by a projecting dentillated cornice. The section at the rear is a second building, which was merged into the main building and given a stylistically unifying facade treatment.</p><br>
<p>The hotel was built in 1895 by Justin Worthy, and was the citys first steel-framed fireproof building. Located near the citys railroad station, it served business travelers, and had a restaurant that was judged one of the best in the city. Originally built with six floors and 50 rooms, it was raised to eight floors in 1905, and enlarged again with the acquisition of the 1896 Mayo building in 1909. The latter enlargement included creating a common facade, and filling in an alley separating the buildings as part of the combined structure.</p><br>
<p>Winchester Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing a cluster of brick buildings at and near the intersection of State Street and Wilbraham Road on the east side of Springfield, Massachusetts. The buildings, most of which were built for industrial purposes, are clustered on five parcels, and were built between 1875 and 1913. It includes the Armory railroad station , the Winchester Square fire station , the Knox Automobile Company buildings , and the Indian Motorcycle Company plant, part of which later became the Springfield Industrial Institute complex. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.</p><br>
<p>The district became a target for industrial development after the construction of the Springfield and New London Railroad in 1870, which included a stop nearby. The oldest building in the district is that of the Bullard Repeating Arms Company, built in 1883 for a company that manufactured rifles. Its founder Jean Bullard, a prolific inventor, also built an early steam-powered automobile in 1887. One building was eventually taken over in 1895 by the Springfield Industrial Institute, which trained generations of workmen for Springfields industries. The fire station was built to meet the demand for improved fire department response time in the developing area. The Hendee Manufacturing Company, later Indian, began operations in this district upon its organization in 1901; in 1914 it was the worlds largest maker of motorcycles. It operated here until 1948, and closed its last plant in 1953.</p><br>
<p>The Willys–Overland Block is a historic commercial and industrial block at 151-157 Chestnut and 10-20 Winter Streets in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1916, it is a surviving reminder of Springfield early history in the manufacture and sale of automobile, housing the sales showroom and service center for the Willys–Overland Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Willys–Overland Block is located in downtown Springfield, at the northeast corner of Chestnut and Winter Streets. It is a four-story masonry structure, finished in brick with stone trim. The buildings external appearance is one more typically associated with commercial buildings, disguising its original use as a more industrial facility. Its bays are divided into groups of four bays on the upper floors, with sections that would roughly correspond to retail storefronts on the ground floor; these groups are separated by buttress-like projections with medallions at the top. The buildings original uses included an automotive showroom and sales facility, and a 1000-car garage and service facility.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1916 for the Willys–Overland Company. It sold and serviced its automobiles here before and after the company became Jeep in the 1960s. Located in the three blocks surrounding the Apremont Triangle Historic District and the famed Hotel Kimball, Willys–Overland was among numerous early and mid-twentieth century automobile sellers in the neighborhood. Others included Rolls-Royce and Pontiac.</p><br>
<p>In 2011, the Willys–Overland Block was home to three separate churches, a parking garage, and a Hispanic radio station. In 2015, the Springfield City Council established a historic district around the block, after the building owner sought its demolition rather than effect repairs incurred by a gas explosion in 2012.</p><br>
<p>The Whitcomb Warehouse is a historic warehouse at 32-34 Hampden Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1896, it is one of the most intact late 19th century industrial buildings in Springfield. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Whitcomb Warehouse is located on the northwest side of downtown Springfield, on the north side of Hampden Street east of East Columbus Avenue. The area is now generally devoid of other 19th-century or early 20th-century buildings, the result of urban decay and renewal activities. It is a four-story masonry structure, finished in yellow brick. The ground floor facade consists of two garage-style doors, flanking a pair of pedestrian entrances sharing an access stair. The garage doors have been covered over by large display windows, set on a low brick wall in the door openings. The upper floors are eight bays wide, with sash windows set in segmented-arch openings, headed by rows of soldier bricks, one projecting slightly. The building is crowned by a frieze band of decorative brick work and a modest patterned brick cornice.</p><br>
<p>The warehouse was built in 1896, and was first associated with the Springfield Cigar Manufacturing Company, the city&#39;s largest manufacturer of cigars. It was later sold to Colby Manufacturing, a maker of rulers. Other 20th-century uses of the building have included as an arts center.</p><br>
<p>Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company is a historic factory at 360 Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built about 1887, it is the best preserved of Westfield&#39;s extant whip factory buildings.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company plant is located in an industrial area just north of downtown Westfield, on the west side of Elm Street just south of the Westfield River. The complex is dominated by a 2-1/2 story brick building with modest ornamentation that is ten window bays long and three wide. Windows are set in segmented-arch openings with headers formed out of soldier bricks. The roof eave is adorned with brick corbelling, and the main entrance is sheltered by a Victorian-era porch with turned posts.</p><br>
<p>The building was built about 1887 for the A.G. Barnes Whip Company, and was purchased in 1893 by the United States Whip Company, which was formed out of a merger of many local whipmakers. Beginning in 1910, the building underwent a number of ownership and usage changes, although significant elements of the whipmaking machinery were retained through uses that included the manufacture of paper tubes, dog collars, and hardware for funerary caskets. In 1957, the building was purchased by the recently founded Westfield Whip Company, which uses some of the facility&#39;s specialized machinery for whip manufacturing.</p><br>
<p>The Upper Worthington Historic District of Springfield, Massachusetts encompasses a collection of visually cohesive residential apartment blocks that represent one of the largest residential developments in the city dating to the first three decades of the 20th century. It is centered on a portion of Worthington Street, a major east-west road in the city, between Armory Street and Summit Street, and includes 33 buildings on those three streets as well as Federal and Taylor Streets, near their junctions with either Worthington or Federal. Most of the contributing buildings are four story brick buildings with Georgian detailing and stone trim. The district was first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, including 28 buildings; the district was expanded in 1992 to add the five buildings on Taylor Street.</p><br>
<p>The district is located on the northern side of the plateau that also houses the Springfield Armory. In the mid-19th century this area was developed with summer estates, which eventually succumbed to development pressures for higher density housing late in the 19th century. The Upper Worthington area was originally the estate of Horace Kibbe, which the firm of Gagnier & Angers offered to buy in 1908. Gagnier & Angers was a partnership of two French Canadian immigrants, who were one of the city&#39;s major real estate development and construction firms in the early 20th century. When the estate was finally partitioned in 1912, they purchased the largest part of it, and proceeded to build out the area over the next twenty years. Most of the residential blocks in the district were built either by that firm, or by one established by Albert Gagnier and Larry Angers, sons of its principals. The development was the largest of its type in the city at the time, and preserves a distinctive streetscape from the period.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Street Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district south of the downtown area of Chicopee, Massachusetts. It encompasses a significant number of Queen Anne style houses built in the second half of the 19th century by wealthy residents of Chicopee, as well as housing for skilled workers at the nearby textile mills. It is centered where Springfield Street and Fairview Avenue meet. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Chicopee developed in the 19th century as a major industrial community in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, with numerous textile mills lining the Chicopee River east of the Connecticut River. The Cabotville area, now its principal downtown, began industrial development around 1831, when the Springfield Canal Company was organized by Boston-based investors to provide water power to new mills. Springfield Street had long been a principal north-south route paralleling the eastern bank of the Connecticut River, and retained that importance after Cabotville was laid out. Prior to 1860, most development was restricted north of South Street, with farmland to the south. The upper areas, away from the mills, were typically developed by individuals engaged as skilled laborers or management in the mills. After 1860, development began to push southward along Springfield Street, with larger, handsomely appointed lots and more architecturally sophisticated housing.</p><br>
<p>The historic district is centered around the junction of Springfield Street with South and Fairview Streets, extending several blocks in each direction. At its northeastern corner is the Maple Grove Cemetery, and its southward boundary is the Gaylord Street east of Springfield (ending at the northern edge of the Elms College campus), and Casino Avenue to its west. The older developments to the north and west are primarily vernacular versions of Greek Revival and Italianate housing, while the later development to the east and south are more stately examples of the Queen Anne, Second Empire, and Colonial Revival. The district includes a small number of commercial buildings near its northern edge, as well as four churches.</p><br>
<h2>Contributing properties</h2><br>
<p>A partial list of contributing properties within the Springfield Street Historic District includes:</p><br>
<p>George M. Stearns House (1830s)</p><br>
<p>George D. Robinson House (1869)</p><br>
<p>Valentine School (Chicopee, Massachusetts) (1898)</p><br>
<p>The Smith Carriage Company District encompasses three buildings on Park Street, Springfield, Massachusetts, between Main and Willow Streets. The buildings, located at 12, 14–38, and 11–31 Park Street, are noted for their historic association with the locally important Smith Carriage Company, a major manufacturer of carriages in the 19th century. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Smith Carriage Company was founded in 1827 by David Smith, who had apprenticed at another carriage maker in Westfield. The company specialized in the manufacture of carriages with light frames, but also resold carriages made by others. In the early 20th century, it provided a chassis to the Stevens-Duryea Company that was used in one of its prototype automobiles. The company focus changed to the manufacture of automobile parts in the 1910s and 1920s, a business the company continued in until its final closure in the 1940s.</p><br>
<p>The three buildings on Park Street were built in later phases of the company&#39;s history. The oldest of the three, 12 Park, is a three-story brick building dating from the late 19th century; it has typical industrial architecture of that period, with segmented-arch window openings and a corbelled cornice and terra cotta detailing. The other two buildings have steel and concrete frames, finished in brick with concrete ground floors, and vary in height from two to four stories. Windows are large industrial sashes set in rectangular openings, with brick piers separating the bays on the upper floors.</p><br>
<p>The Russell Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic village center of Russell, Massachusetts. It is centered at the junction of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue, and is bordered by the Westfield River to the east, and the rising foothills of The Berkshires to the west. The village&#39;s 19th century development was spurred by the railroad and sustained by local papermaking businesses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, and was named as one of the 1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts by the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The town of Russell was settled in the late 18th century, with a modest town center near its geographic center in 1794. The present center&#39;s first major building was a Baptist church, built in 1792. The area gained in importance because of the presence of the main stage route (now United States Route 20), and then the arrival of the railroad (which was at first run on the south side of the Westfield River, but has since been rerouted to its north). It was aided economically by the development of papermaking as an enterprise, which continues to be an economic force (albeit at a reduced level) today.</p><br>
<p>The historic district consists of a stretch of Main Street, between US 20 and the river. Most of the buildings are residential, and are typified by common setbacks from the road and a similarity of scale. Most of the buildings were built between 1850 and 1895, and the oldest building, the Horace Parks House, dates to 1830. The district includes three prominent Tudor Revival buildings: the town hall (1916, pictured), elementary school (1926), and Catholic church (1927).</p><br>
<p>The Quadrangle–Mattoon Street Historic District is a historic district in Springfield, Massachusetts, bounded by Chestnut Street to the West; State Street to the South; and includes properties on Mattoon, Salem, Edwards and Elliot Streets. Located in the Metro Center, the Quadrangle–Mattoon Street Historic District is one of the few neighborhoods in the Knowledge Corridor lined with historic, restored red-brick Victorian row houses on both sides, covered by tree canopies.</p><br>
<p>The Quadrangle–Mattoon Street Historic District consists of housing stock of various architectural styles, from detached Victorian houses, to attached red-brick row-houses, to H.H. Richardson churches. The area contains Mid 19th Century Revivals and Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals.</p><br>
<p>Since 2006, Metro Center – and in particular, the Quadrangle–Mattoon Street Historic District – has seen a notable resurgence in residential living, with growing populations of people seeking an urban, cultural environment at reasonable prices, e.g. 20-somethings, LGBTs, bohemians, urban professionals, and empty-nesters. The Mattoon Street neighborhood features many of Springfields most prestigious residential addresses, on Mattoon Street, Salem Street, Elliot Street, etc. It also features one of the famous architect H.H. Richardsons first works in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the Hispanic Baptist Church. Early each Fall, the neighborhood hosts a large arts festival, "The Mattoon Street Arts Festival."</p><br>
<p>The historic districts namesake Quadrangle features a grouping of five museums around the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden. Recent developments include 2008s $57 million Moshe Safdie-designed, Federal Courthouse on State Street; and the TRO JungBrannen designed $101 million adaptive reuse of Springfields original Technical High School for Massachusetts Data Center.</p><br>
<p>The North High Street Historic District is a historic district encompassing part of the downtown area of Holyoke, Massachusetts. When first added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, the district encompassed North High Street, between Dwight and Lyman Streets. This part of High Street was built between 1850 and 1885, and is lined with masonry buildings in Italianate and Second Empire styles. In 1992 the district was extended southward, adding three blocks of High Street between Dwight and Essex Streets. This expansions encompasses the growth of Holyoke during the height of its commercial success, between 1880 and 1930; it also includes the separately-listed Holyoke City Hall. The district was extended a third time, in 2008, adding a complex of three buildings at Dwight and Maple Streets that now houses the Holyoke Health Center.</p><br>
<p>Prior to 1847, the area that is now Holyoke was a sleepy agricultural area of West Springfield. In that year, investors from Boston purchased a mill privilege on the Connecticut River, on which they proceeded to develop the industrial sites that fueled the growth of the city. By 1880, Holyoke was one of the nation&#39;s major producers of paper products, and had a population of more than 10,000. Many buildings on High Street in the 1986 district boundaries date to this period of rapid growth, which was completely built out by 1880. Between 1880 and 1930 the area northeast of the early cluster of commercial buildings was developed, spurred by the construction of City Hall in the 1870s, and by the extension of streetcars line for the Holyoke Street Railway in the latter half of the 19th century.</p><br>
<p>The Ludlow Village Historic District encompasses part of a historic mill village, and the economic center of the town of Ludlow, Massachusetts beginning in the later years of the 19th century. The area started to take over from Ludlow Center as the center of economic importance with the arrival of jute mills on the Chicopee River. The district is roughly bounded by Winsor, Sewall and State Sts. and the Chicopee River. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Ludlow was originally part of Springfield upon that communitys settlement in 1634, and was separately incorporated in 1774. Its early settlement areas were on the north bank of the Chicopee River, which forms its southern border, but the towns civic center was located near its geographic center. The Wallamamumps Falls on the river were recognized as an ideal place for the development of water-powered industry, which took place beginning the late 18th century. The Falls was also the site of one of the first bridges across the river, which resulted in travel-related economic development as well. The village economy remained dominated by the mills, with a large complex built in 1901 just east of the present-day bridge.</p><br>
<p>The historic district consists of three sections: the first is a cluster of mainly civic and commercial buildings, bounded by Winsor, Sewall, East, and Center Streets. It includes the 1845 Union Church of Christ, the 1890 Hubbard Memorial Library, and the town&#39;s first high school (now a senior center), among other buildings. The second portion of the district is the mill complex between State Street and the river, and the third is the former power station for the mill complex, located about 4 mi upriver on the Wilbraham side of the river.</p><br>
<p>The Ludlow Center Historic District encompasses the historic village center of Ludlow, Massachusetts. Centered on the junction of Center, Church and Booth Streets, it is the site selected as the town center when Ludlow was established in 1774. Its notable structures include the Congregational Church , the old town hall , and a number of farmhouses that date to the first half of the 19th century. The area has remained a center of civic life in the town, even though its economic center moved later in the 19th century to Ludlow Village. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Ludlow was part of Springfield upon that community&#39;s settlement in 1634, and was separately incorporated in 1774. Prior to the mid-18th century, the area that is now Ludlow was largely undeveloped forest, reaching a population of two to three hundred by the 1770s. Upon incorporation, the town fathers selected a geographically central location for the site of its first meeting house, which was not built until after the American Revolutionary War. A road network, principally Center and Church Streets, was laid out by that time, and a modest village center arose. In the early 19th century, a mill was established on the Chicopee River in the southern reaches of the town, around which Ludlow Village developed as its principal economic center. In 1893, the town meeting was moved to Ludlow Village, and the center has stagnated developmentally since then.</p><br>
<p>The historic district is centered at the junction of Center, Church, and Booth Streets, and includes just twelve buildings. The First Church Common is a small triangular green at the junction of Church and Center, forming (along with the church itself) the focal point of the district. The original 1783-84 meeting house was originally located on the green, and was moved onto the north side of Church Street in the 1840s.</p><br>
<p>The Longmeadow Street–North Historic District encompasses a stretch of Longmeadow Street  in northern Longmeadow, Massachusetts, from the town line with neighboring Springfield to Cooley and Westmoreland Streets in the south. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The area that is now Longmeadow was originally settled by colonists in the 17th century as part of Springfield, from which it was separately incorporated in 1783, after many years of political maneuvering. The town had a mainly agricultural focus well into the 20th century, the bottomlands of the Connecticut River (which forms the towns western boundary) proving extremely fertile and giving the town its name. Longmeadow Street, located on a terrace above that plain, was from an early date the principal north-south route on the east side of the river, and the towns principal thoroughfare. In the 19th century, the quarrying of brownstone became a major industry, prompting a shift in population away from the river and toward the quarries further east. As a result, the northern portion of Longmeadow Street was shifted eastward sometime between 1870 and 1894. A local preservationist organization was formed in 1876 to maintain the character of Longmeadow Street as a tree-lined and predominantly residential street.</p><br>
<p>East Longmeadow, more industrialized than the rural west, was separated from Longmeadow in 1894, and a streetcar line was extended from Springfield along Longmeadow Street in 1896, setting the stage for its transformation into a residential suburb. Most of this development took place on either side of Longmeadow Street, with new road junctions the principal alteration to the streetscape.</p><br>
<p>As a result of this history, the area between the Springfield town line and Cooley Brook contains a number of fine examples of residential architecture spanning from the 18th to the 20th century. There are only six non-residential buildings: a church, four small commercial buildings, and a former town building. The area around Cooley Brook, which once served as the town&#39;s main water supply, was converted into a public park, designed by the well-known Olmsted Brothers firm.</p><br>
<p>The Longmeadow Historic District is a historic district encompassing the village green of Longmeadow, Massachusetts and properties in its immediate vicinity. The district acquired local protection in 1973 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.</p><br>
<p>Longmeadows village green was laid out in the early 18th century, and it is the area around which the town center developed. It is located on a sandy ridge on a terrace about 1 mi east of the Connecticut River, with a flood plain in between that now also carries Interstate 91. The green is a long park running north–south between Ely and Birnie Roads, with the main travel lanes of Longmeadow Street (United States Route 5) on the west side and an access road (also designated Longmeadow Street) on the east side. The green is mainly grassy, and is lined with mature trees. Its only significant man-made structure is the towns war memorial, placed in 1931.</p><br>
<p>The green historically saw a variety of uses, and was only formally turned into a park late in the 19th century. The buildings that face the green for the most part date from the 18th and 19th centuries; the principal 20th century structures are the public library building (a brick Colonial Revival structure built in 1932), Town Hall (1930), and the Center School (built 1928, modern annex added in the 1950s). The Old Country Store (1805) is the only commercial building in the district, and there is only one church, the First Congregational (1768). The oldest house (of more than 40 in the district) dates to 1725, while the latest date to the 1910s. The district was named as one of the 1,000 places to visit in Massachusetts by the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission.</p><br>
<p>The Hadley Falls Company Housing District is a residential historic district encompassing a compact tract of factory worker housing in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Built in 1847-48, it is one of the earliest and largest surviving examples of company-built worker housing in the state. It includes five rowhouses facing Center, Lyman, Grover, and Canal Streets. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Hadley Falls Company Housing District is located on the north side of Holyoke&#39;s former industrial core. It consists of five brick rowhouses, two of which face each other on Center Street between Canal and Lyman Streets. The other three are adjacent to those two, and face Canal Street, Lyman Street and Grove Street. Each rowhouse has between eight and ten units, and is 2-1/2 stories in height, with a gabled roof. Four of the five buildings have a series of pedimented gable dormers in the roof. Chimneys are set at the ends and at every other party wall, and the unit entrances are grouped in pairs at the other party walls.</p><br>
<p>The rowhouses were built by the Hadley Falls Mill Company, which was established in 1847 in a bid to recreate the success at Holyoke of the industrialization effort at Lowell, Massachusetts. They were built by engineer John Chase and contractor Charles McClallan. The exteriors were rehabilitated in 1974-75. The buildings were at the time one of the largest concentrations of company-built worker housing anywhere in the state, and were of a notably higher quality than other such housing built in the 1840s and 1850s.</p><br>
<p>The Granville Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic Granville Village area in eastern Granville, Massachusetts. The area was developed in the 19th century as an industrial village, centered on the drum factory of Noble & Cooley on Dickinson Brook. The predominantly residential district includes a number of Greek Revival houses; it also includes the Colonial Revival public library building . It is located roughly in the area around the junction of Maple St. and Main and Granby Rds., including part of Water Street. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Granville was settled in 1734, with most of its early activity focused around Granville Center. East Granville, now Granville Village, also came to support a tavern and a few mills in the late 19th century. In 1790, the First Baptist Church was established in the village, which in the mid-19th century became the focus of a single industry, the manufacture of drums. The firm of Noble & Cooley was founded in 1854, and continues to operate in 19th-century factory buildings on Water Street. The success of this firm and others in the industry spurred the village&#39;s growth in the second half of the 19th century, and continue to be a major economic force today.</p><br>
<p>The historic district is centered around the junction of Main Road (Massachusetts Route 57) and Granby Road, with a major extension along Water Street to the southwest, where most of the industry is located. The triangular green at the central junction is an early 20th-century addition, the result of the loss by fire of a hotel. Most of the village&#39;s architecture dates between 1830 and 1890, with Victorian and Colonial Revival architecture predominating. The most architecturally sophisticated building is the library, a Romanesque Revival brick building constructed in 1901.</p><br>
<p>The Granville Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic center of Granville, Massachusetts. The cluster of buildings in the village center includes the Congregational church , and a number of Federal and Greek Revival residences. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The town of Granville was settled in 1738 and incorporated in 1775. Granville Center was one of its early places of settlement, and is where its first meetinghouse, supposedly near the junction of Main Road (Massachusetts Route 57) and Blandford Road, in about 1747. The foundational remains of an early sawmill and gristmill (c. 1759) survive, and the centers oldest surviving building, the Hubbard House, may have belonged to their owner. The center became the civic, spiritual and economic center of the agricultural community, but declined in economic and religious importance due to religious divisions, and the rise of Granville Village as an industrial center to the east. As a result, the centers architecture is largely reflective of the first half of the 19th century. Its continued civic importance was reinforced when a new town hall was built at the western end of the district in 1927.</p><br>
<p>The historic district is essentially linear, stretching along Main Road, with Trumble Lane extending south roughly one-third the distance from its western end, which is anchored by the Colonial Revival town hall, the district&#39;s only 20th-century building. Most of the buildings in the district are wood-frame houses, and the majority were built during the Federal period. There are only a few Greek Revival and Victorian era buildings, all houses, in the district.</p><br>
<p>The West Granville Historic District is a historic district encompassing the center of West Granville, Massachusetts. The village is composed mainly of buildings form the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including an 18th-century church and 1830s academy building. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Granville was settled in 1734, with most of its early activity taking place at Granville Center. West Granville developed in an upland valley isolated from the rest of the town as an agricultural area, and the village began to take shape at a crossroads with the construction of the Second Congregational Church in 1778. The village continued to prosper through the first half of the 19th century, but declined thereafter, as economic prospects improved in the eastern part of the town (particularly the growing industry at Granville Village), and Tolland, located just to the west, was separated from the town. As a consequence, the village has a distinct 19th-century aura to it.</p><br>
<p>The district is basically linear in character, extending along Main Road (Massachusetts Route 57) between its junction with Crest Lane to the east, and the four-way junction with Beech Hill Road and Hartland Hollow Road to the west. It extends a short way north on Beech Hill Road. In addition to the civic buildings at the center of the village, it includes primarily residential buildings stretching along Main Road from west of Beach Hill Road to South Lane No. 2. The civic buildings consist of the 1778 Congregational Church, a district schoolhouse, and a larger academy building, built in 1830. Houses in the district were built from the mid-18th century into the late 19th century, and feature Greek Revival, Georgian, and Federal architecture.</p><br>
<p>Westfield Municipal Building is a historic building at 59 Court Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. It presently houses the Westfield city offices and the local district court. It was built in 1889 to house the state normal school , serving in that role until its acquisition by the city in 1959. The building was designed by the architectural firm of Hartwell and Richardson. The second partner was William C. Richardson, not H. H. Richardson, but the design of this building, only a few years after the latter&#39;s death, was strongly influenced by his distinctive style.</p><br>
<p>The building has an L shape, with a front facade of 140 ft. The main block is 65 ft deep, and the ell extending off the east side is 55 ft deep. It rests on a granite foundation, and is made of red brick with brownstone trim. There are two entrances on the front facade, each under classic Richardsonian arches, with additional entrances on the east side and the rear. In its first use as a training school, the first floor included a reception area, science classrooms, and training classrooms for elementary grades. The second floor housed a study hall and assembly hall capable of holding the whole student population (about 175), as well as the principal&#39;s office, science laboratories, other classrooms, and studio space for artistic disciplines. There was a gymnasium in the basement.</p><br>
<p>The exterior of the building received only modest modifications when the city took over the building in 1959, although it was extensively remodeled inside. Two brick additions were added, one on the east side as vault space, and the other on the north side for storage. The entrance formerly used by the school now serves as the district court entrance, providing access to the clerk&#39;s office, a courtroom, and probation offices. The remainder of the building has been converted for the use of a number of city departments.</p><br>
<p>The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978,</p><br>
<p>The Wells Block is a historic mixed use commercial and residential block at 250-264 Worthington Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1876, it is a rare period example of a mixed-use retail and residential building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Wells Block is located in downtown Springfield, on the north side of Worthington Street opposite Stearns Square, a small public park. It is a four-story masonry structure, built out of red brick. The ground floor has two storefronts on either side of a recessed central entrance, with stone piers separating the elements and a pressed metal cornice above. Windows on the upper floors are set in segmented-arch openings, topped by bracketed cornices. The main roof cornice is modest, with dentil molding.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1876 for Abner Abbey on the former site of his lumber yard, and was sold to Jerome Wells the following year. The first floor housed a pair of retail storefronts, while the upper floors were operated as a tenement house, boarding house, and hotel until they were extensively damaged by fire in 1946. A two-story addition was made to the rear in the 1890s. The building was home for a number of years to the Grand Union Tea Company, a prominent local retailer of specialty imported teas. The upper floors were vacant when the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is the only surviving building of this type from the period in the city.</p><br>
<p>The Wason-Springfield Steam Power Blocks are a collection of three historic commercial blocks at 27-43 Lyman St. and 26-50 Taylor Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. They were built in the 1870s by the J.W. Wason Car Company and the Springfield Steam Power Company as facilities to support the development of new businesses in what was then called the North Blocks area of the city.</p><br>
<p>Development on the north side of downtown Springfield was spurred by its proximity to the railroad lines that made the city an important regional transportation hub. In the 1850s, the Lyman and Taylor Streets, the two streets nearest the station, developed with small wood-frame and brick commercial and industrial buildings. A portion of this area became the plant of the Wason Manufacturing Company, maker of railroad cars. It moved to a new outlying factory in 1872, leasing its old factory to smaller businesses. The Powers Block, a six-story brick building at 27-37 Lyman Street, was built in 1873 by the Wason Company on part of its old factory grounds. It has five stories, and provided warehouse and factory space to the Powers Paper Company. An addition in 1881 increased its size by more than half, and a sixth floor was added in 1910. The Bryan Company Block, 39-43 Lyman Street, was built in 1889 for the Clark W. Bryan Company, and is a four-story brick construction. The Steam Power Company&#39;s Taylor Street Block, 26-50 Taylor Street, is a three-story brick block built in 1875. Originally longer, the building was shortened by 75 ft to make way for the post office building on Dwight Street.</p><br>
<p>The buildings have been converted to residential use. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.</p><br>
<p>The Walker Building is a historic commercial building at 1228-1244 Main Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1898, it is one of the best examples of Richardsonian Romanesque design in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Walker Building is located in downtown Springfield, on the east side of Main Street between State and Elm Streets. It is a four-story masonry structure, finished in red brick with brownstone trim. The facade is thirteen bays wide, with four storefronts three bays wide, and a single off-center bay housing main building entrance. The entrance is framed by rustic brownstone, with a half-height column at the corner. The second-floor windows are flanked by engaged columns, with narrow bands of rustic brownstone quoining. The upper two floors have windows grouped in threes matching the storefronts below, with columns between the windows in each group, and a rounded arch at the top. A band of decorative brickwork runs below a simple cornice.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1898 to a design by the prominent Worcester architectural firm Delano & Fuller. When built, it was five stories high; the top floor has since been removed. The lot on which it was built previously housed the city&#39;s first brick hotel, which was owned by T.M. Walker. Walker was also a local manufacturer and retailer of building supplies, including architectural woodwork and paint. The building, despite alterations, has retained much of its original facade.</p><br>
<p>The W C A Boarding House was a historic boarding house at 19 Bliss Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1884 by the Womens Christian Association , it was one Springfields few surviving boarding house structures from the 19th century. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was demolished to make way for the MGM Springfield casino.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The W C A Boarding House was located on the east side of Bliss Street, a right of way that formerly ran between Main Street and East Columbus Avenue, roughly dividing the area developed for the MGM casino. It was a three-story brick building, with a flat roof. It was stylistically a restrained version of Queen Anne architecture, with some patterned brickwork, and corbelled brick piers between the window bays. Windows were originally set in segmented-arch openings, and the building at one time sported a three-story Eastlake-style wooden porch.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1884 by the Womens Christian Association (WCA), a social welfare organization that was a predecessor to the Young Womens Christian Association. The architects were Richmond & Seabury and the builder was C. H. Scott, both of Springfield.</p><br>
<p>The building was used by the WCA as a space for boarding respectable working class single women. With the construction of a new facility in 1910, the property was operated as a private boarding house. From 1962 the building housed the Springfield Rescue Mission, a social welfare agency. It was demolished about 2012.</p><br>
<p>The Adsit Log Cabin in Willsboro, New York, has long been said to have been built by Samuel Adsit in 1778 and is believed to be one of the oldest log cabins in the United States that still exists in its original location. Adsit was an American Revolutionary War veteran who built the cabin for his family of 16 when he moved to Willsboro Point at some time following the war; the town historian&#39;s records suggest that this was soon after 1790. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1992.</p><br>
<p>It is believed that the house survived due to its eventual containment within a larger structure, which was later torn down. In the 1980s, the town of Willsboro undertook a $70,000 restoration project that brought the cabin to its current condition. The furnishings have been dedicated by descendants of the Adsit family.</p><br>
<p>The H. M. Van Deusen Whip Company is an historic factory building at 42 Arnold Street in Westfield, Massachusetts, USA. Built in 1917, it is the last purpose-built whip factory to be built in Westfield, which was nationally known as "Whip City". The building, used until 1930 for whip production, was also somewhat retardaire in design, using late 19th-century construction methods. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The H. M. Van Deusen Whip Company is located on the western side of downtown Westfield, on the south side of Arnold Street between Elm and Washington Streets. It is a long rectangular 3-1/2 story building, constructed with load-bearing brick walls. A stair tower projects midway on the long side, and a single-story brick office addition is attached to the north side. Windows are set in segmented-arch openings, and it is covered by a low-pitch gabled roof.</p><br>
<p>The factory was the last of Westfields major whip factories to be built (1917). Henry Martin Van Deusen began making whips in 1872 in Southfield, and moved to Westfield in 1880. He partnered with John Pomeroy in the whipmaking business until 1902, when he acquired Pomeroys shares in the business. In 1925, with the decline in demand for whips occasioned by the success of the automobile, Van Deusen converted the factory to the production of lawn swings. He died in 1930, and his son lost many of his inherited assets during the Great Depression. The factory was acquired by Stanley Home Products, which used it as its corporate headquarters into the 1960s. In the 1980s it was acquired by a developer and converted to apartments.</p><br>
<p>The Valentine School is a historic school at Grape and Elm Streets in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Built in 1898 to a design by George P. B. Alderman, it is a prominent local eхample of Renaissance Revival architecture. The building has been converted to residential use.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Valentine School is located a short way east of downtown Chicopee, at the eastern corner of Grape and Elm Streets. It is a two-story masonry structure, built out of red brick with sandstone trim. Its front, facing Elm Street, consists of a series of stepped projections. Its ground floor is laid in courses that are periodically recessed, giving a rusticated appearance, and is topped by a band of brick corbelling. Windows on that level are set in rectangular openings, with stone sills and lintels. The second floor windows are set in round-arch openings with surrounding sandstone arches. The main entrance is at the center of the facade, recessed with stairs under a large round-arch opening, with a Palladian window on the second floor above. The facade is crowned by a metal cornice with scroll modillions.</p><br>
<p>The school was built in 1898-99 to a design by George P. B. Alderman, a regionally prominent architect from Holyoke. It was connected by a tunnel to the Robinson Public School on the same lot, which was demolished in the 1950s. It served as a public school until the 1980s, and has since been converted into apartments, with additional apartment blocks added at one corner of the property.</p><br>
<p>The US Post Office—Palmer Main is a historic post office building at 1057 Park Street in Palmer, Massachusetts. Built in 1931, it is a good local example of Classical Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Palmer&#39;s main post office is located on the eastern outskirts of its downtown area, at the southeast corner of Park and Central Streets. It is a roughly rectangular single-story structure, with a steel frame and an exterior finished in brick and limestone. Its main entrance is centered on the long, street-facing side of the building, which is lined with large Ionic columns set in antis in a broad recess. The columns support a brick and limestone frieze, cornice, and low balustrade that encircles the truncated hip roof. The steps leading to the entrance are flanked by original Art Deco lampposts. The interior lobby area has terrazzo marble flooring and marble wainscoting, as well as original woodwork.</p><br>
<p>The post office was built in 1931, to a design by the Office of the Supervising Architect for the USA Treasury, then under the direction of Louis A. Simon. The building cost more than $75,000 to build, a high price for the period, and apparently bankrupted the first contractor to work on it, since it was completed by another. The buildings relative grandeur is somewhat offset by its odd location in what is a mostly residential area on the fringe of the citys downtown.</p><br>
<p>The US Post Office—Holyoke Main is a historic post office building at 650 Dwight Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It opened in 1935, as a replacement for an earlier post office location at 31 Main Street, and is a distinctive local example of Art Deco architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.</p><br>
<p>The building is one of two post office locations serving the city, with a second in Ingleside at the Holyoke Mall.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Holyokes main post office is located in the citys downtown, on the south side of Dwight Street between Elm and Chestnut Streets. It is a broad two-story structure, built with a steel frame and finished in limestone with granite trim. It has a tall central five-bay section flanked by single-story wings that are two bays wide, with entrances in the outer bays of the central section. Each entry is topped by a transom and a panel with a carved eagle. The main lobby is finished in marble terrazzo flooring, with marble wainscoting and plaster walls, rising to a carved cornice. Part of the wall is painted with a mural depicting the early settlement of Holyoke.</p><br>
<p>The Art Deco building, a stylistic rarity in Holyoke, was built for a total cost (including land and construction) of $284,000. The lobby mural was executed by Ross Moffett as part of a Depression-era jobs program for artists. The building&#39;s location was a matter of some local dispute, with competing interests remaining undecided until the Postal Service threatened to withdraw the project entirely. The second floor interior originally held a variety of other government offices, but is now largely unused.</p><br>
<p>The Bicycle Club Building is a historic building at 264-270 Worthington Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 1891 four story Romanesque Revival was the first permanent home of the internationally famous Springfield Bicycle Club, which was influential in the development of competitive cycling. Now in other commercial uses, the building was rehabilitated in 1981, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Bicycle Club Building is located in downtown Springfield, on the west side of Worthington Street opposite Stearns Square. It is four stories in height, sharing a party wall with the adjacent Wells Block. The ground floor is five bays wide articulated by engaged pillars, with a frieze above that has a gable pattern; the building entrance and the retail entrance for the ground floor are set in a recess in the rightmost bay. The second and third floors are four bays wide, with paneled sections above the windows and fluted pilasters at the sides. The fourth floor width is spanned by a Romanesque arch, and the building is crowned by a projecting metal cornice.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed in 1891 for the Springfield Bicycle Club. The ground floor, used as a retail space, has undergone a variety of changes through the years, but the upper floors have retained much of the original form. The club originally leased the ground floor to a bicycle shop, and had club offices and library on the second floor. The third floor housed a game room, and the top floor had an exercise gym. After the rise of the automobile, the club declined in popularity, and the building has seen a succession of uses.</p><br>
<p>The Burbach Block is a historic commercial and retail block at 1113–1115 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1882, it is one of a series of buildings marking the area&#39;s transition from a smaller-scale residential service area to the commercial downtown. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Burbach Block is located near the southern end of the built-up commercial downtown area of Springfield. It is on the north side of Main Street, at the southern end of a row of three commercial buildings: the Bangs Block and McKinney Building also occupy the block demarcated by Crossett Lane and Cross Street. The Burbach Block is three stories in height, built of red brick, and is separated from Cross Street by a narrow park. It is five bays wide, with a single modern commercial storefront on the ground floor. Stone beltcourses substitute for window sills and lintels on the upper levels, and patterned brickwork is found above each of those levels. Its facade is topped by a brickwork parapet with corbelled square posts at the corners.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1882 for Gerard Burbach, proprietor of an adjacent hotel, which was demolished in 1915 as part of a project to widen Cross Street. It may have acted as an annex for the hotel in its early years; the hotel, founded in the 1850s, was at its height in the 1890s. In the 20th century, this building has seen a number of uses including furniture store, dry goods dealer, and restaurant.</p><br>
<p>The Thornton W. Burgess House is a historic house at 789 Main Street in Hampden, Massachusetts. Built between 1780 and 1784, it is a well-preserved vernacular house built by one of the areas early settlers, and was for many years home to childrens author Thornton W. Burgess. The property is now owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which uses it for staff housing. It is adjacent to the Society&#39;s Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Thornton W. Burgess House is located east of the village center of Hampden, on the north side of Main Street a short way west of its junction with Glendale Road. It is a simple -story Cape style house, with a side gable roof, shingled exterior, and central chimney. The main facade is three bays wide, with a central entrance topped by a transom window. Interior features include a narrow winding staircase in the entry vestibule, and a large fireplace with beehive oven in the main chamber. Some interior doors consist of wide wooden boards attached to hand wrought iron hinges.</p><br>
<p>The house is one of the oldest houses in Hampden (built between 1780 and 1784), and is noted as the longtime home of childrens author Thornton Burgess. It was built by Calvin Stebbins, whose uncle was one of Hampdens first settlers. Thornton Burgess purchased the house in 1928, and used it has a summer residence until 1955, when he made it his year-round residence. He established his writing studio in one of the outbuildings on the property, and produced many of his best-known works here. After his death in 1965, the local Lions Club bought the property to prevent its development, and eventually turned it over to the Audubon Society.</p><br>
<p>The Elijah Burt House is a historic house at 201 Chestnut Street in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1720 and 1740, it is believed to be the oldest surviving building in the town, and a station on the Underground Railroad. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Elijah Burt House is located south of the center of East Longmeadow, on the north side of Chestnut Street roughly midway between Shaker Road and Prospect Street. It is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, clapboard siding, and a central chimney. The main entrance is at the center of the front facade, flanked by pilasters, and topped by a corniced entablature. Its interior retains original wide pine floors, fireplaces with beehive ovens, and gunstock posts in the corners. Part of the interior includes a secret passage that may have been used to shelter escaping slaves as part of the Underground Railroad.</p><br>
<p>The house was built sometime between 1720 and 1740, and is believed to be the oldest house in East Longmeadow. It served in early days as a stop on stagecoach routes. In the years before the Civil War, an abolitionist owner is said to have harbored fugitive slaves in the basement, with a tunnel providing an escape into nearby woods. The house underwent a Victorian update in the late 19th century, with a Queen Anne style porch with turned posts; most of these changes were reversed during 20th-century work to restore its 18th-century appearance.</p><br>
<p>The Caledonia Building, also known as Caledonian Hall or The Caledonian, is a historic commercial building located at 185-193 High Street in downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. Built in 1874, it is one of that commercial districts finest examples of Victorian architecture and a rare representative example of the development of the citys Scottish immigrant community. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 1979, and was included in the North High Street Historic District on June 26, 1986.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Caledonia Building is located in Holyoke&#39;s downtown North High Street commercial district, on the northwest side of High Street opposite John Street. It is a four-story brownstone structure, sharing party walls with neighboring buildings and topped by a mansard roof. The ground floor is divided into four storefronts articulated by fluted pilasters, with the main building entrance near the center. Three of the four store fronts have recessed entrances flanked by display windows on both sides, while the storefront left of the entrance is flanked by a window on just one side. A cornice separates the ground floor from the upper floors, which have eight bays of windows. Piers of decorative stonework separate the window bays, which are capped by ornamented brownstone lintels. The roof is slate, with single-window dormers flanking a central projecting pavilion.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed in 1874 for Roswell P. Crafts, a local businessman and politician who served as Holyoke&#39;s second mayor, and was thus known as the Craft Building. Its first floor housed businesses, the second and third floors house offices, and the fourth floor was an open ballroom space. In 1879, the Caledonian Benefit Society, established to assist immigrating Scots, began meeting on the top floor; it purchased the building in 1909.</p><br>
<p>From 1910 until 1966, the third floor banquet hall of the building served as the regular practice space of the Holyoke Caledonian Pipe Band.</p><br>
<p>The Carlton House Block is a historic commercial and retail block at 9-13 Hampden Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1873, and updated in the early 20th century, it is a good example of Italianate architecture, built during the downtown&#39;s development as an industrial and commercial center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Carlton House Block is located on the northwestern side of Springfields central business district, on the southeast side of Hampden Street midway between Main Street and East Columbus Avenue. It is a three-story brick building, with a flat roof and Italianate styling. Upper-level windows are set in segmented-arch openings topped by shouldered lintels, and the facade is topped by low parapet added in the early 20th century. A decorative band of stonework extends across the facade above the third-floor windows, and around to the left side for one bay, where the buildings side is exposed to an alley. The ground floor has a single large storefront, with a broad expanse of plate glass windows in the center, the retail entrance to their left, and the upstairs entrance to their right.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1875 by William Patton, who acquired all of the buildings on the south side of Hampden Street in the 1870s and 1880s. Its name derives from its site, which was previously the location of the Carlton House Hotel. It was built for lease to one of the leading shoe and boot wholesale manufacturers in the area; they occupied the premises until 1897, after which it has seen a variety of tenants.</p><br>
<p>The Carreau Block is a historic Classical Revival apartment block at 640-642 Chicopee Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was built in 1912 by Louis Carreau, a locally notable builder of French Canadian extraction, and is his only known surviving building of this type. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Carreau Block is located in Chicopee&#39;s Willimansett neighborhood, at the southwestern corner of Chicopee and Walter Streets. It is a roughly L-shaped brick building, three stories in height, presenting finished facades to both streets. It is built out of red-brown brick with trim that is either yellow brick or sandstone. Undulating rounded window bays mark the main building corner and flank the two entrances facing Chicopee Street, and also on that facing Walter Street. Bands of yellow brick separate the first and second floor, and also the third floor from the cornice, which is a slight concrete projection. The building houses fifteen residential units.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1912, a period in which Willimansett was growing rapidly as a housing area serving the industries of adjacent Holyoke. The area had benefited from the construction of a bridge across the Connecticut River in 1893, followed by the introduction of streetcar service two years later. Most of the early residents of this block shared the ethnic affiliation of its builder, the French Canadian Louis Carreau. Carreau was a prominent builder in Chicopee and Holyoke, but most of his residential buildings were wood-frame single or multiunit buildings. It is the only building attributable to Carreau still standing in the city.</p><br>
<p>The Chapin National Bank Building is a historic bank building at 1675-1677 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1917 for a bank founded in 1872 by Chester Chapin, it is a notable local example of Classical Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It now houses other commercial businesses.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Chapin National Bank Building is located in downtown Springfield, at the northeast corner of Main and Lyman Streets. It is a two-story masonry structure, built out of cast stone. The Lyman Street facade has a classical Doric frieze, with four monumental fluted columns set in antis. The Main Street facade originally had a similar appearance, except for the main building entrance, but this has been obscured or replaced by modern paneling, leaving only the frieze below the roofline.</p><br>
<p>Chester Chapin, a native of nearby Ludlow, made a fortune first in stagecoach operations, and then in railroads and other businesses. He founded a bank in 1872, which was formally chartered as Chapin National Bank in 1878. Chapin was a city selectman and served a single term in the United States Congress (1875-77). This building was built in 1917, on the site of a previous building of the same bank. It was designed by Mowbray and Uffinger, architects from New York City, and remains a distinctive example of Classical Revival architecture in the city despite its facade alterations.</p><br>
<p>City Hall is a historic city hall in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Located in the heart of Chicopee at Market Square, the building  is in the Italianate style, with a rose window  and a 147 ft tower modeled on that of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Charles Edward Parker.</p><br>
<h2>History and architecture</h2><br>
<p>Chicopee purchased land from the Ames Manufacturing Company in 1869 as a site for its new city hall, and a committee of leading citizens was established to oversee its design and construction. The committee selected Charles E. Parker of Boston to design the new building, and construction took place in 1871. Parker&#39;s design was modelled on the Palazzo Vecchio, the historic town hall of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The building was dedicated on December 21, 1871.</p><br>
<p>By far the most prominent feature of the building is its 147 ft tower, similar to its Florentine inspiration. It is topped by a golden eagle statue weighing 54 lb and having a 7 ft wingspan. The tower houses a bell, which was historically used on public occasions and to announce fire alarms. A clock mechanism was added in 1888, with faces on three of the tower&#39;s four sides.</p><br>
<p>The civic building is unusual for having a rose window, usually associated with churches and finished in stained glass.</p><br>
<p>The building continues to be used for city offices. The police station was originally located in the basement, but was moved in 1929 to a newly constructed annex before later being moved to the Chicopee Falls section of the city where it presently shares its own complex with the Chicopee Fire Department.</p><br>
<p>The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.</p><br>
<p>As of 2020 the City Hall is undergoing a major external renovation project.</p><br>
<p>The Colonial Block is a historic mixed-use retail, commercial, and residential block at 1139-55 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1902-05, it is a relatively rare example of a mixed use building from the period built to provide a mix of uses, in particular residential, at a time when most building in the area were built for commercial and retail purposes. It has also anchored the southern part of Springfield&#39;s downtown area where it begins transitioning to more residential use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Colonial Block is located near the southern end of the built-up commercial downtown area of Springfield. It is on the north side of Main Street at the southeast corner with Stockbridge Street, and is adjacent to the McKinney Building to the east, across Crossett Lane, and abuts the Guenther & Handel&#39;s Block on Stockbridge Street. It is five stories in height, with a facade of yellow brick and brown sandstone. The Main Street facade is eleven bays, articulated by brick pilasters with stone capitals on the upper levels. Projecting polygonal bays at intervals give the facade an undulating character, in part because the projections are continued in the elaborate bracketed cornice. The ground floor storefronts, of which there are three on Main Street, have been modernized, with plate glass display windows flanking recessed entrances.</p><br>
<p>The building was built as a speculative venture in 1902 by a local builder and real estate developer, Pascal Morse. It is a relatively rare example of a mixed use building from the period, in particular for its inclusion of residences, at a time when most building in the area were built for commercial and retail purposes. Its first floor was for built for retail use, the second floor housed offices and commercial space, and the upper three floors were residential. The building marked a transitional area between the urban downtown center of Springfield to the north, and more residential areas to the south. It also features distinctive Georgian Revival details not found on many other Springfield buildings. For many years, the principal retail tenant in the building was a furniture store.</p><br>
<p>The Cutler and Porter Block is a historic commercial building at 109 Lyman Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1894 and altered in 1923, it is an architecturally distinctive example of Panel Brick architecture, with important associations to several late 19th and early 20th-century local businesses. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Cutler and Porter Block is located on the north side of downtown Springfield, on the south side of Lyman Street opposite the Amtrak railyard. It is a brick structure, four stories in height, with an elaborate cornice and parapet on the front, and a slightly less elaborate one on the exposed west side. Top-floor windows are set in round-arch openings in the Romanesque style, while the first two floors are faced in stone, with ground-floor window bays filled with glass blocks.</p><br>
<p>The four story brick building was constructed in 1894 for the firm of Cutler and Porter Inc, a wholesaler of shoes, boots, and rubber goods, founded in 1880. It was designed by Frederick S. Newman and made to be visually sympathetic to the adjacent Produce Exchange Building. Cutler and Porter occupied the building until 1907. In the 1920s the firm W.F. Young, Inc., founded in Meriden, Connecticut, occupied half of the building, eventually taking it over entirely. Young remodeled the premises to accommodate its business, the production of horse liniments, and made changes to the facade, integrating its logo into the brickwork.</p><br>
<p>The Joseph Dewey House is a historic house museum at 87 South Maple Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built about 1735, it is one of the city&#39;s few surviving pre-Revolutionary buildings. It is now maintained as a museum property by the local historical society. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Joseph Dewey House is located south of downtown Westfield, on the west side of South Maple Street (United States Route 202). It is a wood-frame structure, stories in height, with a gable roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is three bays wide, with a center entrance flanked by pilasters set on tall paneled blocks, and topped by a frieze and gabled pediment. The flanking first-floor windows are also topped by gabled lintels.</p><br>
<p>The house was built in about 1735 for Joseph Dewey, whose family had been living in the Westfield area since the mid-17th century. Dewey was a local farmer who was also involved in local politics. His grandson Benjamin bought the house later in the 18th century, and added a gristmill and sawmill to his property. He enlarged the house and added Federal style details. The house remained in the Dewey family until 1847. The property then went through a succession of owners, including a several-year period in which a Dewey descendant owned it. The mills were sold off, and redeveloped by the papermaker Crane & Co.</p><br>
<p>In 1873 the property was purchased by Emma Jane Turner, and it remained in her family for about 100 years. In the 1970s, under threat of demolition, it was acquired by the West Hampden Historical Society, moved to its present location, and carefully restored to its early colonial state. It is now operated by the society as a house museum.</p><br>
<p>Driscoll&#39;s Block is a historic commercial building at 211-13 Worthington Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1894, it was the first building to be built in the area after a fire destroyed five blocks of Worthington Street the previous year. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Driscolls Block is located in downtown Springfield, on the southeast side of Worthington Street, just southwest of Stearns Square. It is a modest four-story brick building, with a flat roof and decorative corbelled brick cornice. The ground floor houses a single store front, with recessed entrances (one to the retail space and the other to the upstairs) flanking a display window. Windows on the second and third floors are set in segmented-arch openings, in two groups of three with shared sills. Fourth-floor windows are similarly arranged, but are set in round-arch openings. The exterior of the building was, at the time of its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, notable for a series of mid-20th-century advertising stencils that were applied to its eastern facade after the 1940 demolition of the adjacent building. Those advertisements have since faded significantly. In 2022, Massachusetts was approached by State Representative Sean Curran to paint a mural on Driscolls Block. Instead of painting a new mural the artists decided to bring the previous mural back to life. In late August 2022, the mural was as a stunning four-story piece of art with historical advertisements.</p><br>
<p>The block was built for J.R. Driscoll, and at first housed a bowling alley. This business ran until 1915, and was followed by a succession of tenants, including briefly a Sears and Roebuck branch. The tenants have principally been manufacturing or warehousing concerns.</p><br>
<p>The Dwight Manufacturing Company Housing District is a residential historic district in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Front, Depot, Dwight, Exchange, and Chestnut Streets, it encompasses a variety of housing built for mill workers at Chicopee&#39;s mills during the 19th century. This cluster is one of few remnants of such housing, which was built on a larger scale now diminished by urban renewal. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Chicopee&#39;s major industrial history began in 1832, when the Chicopee River was dammed, with textile mills beginning to operate soon afterward. Funded largely by investors from Boston, The Boston Associates, including early investors in mills at Lowell, a number of mills were built between 1832 and 1841. Four separate firms were consolidated into the Dwight Manufacturing Company in 1856; Edmund Dwight, for whom it was named, was from a prominent local family who was a lawyer and businessman in Boston. Early mill owners built boarding houses to attract single young women from area farms, offering concerned parents the security of a supervised living environment for their daughters. One typical boarding house is the brick building at 2-6-10 Dwight Street, which was built about 1832 for the Springfield Canal Company and sold to the Dwight Company in 1844. Later housing catered more toward immigrant families, who eventually came to dominate mill employment. A good example of this type is at 15-17 Chestnut Street, a modest two-story brick building with Greek Revival style.</p><br>
<p>The district is composed of buildings on or near the city block formed by Front, Depot, Dwight, Exchange, and Chestnut Streets, and includes buildings dating from 1830 to the 1870s. These buildings were owned by the mills until they shutdown in 1927, after which they were sold into private hands. These types of buildings were built in large numbers in the areas near the mills, but many have been demolished for subsequent development or significantly altered.</p><br>
<p>The Ethel Apartment House is a historic apartment building at 70 Patton Street in the North End of Springfield, Massachusetts. The four story red brick building was built in 1912 for Jacob Blisky, a successful local retailer, at a cost of $14,000. It was designed by Burton E. Geckler, a local architect who designed a number of other apartment blocks during the 1910s. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Ethel Apartment House stands on the northwest side of Patton Street, facing the highway ramps of the interchange between Interstate 291 and Interstate 91. It is a four-story red brick structure, whose facade is divided into three vertical sections. The outer sections are rounded bays set on raised simulated ashlar stone foundations, with two sash windows in each bay on each level. The main entrance is in the center section, with three sets of paired windows above, offset from those of the flanking sections. All the windows have sills and lintels of cast stone similar to the foundation material. A tin cornice extends around the building below the roof. The building interior is modern.</p><br>
<p>Built in 1912, this building is one of a relatively small number of apartment blocks built in this area of the city, and replaced one and two-family houses that had previously lined the street. This building is one of a small number of buildings (along with Laurel Hall, located next door) of that period to survive large-scale urban renewal activities of the 1960s that razed much of the North End.</p><br>
<p>Fitzgeralds Stearns Square Block was a historic commercial block at 300–308 Bridge Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. It was built in 1871 for Patrick Fitzgerald, one of Springfields leading real estate developers of the time, and is an important early design of Eugene C. Gardner, who later designed a number of prominent Springfield properties. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was apparently demolished sometime afterward; the site is now a parking lot.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Fitzgeralds Stearns Square Block was located on at the corner of Stearns Square, a small public park, and Bridge Street, on the north side of Springfields central business district. It was three stories in height, built out brick, with Italianate styling. The ground floor had two modernized storefronts, while the upper-floor windows were set in segmented-arch openings. The second-floor openings were topped by peaked brickwork surrounds, while those on the third floor had segmented-arch brickwork surrounds.</p><br>
<p>The block was built by Patrick Fitzgerald, one of Springfield&#39;s leading developers of the 1860s and 1870s. Of five commercial buildings he was known to have built, this was the last one to survive. It was typical of early commercial brick buildings constructed in the downtown area, and was one of the earliest known designs of Perkins & Gardner, a leading architectural firm in the city. Its upper floors originally housed residences. It was demolished some time after its listing on the National Register in 1983.</p><br>
