<p>The Friedrich Block is a historic mixed-use commercial and residential block at 449-461 Main Street  in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Built in 1908, it is a significant Renaissance Revival work by the local architect George P. B. Alderman, and for its association with the E.H. Friedrich Company, a manufacturer of metal architectural parts. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Friedrich Block occupies a prominent location in downtown Holyoke, at the northwest corner of Main and Sargent Streets. It is a four-story brick structure with a diversity of Renaissance Revival styling on its street-facing exteriors. The ground floor is finished mainly in dressed brownstone, although it as also been significantly altered by its commercial tenants over the years. The upper floors are organized into groups of window bays set in brick, with intervening slightly projecting bay windows finished in metal. The brick is laid to give a banding effect, which alters to form keystone-like forms above the windows. Windows on the second and third floors are set in rectangular openings, while those on the third floor are set in round-arch openings. The building is crowned by a projecting metal cornice, with garlanding, dentil work and modillions.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed in 1908 by the E.H. Friedrich Company, a manufacturer of metal architectural parts with a factory in the city; it was designed by local architect George P. B. Alderman, and the companys metal parts may have been used in its construction. At the time of the buildings construction the city was engaged in an effort to build housing that was more resistant to fire than wood frame tenements. This building was designed to house fifteen residential units and three storefronts. The building has undergone only modest alterations over the years, principally by the commercial tenants on the ground floor. Its longest-serving commercial tenant was the Weinstein Furniture Company, which operated on the premises from 1926 to 1995; Samuel Weinstein purchased the building in 1948. The apartments, which housed an ethnic diversity of primarily factory workers, saw significant wear as well as damage from vandalism. The building has recently been rehabilitated. Its commercial space is now occupied by the Monte de Santidad Apostolic Christian Church.</p><br>
<p>The Fuller Block is a historic commercial building at 1531-1545 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1887, it is a prominent local landmark, and a well-preserved example of a late 19th-century office block. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Fuller Block occupies a prominent position in downtown Springfield, at the northwest corner of Main and Bridge Streets. It is five stories in height, with a rounded corner and decoratively parapeted roof edge. The main facade faces Main Street, with bays of varying width on the ground floor, articulated by posts and connected by Moorish arches. A cornice and stone stringcourse separate the first floor from the upper levels. Windows are grouped asymmetrically in pairs, threes, and fives. Windows on the third and fifth floors are generally set in round-arch openings, with some paired windows set in shared stone arches.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1887 for Frank Fuller, a local businessman. The Romanesque Revival structure was designed by architect Frederick S. Newman, and was the first building in Springfield to feature a number of modern amenities and stylistic features: marble staircases, steam heat, passenger elevators, a mail chute, and running water on all floors. The building once featured an onion dome at the corner, but this was removed sometime in the 20th century. Early tenants included prominent local clothiers and doctors. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<p>The Guenther & Handels Block is a historic commercial building at 7—9 Stockbridge Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1845 by Elam Stockbridge, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the citys downtown area, and one of its rare examples of Greek Revival commercial architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Guenther & Handels Block is located near the southern end of the built-up commercial downtown area of Springfield. It is on the east side of Stockbridge Street just north of its junction with Main Street, from which it is separated by the Colonial Block. It is a three-story brick building with vernacular Greek Revival styling. Its facade is essentially five bays in width, although the upper two floors only have windows in the three rightmost bays. The ground floor is arranged with a storefront in the right three bays, with display windows in the inner two and the entrance on the right. The buildings left bays are both occupied by doors.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1845, and is one of the oldest commercial buildings in downtown Springfield. It was built for Elam Stockbridge, who laid out and began to develop Stockbridge Street in 1839. In the 1880s the ground floor business was a grocery shop, which in 1913 was acquired and operated by Emil Guenther and his brother-in-law, Richard Handel. The grocery operation had a local reputation for high-quality goods from around the world, and used the second floor of the building as a kitchen. It remained within the family and at the same location until 1972; the business was sold out of the family and moved to other premises in 1973.</p><br>
<p>The Gunn and Hubbard Blocks are a pair of historic commercial-residential buildings at 463-477 State Street in the Old Hill section of Springfield, Massachusetts. Located across the street from the Springfield Armory, they were built in the 1830s, and are the two of the oldest commercial buildings in Springfield. The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Gunn and Hubbard Blocks are located northeast of downtown Springfield, on the south side of State Street at its junction with Walnut Street. They are set facing north toward the historic Springfield Armory grounds, across State Street. They are brick buildings of similar late Federal style, 3-1/2 stories in height, and are joined by a party wall. The Gunn Block (473-477 State Street) is seven bays wide, and has a slightly trapezoidal shape, owing to its position on the street corner. The ground floor has two storefronts flanking a center entrance, which provides access to the residential spaces on the upper floors. The Hubbard Block (461-471 State Street) is eleven bays wide. Built in two stages, its older portion is like the Gunn Block seven bays, with a similar configuration, including chimneys at each end. The extension is four bays, and also has chimneys at the outer end.</p><br>
<p>The Gunn Block was built in 1830 by Elisha Gunn, who traded in goods from the West Indies. The Hubbard Block was built five years later by Asahel Hubbard, an inspector at the Armory, as a real estate venture. His principal tenant was Jonathan Bangs, the operator of a local grist mill, and the second floor housed a large meeting space used by community groups such as the Masons. As the 19th century progressed, the center of commerce in Springfield moved to what is now the downtown area, but these two blocks continued to serve the neighborhood&#39;s needs until the 1890s, when Winchester Square became more important.</p><br>
<p>Hampden County Courthouse is a historic courthouse on Elm Street in Springfield, Massachusetts designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. This was the county&#39;s second courthouse. The first courthouse was a small meetinghouse structure built in 1740, and the second and was constructed in 1822, but by the 1860s, popular pressure was developing for a new proper courthouse. A grand jury indicted the county commissioners in 1869 for official misconduct since the courthouse did not have fireproof storage for the registry of deeds and the safekeeping of public records. This forced the county to build a new courthouse.</p><br>
<p>Construction began in late 1871, and the building was dedicated on April 28, 1874. The original building cost $214,068. The site, within the middle of a city block and measuring 160 by 90 feet, cost $75,716. The building is shaped roughly like the capital letter I, with the main facade emphasizing vertical lines, tall windows, and two tall dormers on either side of the bell tower. The facades were built of light gray Monson granite in rough-faced random ashlar masonry, with smooth-faced trim. The overall design reflects Richardsons evolution as a designer, showing development from the Brattle Square Church. In his 1972 treatise on Springfield history, Town Into City, Dr. Michael Frisch, professor of American Studies at University at Albany, described the structure as "the single most impressive building of the period, well symboliz Springfields new importance in the life and economy of its region".</p><br>
<p>The countys growth eventually pushed the probate court and registry of deeds into another building in 1907, and the county built a large addition to the building between 1908 and 1912. This was designed by Richardsons successor firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge. The sloping roof and high dormers were eliminated in the remodeling, making it difficult to visualize some parts of Richardson&#39;s original design.</p><br>
<p>The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Today, it houses the juvenile and Western Division of the Massachusetts Housing Court. The Courthouse is part of the Court Square Historic District.</p><br>
<p>The Hampden Savings Bank building is a historic bank building at 1665 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. The building&#39;s original tenant, Hampden Bank , now has a headquarters several blocks south of this site at 19 Harrison Avenue. The Classical Revival building was designed by Max H. Westhoff for the bank in 1918. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Hampden Savings Bank building is located on the east side of Main Street in downtown Springfield, on a block between Taylor and Lyman Streets that is lined with turn-of-the-century commercial buildings. It is a two-story masonry structure, sharing party walls with its neighbors. It has a well-proportioned Classical Revival facade, with a center entrance topped by an elaborate pediment, and tall second-story windows set in a recess with Ionic pilasters at either side. Above this a panel identifies the building, with a cornice and decorative parapet at the top.</p><br>
<p>Hampden Savings Bank was chartered in 1852 to provide banking services to the growing city&#39;s many railroad workers. It shared quarters with another bank, the Agawam Savings Bank, until 1871, and then moved to quarters in a building at Main and Front Streets in 1899. This building was designed by architect Max H. Westhoff (who had recently moved to the area from Saranac, New York) and built for the bank as its first dedicated headquarters in 1918. The bank moved to a new headquarters building at 19 Harrison Avenue in 1952.</p><br>
<p>The Haynes Hotel or Waters Building is a historic building at 1386-1402 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1864, it was the first of the city&#39;s grand hotels, and is one of its last surviving examples of Italianate commercial architecture. Now filled with retail and office space, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Haynes Hotel is located in downtown Springfield, on the south side of Main Street at its junction with Pynchon Street (now a pedestrian zone). It is a five-story masonry structure, built out of load-bearing brick walls with stone trim. The building corners have stone quoining, and the windows are set in segmented-arch openings with bracketed lintels and shouldered and keystoned hoods. The building is capped by a projecting decorative cornice.</p><br>
<p>The five story Italianate brick was built in 1864 for Theodore "Tilly" Haynes, proprietor of a men&#39;s clothing store at another location that was destroyed by fire. Haynes operated his shop and a hotel on the site, and the post office also operated in the corner space of the building until the 1880s. The hotel was one of the largest in the city of the time, feature a grand central lobby with a skylight. It was eventually eclipsed by the Hotel Charles, which was larger and located nearer the railroad.</p><br>
<p>Haynes sold the property in 1876 to Clara Goodman, who purchased it for her son-in-law, H. H. Waters. In 1943 the old hotel lobby was converted to retail space, and the upper floors were converted to office space.</p><br>
<p>The Henking Hotel and Cafe was a historic building at 15-21 Lyman Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in two stages in 1899 and 1909, it was a good example of a turn-of-the-century accommodation for railroad travelers in the city, notable for its establishment by some of area&#39;s early German immigrants. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and demolished some time thereafter.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Henking Hotel and Cafe were two adjacent buildings on the east side of Lyman Street, at its junction with Kaynor Street. The hotel building was four stories in height, with Georgian Revival styling in brick, while the adjacent cafe space was a two-story brick building, with glass-block windows flanking the entrance on the ground floor, and pairs of windows on the second level, which housed a ballroom. That buildings cornice was designed to match that of the hotel.</p><br>
<p>The hotel building was built in 1880 for Gustave and Elizabeth Gruendler, German immigrants who had operated hotels elsewhere in the city for some time, and who were among the city&#39;s early German immigrant arrivals. Upon their death the building was taken over by Henry Henking, who had worked for the Gruendlers. He changed the name of the hotel and remodeled its facade in a Georgian Revival style. His son Gus took over the business upon his death in 1906, and further expanded the business, building the adjacent banquet space. The hotel was strategically located opposite an entrance to the railroad station, and the business of the small family-run hotel was good despite competition from larger hotels nearby.</p><br>
<p>The Hibernian Block was a historic commercial building at 345-349 Worthington Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1910, it was a distinctive example of Classical Revival architecture, used for many years by a variety of fraternal social organizations. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 , and it was demolished sometime thereafter.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Hibernian Block was located in downtown Springfield, on the east side of Worthington Street north of its junction with Dwight Street; the site is now a parking lot. It was a four-story masonry structure with distinctive Classical Revival styling, using brick piers instead of columns between its large glass windows. It was three bays wide, with each of the upper-floor bays housing a three-part window with narrow side windows. The second-floor windows were topped by gabled or segmented-arch pediments.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1910 for the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Its local chapter was established in 1882, and met in the First National Bank Building before they had this block built. The Hibernians used the top floor as a meeting hall, and rented out the lower floors to other businesses. The space was used by the Shriners from 1924 to 1962, and then by the Lebanese American Club. In 1978 it was taken over by the Hispanic Social Club.</p><br>
<p>Holyoke City Hall is the historic city hall of Holyoke, Massachusetts. It is located at 536 Dwight Street, on the south east corner of High Street and Dwight Street. Serving both as the city administrative center and a public timepiece for the industrial citys workers, construction began on the Gothic Revival structure in 1871 to a design by architect Charles B. Atwood. Difficulties and delays in construction were compounded by Atwoods failure to deliver updated drawings in a timely manner, and the design work was turned over to Henry F. Kilburn in 1874. The building was completed two years later at a cost of $500,000. It has housed city offices since then.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>City Hall is a large stone structure in the Gothic Revival style, built with granite quarried in Monson. Basically rectangular in shape, it has transept-like wings on both long sides, near the ends. It has pointed-arch windows, and is structurally supported by Gothic buttresses. The roof is predominantly dark slate, with bands of red and green slate interspersed. The main tower is 220 ft tall, and houses a bell weighing over 4,000 lb.</p><br>
<p>The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and included in a boundary expansion of the North High Street Historic District in 1992.</p><br>
<h3>Clock tower</h3><br>
<p>Originally done in blackwood with gold numbers, which many onlookers found difficult to read, today the hall&#39;s large clock tower contains four faces of Belgium milk glass. The movement, a Seth Thomas no. 14, eight-day mechanism installed in 1877, contains all bronze components and is one of only three such clock movements sold by the company in New England. The 2.5 ton bell was cast in 1875 by the Jones & Co. Troy Bell Foundry of Troy, New York, and contains a custom-built strike movement as the bell sits on a separate floor from the mechanism and the transmission room where the clock faces and lighting sits. In the 1930s the clock was electrified with General Electric motors to raise its counterweights.</p><br>
<h3>Stained glass</h3><br>
<p>During the building&#39;s original construction in 1876, 13 stained glass windows were commissioned by the city and made by Samuel West of Boston. Three of these are located in the stairwells to the auditorium, including two rosettes, and a larger window with two figures- one representing Liberty, and the other a personification of the United States. In the auditorium are the remaining 10 windows, with 4 showing decorative patterns, and 6 showing figures personifying art, agriculture, music, commerce, industry, and water power.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Design and construction</h3><br>
<p>The construction of city hall was a multiyear effort, spanning six years. Its foundations were first laid in 1871 by stonemason John Delaney and his crew, who had also overseen the initial construction of the Holyoke Canal System. By December 17, 1874, the roof was reported as complete, and the building was sealed from the elements for the winter. By 1877 its tower was topped out and the clock&#39;s timekeeping mechanism was installed.</p><br>
<h3>Early functions</h3><br>
<p>During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the building served as the de facto hub of the Holyoke Street Railway, as all trolley lines converged there, with zone fares based on the distance between that location and the system&#39;s various stops. From 1876 until 1902 the building was also home to the Holyoke Public Library until it moved to its current location.</p><br>
<p>In addition to housing city offices, City Hall&#39;s main second-floor ballroom has also been used as a public function space. It has been used for school graduation ceremonies, theatrical productions, dances, receptions for presidential candidates and foreign dignitaries,</p><br>
<p>During his 1900 presidential campaign against William McKinley, orator and anti-imperialist William Jennings Bryan made a speech at the City Hall on his way to another at Harvard on February 3, 1900, greeted by a reported 2500-3000 attendees who completely filled the grand hall and corridors, with another 1000 said to be waiting to greet him on the lower floors. Bryan would return to deliver a second speech in the Hall on January 10, 1902, and later that same year on October 27, Mother Jones would deliver a speech about the coal strike of 1902. During a busy Massachusetts tour in his 1912 presidential campaign, Woodrow Wilson concluded a day of touring in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield with a campaign rally on the evening of April 27, 1912 in the grand ballroom, in tandem with speeches by Dudley Field Malone and Mayor Newton D. Baker of Cleveland.</p><br>
<p>Though prior to his campaign for president, then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt would lead a fundraiser for the American Red Cross in a packed hall in 1918. Following the legalization of boxing in Massachusetts, the grand hall was used for a time as a venue for hundreds of bouts, by the army and other promoters.</p><br>
<p>City Halls auditorium was also briefly the home venue for the Interstate Basketball Leagues Holyoke Reds, who played only for a few seasons in the early 1920s, winning the league championship in 1923.</p><br>
<p>At the end of the Second World War the auditorium was renovated, but was kept as a basketball court from 1946 until these changes reversed in 1973 for the city&#39;s centennial.</p><br>
<p>On November 9, 1901, the Womans Christian Temperance Union donated and dedicated a Temperance fountain modeled after the Gothic aesthetic of the City Hall building and made of the same Monson granite, which stands at the corner of Dwight and High Street today. The gift, costing between $1,500 and $2,000 at the time, was presented to Mayor Chapin by Mrs. Rosina A. Whiting, and was said to provide drinking water to originally be cooled in pipes by a chamber for ice beneath it. On its sides read two inscriptions from the Bible and one passage from Shakespeares Othello, as follows-</p><br>
<p>O thou invisible spirit of wine, if</p><br>
<p>thou hast no name to be known</p><br>
<p>by, let us call thee devil.</p><br>
<p>I give waters in the wilderness,</p><br>
<p>rivers in the desert. To</p><br>
<p>give drink to my people.</p><br>
<p>He whose spirit is without restraint</p><br>
<p>is like a city that is broken</p><br>
<p>down and hath no walls.</p><br>
<p>In contrast, during the Prohibition Era, City Halls employees, reportedly including mayors and police chiefs of the era, would access a since-razed speakeasy across Dwight Street through a tunnel connected to the building. Later accounts of P. J. Murrays, better known as The Bud, described this tunnel as located in City Halls basement or on its grounds, leading to a series of passageways hidden behind the former bars fireplaces.</p><br>
<p>It is unknown when such a tunnel was constructed or demolished; The Bud however, would be razed in 2015.</p><br>
<p>A session of the aldermen was interrupted on April 29, 1930, while several councilors, as well as city employees, successfully extinguished a fire on building&#39;s roof started by high winds blowing embers from a large blaze in the Caspar Ranger Lumber Yard. Due to the severity of the other fires started across downtown, the public was evacuated and the roof fire had to be extinguished by hand, as too many hydrants were in use to provide adequate pressure for fire hoses.</p><br>
<h3>Contemporary history</h3><br>
<p>Up until the 1980s the clock&#39;s bell also rang on special occasions, including every two minutes during the funeral service of President Kennedy, and with one of the last times being during the re-lighting of the torch of the Statue of Liberty on July 4, 1986 by President Reagan. However increasing maintenance costs and maintenance deference kept the clock from running much of the time in the latter half of 20th century, with one of the most notable problems being the collapse of a sub-ceiling above the bell chamber in 1975. Until a grate was put across the belfry, damage from birds remained a persistent problem, with one notable repair attempt leaving mechanics to fight off a reported 1,500 blackbirds that returned to roost during one evening in January 1982. For several years the clock gears had also been lubricated with standard motor oil rather than a specialty lubricant, leading to the coagulation of residue on the gear teeth. One problem that prevented the use of the bell was the seepage of water into the wooden driveshaft case, causing it to expand and warp.</p><br>
<p>While the exact date the clock stopped regularly functioning is unknown, after about 30 years of being out of service the mechanism was restored in the Spring of 2018 by local steeplejack and arborist Dave Cotton, and a UMass professor emeritus of English, John Nelson, who worked on the clock of the Old Chapel previously. On July 4, 2018, the clock was restarted with new face lighting and repaired electrical systems, all from donated components and time. Due to problems with its mechanics, the bell however does not function and no immediate plans have been put into place to restore it in the foreseeable future.</p><br>
<p>During a town hall meeting held at City Hall on September 29, 2018, Senator Elizabeth Warren first expressed interest in running for president in 2020, saying she would "take a hard look" at the idea; Warren would later make her candidacy official in Lawrence, Massachusetts on February 8, 2019.</p><br>
<p>The Indian Orchard Branch Library is a historic branch library at 44 Oak Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Classic Revival building was constructed in 1909 to a design by John W. Donohue, and was the first permanent branch library building in the Springfield public library system; it was funded in part by a grant from Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999; it continues to serve as a library as a branch of the Springfield City Library system.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture and history</h2><br>
<p>The Indian Orchard Branch Library is located in Springfield&#39;s northeastern Indian Orchard neighborhood, at the junction of Worcester and Oak Streets. It consists of the original 1909 building, and an addition made to the rear. The original block is a single story in height, with walls that are mainly brick, and a slate hip roof. A gabled entry vestibule projects to the front, with the entrance recessed behind Tuscan columns. The flanking wall facades each have a band of three windows set in a shared opening. Both the building corners and window openings exhibit stone quoining. The interior retains many original features, including Tuscan columns and pilasters and brick fireplaces.</p><br>
<p>Indian Orchard developed in the 19th century as a somewhat isolated enclave of industry and residence apart from the rest of the city. Its first library was a private effort founded in 1859 by the Indian Orchard Mills Corporation, which was offered as a free service to area residents. This library had a collection of 1500 volumes by 1884. The city&#39;s public library by then had a small collection of 900 volumes maintained by a volunteer. Calls for a permanent branch library began in 1901. Henry Kirke Wight donated space in a commercial building at Oak and Main Streets, which was put to use in 1901. Later in the decade, the city received a grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie for new and updated library facilities, which was used in part to fund construction of the present building. It was designed by John W. Donohoe, a prominent local architect, and opened in 1909. The building was featured in a 1911 edition of The American Architect for its simple but elegant Classical Revival design.</p><br>
<p>The Kennedy-Worthington Blocks are three historic commercial and industrial buildings at 1585-1623 Main Street and 166-190 Worthington Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in the 1870s and 1880s, with a major restyling to two of them in 1912, the buildings were a major factor in the urban development of the area north of the city&#39;s traditional core. They were listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Kennedy and Worthington Blocks occupy the length of one city block of Main Street in downtown Springfield, between Taylor and Worthington Streets. The buildings are built out of brick; the Worthington Block was built in two stages, and had a unifying facade of stone designed for it in 1914. It is separated from the Kennedy Block by a narrow alley, in which pedestrian bridges connect them at various points on the upper floors. Both are five stories in height, and have somewhat elaborate facades. The Kennedy Block is fourteen bays wide, with windows on the upper floors set in segmented-arch openings with red sandstone sills and lintels. An elaborate bracketed and dentillated cornice projects at the top of the facades facing both Main and Taylor Streets. The Worthington Block&#39;s Main Street facade is also fourteen bays wide, with differing treatments on each level. The most elaborate level is the fourth, where the windows are grouped under carved arches with medallions at the ends, and carved panels below the windows. Its main entrance is set near the center, surrounded by block pilasters topped by an elaborate entablature.</p><br>
<p>The Kennedy Block was built in 1874, in part using the remains of an 1860 building heavily damaged by fire. It was built by Emerson Wight, a prominent local businessman who served four terms as mayor. It was the first building of four stories to be built in this area; it was damaged by fire, and rebuilt as a five-story in 1875. The Worthington Block was built in 1872 to a design by George Potter, and was extensively damaged by a fire in the building in 1888, and another in an adjacent building in 1893. Its 1914 stone facade is the work of E. C. & G. C. Gardner, local architects. The buildings have had a number of tenants important in Springfield&#39;s economic and civic life, including the offices of the Springfield Daily News, the Daily Union, and manufacturers such as Morgan Envelope and R.H. Smith.</p><br>
<p>The Kenwyn Apartments are a historic apartment house at 6 Kenwood Park & 413—415 Belmont Avenue in the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1916, they are a rare local example of Mission style architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Kenwyn Apartments are located on the eastern edge of Springfield&#39;s Forest Park Heights neighborhood, at the northwest corner of Kenwood Park and Belmont Avenue. It is a four-story masonry structure, with Mission style construction and detailing. Built of stone, it has a stuccoed exterior, and other Mission elements such as round arch entries, barrel-style overhangs, and Spanish-style parapets.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1916 by William H. Carpenter, during a brief period in which the Spanish Colonial Revival style was popular; it faded after some of its principal features (stucco walls and clay tiles) proved unsuitable for the climate. The city was at that time undergoing a residential building boom, in which large numbers of apartment houses were built along recently introduced streetcare lines. The building went through a rapid succession of owners, until it was acquired by the Pasquale Corporation in 1940. The building remained in its ownership for thirty years. Thereafter, with declining economic conditions in the neighborhood, the building again went through a number of owners. After a foreclosure proceeding in 1990 there were calls to tear the building down, but preservationists were able to propose a rehabilitation of the structure.</p><br>
<p>The Laflin—Phelps Homestead is a historic house at 20 Depot Street in Southwick, Massachusetts. Built in the early 19th century, circa 1808–1821, it is a local example of Federal style architecture. The property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Laflin—Phelps Homestead is located on the eastern fringe of Southwick&#39;s village center, on the north side of Depot Street opposite its junction with Sheep Pasture Road. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. It originally had a -story ell on the back, which was expanded to a full stories sometime between 1830 and 1850. The main facade is five bays wide, with a single-story Victorian porch extending across the front. It has wooden corner quoin, and a fully pedimented gable with an oval window in the center. The interior follows a modified center hall plan, with the central staircase closed off from the hall and set further back than is typical for houses of its period. The right front parlor features a particularly fine Federal style fireplace mantel, and wide pine floors are found in several rooms. A barn, built c. 1820, was demolished in 2004; only its foundation remains.</p><br>
<p>The date of the houses construction is uncertain: the property was purchased in 1809 by Heman Laflin, member of the locally prominent Laflin family, who were among Southwicks early settlers. It is not believed that there was a house on the property in 1807, so the house may have been built either by or for Laflin. The Laflins were the first family in the town to establish industry in Southwick, founding mills for the manufacture of gunpowder in 1775, some of which supported the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The house was purchased from the Laflin family by Marcus Phelps in 1865, in whose family it remained as of 2016. The house stands on just over 27 acre, reduced from a larger farm parcel.</p><br>
<p>The Landlord Fowler Tavern is a historic tavern in Westfield, Massachusetts. Probably built in the 1750s, it is a good local example of Georgian architecture despite some unsympathetic modifications, and it was for about a century an important local social gathering point, and a major stop on the east-west stagecoach road. Now divided into apartments, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Landlord Fowler Tavern stands east of downtown Westfield, on the south side of Main Street (United States Route 20, a major route through the Berkshires to the west). It is set a short way west of the confluence of the Little River with the Westfield River, at the southwest corner of Main and Exchange Streets. It is a three-story wood frame structure, with two full stories topped by a broad gambrel roof. The steep portion of the roof is pierced by three gabled dormers, and a large brick chimney rises at its center. The front facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance. The entrance is a simplified modern version of its elaborate original, with pilasters rising to a scrolled pediment; the original is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.</p><br>
<p>The building is estimated to have been built in the 1750s, or no later than 1761, the year in which Daniel Fowler was granted a license to operate a tavern in Westfield center. It was for many years a center of business and civic affairs in the town as well as a rest stop for travelers on the post road, on which it was located. During the American Revolutionary War, it served as a muster site for the local militia, and was where the local committee of safety met. Baron Friedrich Adolf Riedesel, a Hessian commander in the army of John Burgoyne, was quartered here after that army was captured at the end of the 1777 Saratoga campaign.</p><br>
<p>The 1830 construction of the Hampshire and Hampden Canal led to a decline in business on the post road, and Westfield&#39;s business district eventually developed further to the west. By the 1860s the building was in use as a residence. It was used briefly as a cigar factory between 1885 and 1916. Its original Georgian front door surround, a classic Connecticut River valley pediment, was removed from the building in the early 20th century. The building currently is divided into multiple dwelling units. Other modifications have been made in recent decades not in keeping with its historic integrity, including the removal of historic Georgian-style 12/12 wood window sash and replacement with non-historic 6/6 windows and the removal of likely original Georgian-style window hoods sometime after 2013.</p><br>
<p>Maple-Union Corners is a historic district centered at the intersection of Maple and Union Streets in Springfield, Massachusetts. The area is prominent as the location of the Springfield Female Seminary building , and for the distinctive homes of several of Springfield&#39;s prominent 19th century citizens. The house at 83 Maple Street, was first owned by Solomon Merrick, inventor of the monkey wrench, and was later owned by Ansel Phelps, the fourth mayor of Springfield. Townhouses at 76-78 and 80-84 Maple Street comprise the rest of the district; owners or occupants included Francis Fuller, owner of the Fuller Block, and Edmund Chapin, president of the John Hancock National Bank. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.</p><br>
<p>The cluster of buildings are located on the north and south sides of Maple Street, extending westward from its junction with Union Street. 83 Maple Street is at the corner on the north side; it was built in 1841, and is a fine example of Greek Revival architecture in brick, with a two-story columned portico across the front. The former seminary building stands just to its west; it is a two-story brick structure, with a three-bay facade and gabled roof. On the south side of Maple Street, 80-84 is a row of three brick townhouses, two stories in height, built in 1870. The two right ones are topped by a mansard roof, while that at the corner has a decorative parapet. Number 76-78 is a duplex with a mansard roof and a pyramidal tower at the right corner.</p><br>
<p>The McIntosh Building is a historic commercial building at the corner of Chestnut and Worthington Streets in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1918 for a shoe manufacturer, it is a locally unusual example of the Chicago style of architecture. At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, it still had its original storefronts.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The block was built in 1918 for the McIntosh Shoe Corporation as it expanded its business. McIntosh was described in 1913 as "not only the oldest but largest inland boot and shoe jobbing house in New England." It was founded in 1874, originally occupying space in the Carlton House Block and Smith&#39;s Building before having this one built.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The McIntosh Building is located in downtown Springfield, at the southeast corner of Chestnut and Worthington Streets. It is six stories in height, with broad window bays on the upper floors, divided by brick piers and mostly filled with three-part windows. Between the floors in each bay are pressed metal panels.</p><br>
<p>The building is capped bay a bracketed Italianate cornice that is otherwise at odds with the more modern Chicago style design. The ground floor is divided into several retail spaces, typically with recessed entrances and large display windows, set in bays articulated by paneled pilasters. The building has a rounded bay at the street corner, with curved window panes in the upper-level bays.</p><br>
<p>The McKinney Building is a historic commercial building located at 1121-27 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is locally significant as a good example of commercial Classical Revival architecture, and was part of generally southeastward trend in the growth of the city&#39;s downtown area.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The building 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 Bangs Block to the east and the Colonial Block located across Crossett Lane. It is a five-story masonry structure, built out of pale brick with red and white stone trim. The ground floor facing Main Street has a modern storefront, while the second floor has sash windows topped by splayed lintels. A corbelled beltcourse separates the second and third floors. The third and fourth floors have windows topped by splayed brick soldier headers with stone keystones. The fifth floor windows are set in round-arch openings, and the building is capped by a projecting dentillated and modillioned cornice. The corner at Main and Crossett is styled as a three-bay polygonal section in redstone, with decorative panel blocks between the windows of each bay.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1905, at a time when Springfield&#39;s downtown was growing to the south. It was built by developer Richard McKinney on land that formerly belonged to Jonathan Bangs (builder of the adjacent 1870 Bangs Block). The ground floor housed retail spaces, and the upper floors were in the early years used by First Spiritualist Society for their meetings and other social activities.</p><br>
<p>It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983.</p><br>
<p>The McKnight District is a predominantly residential neighborhood northeast of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The area represents a planned residential development covering several hundred acres, which was built in the mid to late 19th century. The architects of the development were John and William McKnight, who, in addition to developing and enforcing construction guidelines in the area, built and landscaped many of the properties. The area was largely built by 1910, and there has been little new construction in the area since. Most of the houses built in the area were constructed in most of the architectural styles that were popular between 1880 and 1990, although there is a predominance of the Queen Anne style. The McKnights began to develop the area, which had previously been mainly farmland, in 1870 with the purchase of a 22 acre parcel on which they and a partner built their own homes. They proceeded over the following years to acquire additional parcels of land in the area, plat out roads, and either build houses themselves, or sell plots to other builders. They enforced some uniformity in the area through the use of deed restrictions, which required uniform setback requirements, banned fencing, and required a minimum cost of construction .</p><br>
<p>The neighborhood is roughly defined by the railroad tracks on the north and the Bay Street to the south. On the west it is roughly bounded by Armory and Magazine Streets, and on the east by Monmouth, Clifford, Bay, and Marion Streets. A portion of the neighborhood, encompassing some 130 acre and 350 homes, was designated a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. This was expanded in 1986 to 250 acre and 884 properties, encompassing virtually the entirety of the McKnight&#39;s development.</p><br>
<p>The Memorial Square District encompasses the historic heart of the Memorial Square neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. Arrayed around the Memorial Square at the junction of Main and Plainfield Streets are seven buildings of architectural and/or historic significance, including the Memorial Church , and the former Memorial Square Branch Library, now a Greek cultural center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Memorial Square is now little more than a landscaped triangular area at the junction of Main and Plainfield Streets, with its northern boundary called Bradford Street. In the mid-19th century, the surrounding area was predominantly one of large estates of Springfields business and civic elites. After the American Civil War, the area began to be developed, and the square became a focal point for civic development. The Memorial Church, which stands north of the triangular square, was built in 1866 to a design by Richard Upjohn and his son, Richard M. Upjohn; it is one of the citys architectural landmarks. On the west side of the square, the library was built in 1914 to a design by Edward Tilton of New York City; it is a significant local example of Italian Renaissance architecture.</p><br>
<p>On the east side of the square is a row of five buildings. The most southerly was built in 1897 as the trolley barn for the Springfield Street Railway, a business owned by George Atwater, one of the area&#39;s estate owners. To its north stands the Memorial Square building, at six stories the tallest facing the square; it is a primarily residential building constructed in 1911. Three houses stand to its north, two of them distinguished examples of Queen Anne architecture, as well as the Classical Revival former parish house for the Memorial Church.</p><br>
<p>Memorial Town Hall is the historic town hall of Monson, Massachusetts. Located on Main Street on land donated by the local prominent Reynolds family, the High Victorian Gothic stone building was constructed in 1885 to a design by George Potter. In keeping with a memorial to the town&#39;s fallen soldiers, there are two cannons  in front of the building.</p><br>
<p>The hall, which was built of the locally quarried granite (from the same quarry that supplied granite for the Springfield Armory), the buildings basic shape is that of a T. The northwest (left front) corner has a four-story tower, and the southwest (right front) corner has a smaller octagonal turret. In between, a gabled pavilion is centered on the front faced perpendicular to the main roofline. The stem of the T extends northeast to the rear of the building. Arches and other decorative elements are shaped out of ashlar granite in alternating light and dark colors. The buildings roof is slate; the front portion is hipped, with the center interrupted by the front-facing gable. The rear section ends in a gable.</p><br>
<p>Inside the hall, the front houses town offices, and a space that was originally used as a GAR meeting space, and the rear of the building houses an auditorium with stage. Interior spaces have not been significantly altered since the building&#39;s construction was completed, and most continue to be used for their original purpose.</p><br>
<p>The Mills—Hale—Owen Blocks were a collection of three historic mixed-use commercial and residential blocks at 959—991 Main Street in the South End of Springfield, Massachusetts. They occupied an entire city block on the east side of Main Street, between Union and Hubbard Streets, and were some of the city&#39;s best examples of commercial Italianate architecture, prior to their destruction in the 2011 Springfield tornado. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Mills, Hale, and Owen blocks formed a single monolithic block on Main Street between Union and Hubbard Streets on Springfield&#39;s south side. The Mills and Hale Blocks occupied the left portion of the block, and were both three stories in height, with similarly styled cornices of equal height. Both had several ground-floor retail spaces, with recessed entrances flanked by plate glass windows. Upper-story windows were set in segmented arches, with keystoned lintels; those on the Hale Block had a more elaborate brick corbelling in the surround. The Owen Block, at the right end, was four stories in height. Pilasters separated the upper story window bays into pairs, and the ground-floor storefronts were topped by pressed tin frieze.</p><br>
<p>The Mills and Hale blocks were both built in 1874, and were two of the best examples of Italianate architecture of the period in the city. They were also the first major buildings built in a push to extend the downtown area to the south, and introduced the mixed use style of building use to the area. The Owen Block was built in 1899 in a Classical Revival style reflective of the further expansion of Springfield&#39;s downtown area. All three buildings housed a variety of retail businesses on their ground floors. The upper floors of the Mills block were first used as a boarding house, while those of the other two served as residential tenement-style housing. The buildings were rehabilitated in the 1980s, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.</p><br>
<p>The buildings sustained extreme damage during the 2011 Springfield tornado, with the top floor of at least one of the buildings partially collapsing. The buildings were demolished eight days later due to the irreparable damage.</p><br>
<p>The Mills-Stebbins Villa is a historic house at 3 Crescent Hill in Springfield, Massachusetts. Described as the "best work" of architect Henry A. Sykes, this Italian style villa was built between 1849 and 1851 for John Mills, a prominent Springfield attorney. Mills died in 1861, and the villa was acquired by John Stebbins, a banker, real estate developer, and local politician. It fell into decline in the 20th century, but was rehabilitated and restored in the early 1970s.</p><br>
<p>The villa is located at the top of a ridge that historically separated Springfield&#39;s downtown and working class South End from the more upscale Maple Street Hill area. It was built of brick that was probably once covered with a stucco-style mastic. The most prominent architectural feature is a tower at the front of the house that echoes the style of an Italian Renaissance campanile. The massing of the building falls away in successive stages. The brickwork is relieved by stone and wood detailing, and there are a few unusual windows on the front facade. A service wing was added to the rear of the house c. 1900.</p><br>
<p>Inside the building, the formal rooms of the house were on the north side, while the central part of the house contains the bedrooms and a library. The service wing added space for a nursery on the south side. A number of rooms included full-length windows that provided access to outdoor spaces, including a patio area on the north side as well as several balconies.</p><br>
<p>The villa was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973,</p><br>
<p>The Milton-Bradley Company is a historic former factory complex at Park, Cross, and Willow Streets in Springfield, Massachusetts. The factory was built beginning in about 1880, and expanded over the next decades to include a variety of brick multi-story buildings that are relatively utilitarian in appearance. When built, the property belonged to George Tapley, a principal in the Taylor and Tapley Manufacturing Company and a childhood friend of Milton Bradley. Bradley had entered the toy business in the 1860s, and moved his company to Tapley&#39;s premises in 1882.</p><br>
<p>The success of his eponymous company led to a significant expansion of the premises, which eventually came to occupy an entire city block. The facilities were used in all aspects of toy and game manufacturing, including a lithographic print shop.</p><br>
<p>The company moved its manufacturing to suburban East Longmeadow in the 1960s, and the complex was converted into residential housing in the late 1970s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, one year before Milton Bradley was taken over by Hasbro.</p><br>
<p>The complex is located just south of downtown Springfield, and is a roughly U-shaped collection of buildings, bounded on the south by Park Street, the west by Willow Street, and the north by a continuation of Cross Street. The buildings are all of brick construction, and range in height from two to six stories. Elements of architectural interest include windows set in segmented-arch openings with brick corbelling, corner quoining, and parapets at the rooftops.</p><br>
<p>The Morgan Block is a historic commercial block at 313-333 Bridge Street  in Springfield, Massachusetts. When the two story Classical Revival building was built in 1929, it was probably a speculative real estate venture by the Morgan Envelope Company, whose factory abutted the property in the rear. It was designed to house stores on the first floor and offices on the second, functions it continues to perform. It was rehabilitated in the early 1980s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Morgan Block is located in downtown Springfield, on the south side of Bridge Street at the southern end of Stearns Park. It is a long two-story building, with a brick exterior. The front is divided into seven bays articulated by quoined brick piers, with a building entrance in a round-arch opening at the left end. The piers are topped by Classical medallions, and a low parapet extends across the top. The ground-floor bays originally housed individual retail storefronts with recessed entrances, but most of these have been replaced with plate glass windows set on granite bases. On the second floor there are two sash windows in each bay, set in separate rectangular openings.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1929 to a design by Kirkham & Parlett, on what was previously the site of a laundry. The building was first owned by the Morgan Realty Company, probably a development arm of the nearby Morgan Envelope Company. The building has always housed commercial and retail businesses. It is one of the better-preserved of this type of 1920s building in the city.</p><br>
<p>The New Bay Diner Restaurant is a historic diner in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was manufactured by the Mountain View Diners Company in Signac, New Jersey  in 1957; it is believed to be the second-to-last diner the company built before it shut down later that year. The diner is attached to a concrete block structure which houses the kitchen and restrooms, and appears to also date to 1957. At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, it was one of six surviving Mountain View diners in Massachusetts, and the only diner remaining in Springfield.</p><br>
<p>When the diner was listed in Springfield&#39;s 1964 business directory, it was called the New Bay Diner Restaurant, and its owner was listed as Anthony Viamare of Granby, Massachusetts. Viamare owned it until 1988, when it was acquired by Donald Roy. He changed its name to the "Route 66 Diner", which is its present name.</p><br>
<p>The diner is of steel frame construction, seven window bays wide, with rounded corners. It is mounted on a concrete and brick foundation, has red horizontal banding, and a rounded rubber membrane roof. The doors are steel and glass, although elements of the vestibule do not appear to be original. Its windows are plate glass, separated by steel pilasters. There are signs on the roof, facing east and west, with the diner&#39;s name, "Route 66 Diner&quot the "Diner" is highlighted in neon. Inside, the diner has a full length counter, with staff access points at the center and the left side. Access to the kitchen is by a door in the center. The diner has seventeen stools and six booths. Its interior decoration is largely original; the countertop has been replaced.</p><br>
<p>The Myrtle Street School is a historic school at 64 Myrtle Street in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in stages between 1868 and 1915, it encapsulates changing trends in school design over that period of time, and is a good example of a school building with Second Empire and Classical Revival features. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It has been converted to residential use.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Myrtle Street School is located in the Indian Hill neighborhood of northeastern Springfield, on a lot bounded by Worcester, Myrtle and Hampden Streets on three sides, and residential properties on the west side. It is very roughly U-shaped, with broad wings facing Myrtle Street joined by connecting sections at the back; further elements project from the rear spine of the building. The Myrtle Street facades are similar, with Classical Revival styling including pilasters and projecting central portions topped by pedimented gables.</p><br>
<p>The school was built in three stages between 1868 and 1915. The oldest portion of the school exhibits Second Empire styling, while major additions in 1903 and 1914 added additional classroom space, an auditorium and gymnasium, and hallways connecting the various portions to each other. The later additions were built with Classical Revival styling, and largely obscure the 1868 building, which is now at the rear of the complex. Many of the original features of the buildings have survived, including elements such as wooden staircases and decorative molding in the 1868 portion.</p><br>
<p>The William Norcross House is a historic house at 14 Cushman Street in Monson, Massachusetts. Built about 1785, it is a good example of late Georgian architecture, whose uses as a tavern and mill worker housing exemplify trends in the town&#39;s development. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The William Norcross House is located in the village center of Monson, on the north side of Cushman Street a short way east of Main Street. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a central chimney, a hip roof that has a central monitor section, and a clapboarded exterior. The building corners have wooden quoin blocks, and windows on the ground floor are topped by projecting peaked lintels. The main entrance is on the western facade, and is flanked by pilasters and topped by a half-round transom and gabled pediment. Secondary entrances added later are located on the street-facing eastern facade.</p><br>
<p>The house was constructed about 1785 by William Norcross, a cabinetmaker and joiner who had purchased the property in 1776. Norcross operated a tavern on the premises, which was a major social center in the early days of the town, and was influential in the development of the area as Monson&#39;s economic center. The Norcrosses had by the early 19th century ended its use as a tavern, and in 1835 sold it to the owners of a textile mill which had begun operations across the street in 1815. The mill broke the interior down into separate units, which it rented to mill workers. After the mill closed in 1927, the mill owners continued to operate it as a boarding house. They made only modest alterations to the exterior, principally enlarging the kitchen ell to a full two stories in height. It has since gone through a succession of owners, and remains in use as a residential rental property.</p><br>
<p>The Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block is a historic commercial block at 1645-1659 Main Street in the north end of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The building is actually three separate 19th-century buildings that were conjoined by internal connections in 1929, making a good example of adaptive reuse of commercial architecture in the city. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block is located in downtown Springfield, at the northwest corner of Taylor and Main Streets. Overall, the building is five stories in height, and retains the facades of its original constituent buildings. The leftmost Albion Block is finished mainly in red brick, with a single retail storefront on the ground floor, and is two bays wide on the upper floors, each bay holding pairs of sash windows. The edges of the facade have stone quoining, and the building is capped by a frieze and cornice. The central Hixon Block houses the main building entrance on the ground floor, and has a two-bay copper-clad window bay on the second and third floors, flanked by sash windows. The top two floors have six bays of sash windows; the floors are set apart by bands of brick corbelling. The rightmost Olmsted Block houses two storefronts (most recently operating as a single unit) with central recessed entrances flanked by display windows. The second floor has three banks of three windows, each topped by a transom, with a cornice separating the second and third floors. The three bays of the upper floors are articulated by pilasters, each housing paired sash windows, with terra cotta panels between the floors and the word Olmsted in the terra cotta cornice.</p><br>
<p>The Olmsted Block (1645-1649 Main Street) was built in 1875 by John C. Olmsted, a leading businessman and banker in the city, and used as an office building. The Hixon Block (1653-1655 Main Street) was built in 1862 for John Hixon, a wholesale shoe and boot manufacturer. His premises was used by a paper products manufacturer after his death. The Albion Block (1657-1659) was built in 1866 as a boarding house; it was acquired in 1877 by the Bay State Paper Company, which gave the building its name and converted it into office space.</p><br>
<p>The three buildings were unified in 1927 according to plans drafted by Wallace Dibble for the Walter Young Realty Trust, which had purchased them over the preceding 20 years. The plan involved adding a fifth floor onto the Albion Block, and eliminating some stairways in order to increase the usable office space.</p><br>
<p>Palmer Memorial Hall is a historic hall at 1029 Central Street in Palmer, Massachusetts, United States. The Romanesque building was designed by New York City architect R. H. Robertson and constructed in 1890 as a memorial to the towns Civil War dead; it was also used as a meeting space by the local Grand Army of the Republic veterans society. The ground floor served as the towns public library until 1977. It has since served as Palmer&#39;s Senior Center. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>Palmer Memorial Hall is located one block off Palmer&#39;s downtown Main Street, at the southeast corner of Pleasant and Central Streets. it is a 1-1/2 story red brick building, with a red brick exterior, hip roof, and granite foundation. The front facade is dominated by a projecting gabled pavilion, which houses the main entrances in a pair of similar round-arch recesses with terra cotta decorative elements. Above these in the gable are three tall round-arch windows. The pavilion is flanked on each side by two round-arch windows, above which hip-roof wall dormers rise through the main roof. The building interior was designed for use as a library on the ground floor, and a meeting space on the second floor.</p><br>
<p>The hall was designed by Robert H. Robertson of New York City, and was built in 1890-91 as a memorial to the citys Civil War dead, a meeting place for the Grand Army of the Republic, and to house the public library. It is the citys best example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style.</p><br>
<p>Palmers first library was founded in 1815 as a private subscription library, but it and subsequent attempts to maintain a library failed until 1878. In that year, the Young Mens Library Association purchased the collection of a recent failed association, and opened a public reading room in a commercial storefront on Central Street. Calls for a permanent collection and building began in the 1880s, as did calls for a war memorial. In 1890, Dr. W.H. Stowe donated land for the building, and the building was formally dedicated in April 1891.</p><br>
<p>The library association relinquished control of the library to the city in 1963, and it moved into new premises in 1977. The library space now serves as a senior center, and the GAR hall serves as meeting space for the community.</p><br>
<p>The Thomas D. Page House, also known later as the Belcher Lodge or the Chicopee Falls Masonic Temple, is a historic house in Chicopee, Massachusetts, USA. Built about 1875, it is a prominent local example of Queen Anne and Stick style architecture, built by one of the community&#39;s business leaders of the time. For many years it housed the local Masonic lodge. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988; as of now the land is razed and lays empty as of January 2023.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Thomas D. Page House is located in the Chicopee Falls neighborhood of Chicopee, at the northwest corner of East and Fuller Streets. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and exterior finished in a combination of wooden clapboards and decoratively cut shingles. A two-story ell extends to the right from the bank of the main block. The exterior has the typical asymmetrical arrangement of porches, gables, and projections found in many Queen Anne houses, with a square tower near the center of the East Street facade, rising to a pyramidal tower. Portions of the tower have applied Stick style woodwork. The interior retains many features original to its construction, including builtin cabinets, wooden paneling, and flooring. Several of the fireplace surrounds were replaced in 1909 by the building&#39;s original owner, Thomas Page.</p><br>
<p>The house was built about 1875, and is the most elaborate example of Queen Anne styling in Chicopee. Thomas Page was an industrialist who came to Chicopee in 1867, and was involved in a number of manufacturing businesses. He owned patents to knitting machines, which he used in the production of cotton textiles. He later branched out into other businesses, including the early manufacture of bicycles, which eventually came to dominate the business. Page sold the house to the local Masonic lodge in 1909, which added the ell to the rear, and made other modest alterations to the interior. The building was in use by the Masons when it was listed on the National Register in 1988, but is now occupied by an antiques dealer.</p><br>
<p>A fire broke out at the Page House on February 3, 2018, causing a considerable amount of damage. The property would eventually be razed and lays empty as of January 2023.</p><br>
<p>The Patton and Loomis Block is a historic commercial block at 1628-40 Main Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1864 and remodeled in 1909, it is a good example of commercial architecture built or updated during two of the citys boom periods, in this case by two of the citys major developers. The block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Patton and Loomis Block is located in downtown Springfield, at the southwest corner of Main and Hampden Streets. It is a four-story masonry structure, finished in brick that is stuccoed on the Main Street facade, and part of the Hampden Street facade. The Main Street facade has three storefronts, two to the left of the main building entrance, and one larger one to its right. The upper floors are divided into three bays set apart by stuccoed brick pilasters rising to decorative medallions, each bay housing a pair of sash windows with a metal panel between the floors. It is crowned by a low parapet. The same treatment extends for one bay along Hampden Street, beyond which the buildings original brick facade continues.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1864 for C. L. Loomis and William Patton, a successful businessman who was one Springfields wealthiest when he died in 1898. It was designed by J. M. Currier, a leading commercial architect of the period, and was built during a building boom occasioned by the citys economic success during the American Civil War. Patton used the building for his successful notions business, operating a retail shop on the ground floor and his offices on the second floor. The building&#39;s upper floors were used by a training school, and included a gymnasium and an auditorium.</p><br>
<p>The building was purchased by Frank L. Dunlap in 1909, at which time its facade was remodeled. Dunlap was also a major real estate developer, who built many commercial buildings during Springfield&#39;s second major boom, 1900–1920. Dunlap had the Main Street facade remodeled, giving it its present stucco appearance. The exterior has not been significantly altered since then, although storefronts were modified in the 1950s.</p><br>
<p>The Patton Building is a historic commercial building located at 15-19 Hampden Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built about 1872 with a restyled facade dating to 1909, it is a good example of Georgian Revival commercial architecture, further important for its association with the Pattons, major real estate developers of those periods. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Patton Building is located in downtown Springfield, on the south side of Hampden Street west of Main Street. It is a three-story brick building, sharing party walls with its neighbors. The facade is divided into three parts, articulated by pilasters; the outer two sections have projecting wood-frame window bays on the upper floors, while the center section has three windows set in rectangular openings. A dentillated and modillioned cornice crowns the facade.</p><br>
<p>The block was built c. 1872, and is noted for its association with William Patton, one of Springfields most successful businessmen of the late 19th century, and his son William, Junior, a real estate developer. The building was original a factory and warehouse space, but underwent a major conversion in 1909 into office space, at which time it was given a new Georgian Revival facade designed by B. Hammett Seabury, a local architect. For many years the building housed the offices of Durkee, White, and Towne, western Massachusettss leading civil engineering firm. This firm was responsible for designing large area water supply projects, as well as electrified streetcar systems.</p><br>
<p>The Polish National Home, also known as Dom Polski Narodowy, is a historic social club at 136-144 Cabot Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was built in 1914 for $55,000. It functioned as a community center for the large Polish immigrant community, providing a variety of community services , and served as transient housing for Polish migrants. In 1924 a second building was added immediately adjacent, which included recreational facilities, including a bowling alley and billiards hall. This building was remodeled in 1949. The facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its upper floors have been converted into housing, with retail spaces on the ground floor of the 1914 building.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Polish National Home buildings stand prominently at the junction of Cabot and Center Streets in central Chicopee. The main building is of steel frame construction, its five stories finished on the outside with brick, limestone, and stucco. The ground floor is divided into four storefronts, each with a recessed entry flanked by display windows, as well as a central main entrance, and a secondary entrance at the right end. The main entrance is sheltered by a wrought iron marquee. The second through fourth floors are eight bays wide, with a cornice band separating the fourth and fifth floors. The outer bays in this section have paired sash windows set in openings with limestone quoins, while the central four bays are articulated by stone pilasters, and have three-part windows which are rounded on the fourth floor. The fifth floor has paired sash windows in each bay, and the building is crowned by an elaborate projecting cornice. Set to the left of the main building at a recess, and connected to it by bridges, is a more utilitarian three-story brick building.</p><br>
<p>The Polish National Home was organized in 1910 as a fraternal service organization catering to the needs of the local Polish immigrant and Polish-American communities. Chicopee had seen an explosive growth in its Polish population, rising from just 200 in 1885 to over 9,000 in 1914. The main building, erected in 1914, provided social meeting spaces, a library, and assembly hall in support of these endeavours. The adjacent building was built in 1924 to a design by local architect George Dion, to provide athletic facilities for the organization members&#39; use.</p><br>
<p>The Produce Exchange Building is a historic commercial building at 194–206 Chestnut and 115–125 Lyman Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1899 and remodeled in 1926, it is one of the largest of Springfield&#39;s early 20th-century commercial buildings, used for many years as a wholesale produce market. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Produce Exchange Building is located on the north side of downtown Springfield, across Lyman Street from the main railroad line and at the corner of Chestnut Street. It is an L-shaped four-story masonry structure, finished in brick with terra cotta trim. It has sixteen-bay facades facing both streets, and a two-bay corner facade housing the main building entrance on the ground floor. The Chestnut Street facade has five retail storefronts, each with recessed entrances and display windows, separated by pilasters and topped by a frieze band and cornice. The Lyman Street facade has mostly bricked over retail bays, separated by pilasters. The upper floor has a combination of sash windows and three-part picture windows, and has a decorated frieze below a simple cornice at the top.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1899 by Andrew Whitney, and began to serve as the city&#39;s wholesale produce exchange marketplace in 1908, a role it served for many years. In 1926 the building was extensively remodeled, including an updated facade, which has survived largely intact. The building is one of the largest commercial buildings of the period in the city.</p><br>
<p>Pulaski Park is a city park along the Connecticut River in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Originally called Prospect Park when it was laid out in 1884, it was given its present name in 1939 in honor of American Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski, for whom there is a memorial in the park&#39;s center. The original 5.1 acre park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape design firm.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The park&#39;s northern border is a crescent-shaped stretch of the Connecticut River. The shore is lined by a long concrete wall (built 1905–1910), which is interrupted every ten feet by a squat pier, and by four lookouts that jut over the embankment. A concrete promenade runs along the wall, providing views of the river. The southern edge of the park abuts the properties that line the north side of St. Kolbe Street. South and east of the historic core of the park lies Feldman Park, an adjoining city property that consists primarily of sports fields. On the west end of the park is another small park area with tennis courts. The center of the park has a small garden enclosed by a wrought iron fence, in which is a boulder on which is mounted a bronze plaque memorializing Casimir Pulaski. The historic core of the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>When the city of Holyoke was laid out in the 1840s, the parcel of land that became the park was not immediately identified for use as such. The area, which did not have a defined use in early plans, became known as "The Patch", and was an area where Irish immigrant workers who built the citys canals and infrastructure built a shantytown. The grid of city streets ended at the areas southern boundary, a street named Prospect Street, as it was built out during the second half of the 19th century. Sometime between 1865 and 1884 the area was cleared of shanties, and informal use of the area as a park began. The city&#39;s many Irish residents referred to it as "Kerry Park", after County Kerry and the green views of the surrounding area the park afforded.</p><br>
<p>In 1884 the Holyoke Water Power Company, owner of the land, gave it to the city, and its formal existence as Prospect Park began. Between 1884 and 1898 the parks paths were laid out, and landscaping and planting took place. Features built in this time that have not survived include a bandstand and an ornamental pump house used to bring water up from a spring in the river embankment. The park edge along the river was lined with a wooden fence. In a 1901 review of the park, John C. Olmsted recommended the construction of a more permanent retaining wall with either wrought iron railing or stone parapet; this suggestion led to the construction of the existing concrete wall. Olmsted also recommended changes to the landscaping to improve the parks appearance.</p><br>
<p>By the mid-20th century the area surrounding the park became characterized by the citys Polish population. On May 7, 1939 the park was renamed after Casimir Pulaski in ceremonies featuring a parade from Mater Dolorosa to the park with more than 500 people in attendance representing local Polish community organizations. In addition to city and state officials, one John Lazarewicz, an official from the Polish Consulate in New York City also presided over the ceremony. One of Holyokes native sons, Polish-American historian Edward Pinkowski, would later re-discover Pulaski&#39;s forgotten burial site in Savannah, Georgia, in 1996.</p><br>
<p>During a phase of urban renewal in the 1960s, the area south of the park was redeveloped. The grid character of its streets was altered, with only Maple Street providing access from the street grid to the park. Prospect Street was removed at this time for the development of the properties that now abut the park.</p><br>
<p>The Purchase-Ferre House is a historic house at 1289 Main Street in Agawam, Massachusetts. Built in 1764, it is one of a small number of surviving 18th-century houses in the town. It has been in the hands of the Ferre family since 1799, and is little-altered since then. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Purchase-Ferre House is set on the east side of Main Street (Massachusetts Route 159), south of Agawam&#39;s town center. It is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, clapboard siding, a large central chimney, and a sandstone block foundation. The main facade, facing west, is symmetrically arranged, with the entrance in the central bay, flanked by sidelight windows and pilasters, and topped by a dentillated entablature. The present door is a replacement, but the original house door survives. The interior of the house includes the remnants of a basement apartment (apparently only used in the 18th century), and has a typical Georgian plan on its main floors, with a narrow entry vestibule with winding staircase, parlors to either side of the chimney, and the original kitchen space behind the chimney. A c. 1970 addition to the rear houses a modern kitchen.</p><br>
<p>The Georgian style house was built in 1764 by Jonathan Purchase, and was acquired by Moses Ferre in 1799 after a series of intermediate owners. It has since remained in the hands of Ferres descendants. It underwent relatively little alteration during that period, and is one of Agawams oldest houses. It was reportedly used at one time to manufacture boxes for the Springfield Armory.</p><br>
<p>The Radding Building  is a large historic commercial building at 143-147 State Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, it is currently used as a hotel for Holiday Inn Express. It is one of the tallest and most prominent buildings on State Street, it was built in 1915 by Edward Radding to a Classical Revival design by local architect Charles R. Greco. The building has been known for many years as the headquarters of the Mutual Fire Assurance Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Radding Building occupies a prominent location on State Street, a major east-west road in downtown Springfield, It stands on the south side of the road at its junction with Willow Street, along which it extends for a whole city block. Its location is across the street from the MassMutual Center, a sports facility and convention center. The Radding Building is eight stories in height, its principal street facades finished in stone and pale brick. The ground stage is two stories in height, articulated on the State Street facade by corner pilasters and engaged round columns between the bays, all with Corinthian capitals. On the Willow Street facade, the bays are articulated by pilasters. An entablature runs on both facades between the second and third floors, and there are cornices above the third and seventh floors. Windows are set in pairs between the pilasters, with decorative panels between the bays on the third floor. The building is capped by a bracketed cornice and low parapet.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed in 1915, replacing a residential tenement house that stood on the site. Edward Radding, for whom it was built, was a real estate developer who located his offices in the building. Tenants over time included a wide variety of organizations, its facilities including offices, auditoriums, and other meeting spaces. The Mutual Fire Assurance Company, founded in 1827 as an insurer of residences, first leased space in the building 1943, and became its major tenant in 1949.</p><br>
<h2>Current Use</h2><br>
<p>On April 27, 2018 a 98-room Holiday Inn Express hotel opened at the former Epiphany Tower on 145 State St.</p><br>
<p>The Republican Block is a historic commercial building at 1365 Main Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1858, it heralded the northward expansion of the downtown north of Court Square, and was the first permanent home of the Springfield Republican, one of the state&#39;s oldest newspapers. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Republican Block is located in downtown Springfield, on the east side of Main Street just north of Court Square, one of the city&#39;s oldest public spaces. It is a four-story brick building with Italianate styling. Its ground floor is occupied by two storefronts, set on either side of a central building entrance. The second floor has a band of arched windows topped by a dentillated cornice. The third and fourth floors have windows set singly and in pairs under bracketed segmented arches or rounded arches. The building is crowned by a bracketed projecting cornice.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1858 for The Republican, a newspaper founded in 1824. The Republican occupied the premises until 1867, and is the only surviving reminder of the period of ownership by its founder, Samuel Bowles. It was then bought by D. H. Brigham, a clothing retailer. Brigham greatly expanded the premises to the rear, and operated a clothing factory and shop in the building, which remained in business until 1969. The building is believed to have been designed by A. L. Chapin, a prominent local architect who designed a significant number of Springfield&#39;s Main Street buildings of the period.</p><br>
<p>The Clovis Robert Block is a historic mixed-use commercial and residential block at 338-348 Main Street  in south Holyoke, Massachusetts. Built in 1881 and enlarged in 1888, it is a prominent early example of the work of local architect George P. B. Alderman, and is representative of development patterns in the city that served its growing French Canadian immigrant community. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Clovis Robert Block is located in the urban South Holyoke area of the city, at the junction of Main and Cabot Streets. It is four stories in height, its exterior finished in red brick and cast stone. A projecting cornice with brackets and modillion blocks extends across the top of its street-facing facades. The ground floor houses five retail spaces, those facing Main Street, with recessed entrances. Bands of brick corbelling separate the floors, and the Main Street facade has a central bowed copper-clad section four bays wide, with a gable at the top. Most windows outside that section are simple sash, set in segmented-arch openings with keystoned and shouldered lintels. The interior, which originally housed fifteen residential units on the upper floors, has been extensively altered, although interior stairwells retain some of their original finishes.</p><br>
<p>The building was built in 1881 for Clovis Robert, an expatriate French Canadian, and expanded in 1888, both to an early design of Holyoke architect George P. B. Alderman. It was built during a period of major migration by French Canadians to the area, seeking work in the local mills. Robert was a prominent local developer and real estate agent for the Holyoke and Westfield Railroad, with this described as his best-known development. He sold the building 1907. It has since had a succession of owners, and was in poor condition when listed on the National Register in 2002. It has since been rehabilitated.</p><br>
<p>Smith&#39;s Building is a historic commercial building at 201-207 Worthington Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The five-story building was built in 1897, and first occupied by the McIntosh Corporation, a major area shoe manufacturer. McIntosh occupied the premises until 1913, when it moved into a new building at Chestnut and Worthington. The next major tenant was Fred Smith, who moved his recreation center business there.</p><br>
<p>Fred Smith began his billiard and bowling business on an adjacent block in 1903. He acquired a number of billiard tables from the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and installed them on the second floor of this building. On the upper floors he installed a bowling alley, with seven lanes of candlepins on each of the third and fourth floors, and eight on the fifth. The lanes were removed due to declining popularity and moved to a bowling alley in Connecticut. The pool hall is still in business.</p><br>
<p>The building is five-story brick construction. The ground floor has glass storefronts. The second floor-facade is shown as a mezzanine level, with five windows separated by brick piers. The upper three floor fronts are divided into five bays, each with two windows, separated by piers and topped by a decorative arch. The facade is topped by a corbelled cornice and pierced parapet.</p><br>
<p>The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<p>Thomas and Esther Smith House is a historic house at 251 North West Street in Agawam, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest houses in Agawam. The house is situated on 1 acre of land about 5 mi west of the Connecticut River, at the foot of Provin Mountain. It is a vernacular -story house with plain Georgian styling. The main block of the house is three bays wide, with a gambrel roof and a central chimney. A -story addition on the western side of the house as a gabled roof. The main block&#39;s foundation is fieldstone, while that of the addition is brick and concrete block.</p><br>
<p>Inside the house, the main block follows a fairly standard Georgian four-room plan. A vestibule with a dogleg stair separates a hall and a parlor in the front, and the rear is divided asymmetrically into a large kitchen space and a small bedroom. Fireplaces open from the central chimney onto the hall, parlor and kitchen. The kitchen fireplace is particularly deep, and includes a bake oven (now coated with a layer of concrete) at its rear, rather than a more typical placement on the side. The upstairs of the main block is divided into four bedrooms, all with very basic finishing work. The exterior walls and ceilings are plastered, while the interior walls which separate them are either plastered or of simple wood construction.</p><br>
<p>The addition, built c. 1930s, is accessed from the small bedroom space, and includes a kitchen space that dates roughly to the period of its construction. The kitchen is at the level of the main part of the house, but a doorway leads to stairs going up and down to rooms in the rest of the addition, which were laid out to provide a separate living space.</p><br>
<p>The construction date of the house is uncertain, and is believed to have been sometime before 1758, when a deed mentions the home of one George Mixer on this parcel of land. The purchaser of the land, Thomas Smith, was a carpenter and housewright, and may have been this houses builder. Tree ring dating places some of the houses structural elements somewhat later, circa 1790. The house was built using a plank framing method that is distinctive to the Connecticut River valley.</p><br>
<p>The property remained in the Smith family until 1843. It was owned by the Park family until 1910, and then went through a succession of owners before its acquisition by the Agawam Historical Society in 2002. The house remained without modern amenities until the 1950s. It is now operated by the historical society as a house museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.</p><br>
<p>The South Main Street School is an historic school building at 11 Acushnet Avenue in the South End of Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1895, it is a good local example of Renaissance Revival architecture, and a major work of local architect Francis R. Richmond. It served as an elementary school into the 1970s, and has been converted to residential use. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The South Main Street School is located about 1 mi south of downtown Springfield, in its South End neighborhood at the southeast corner of South Main Street and Acushnet Avenue. It is a two-story brick building, covered by a broad hip roof with a center gable section. The main facade, facing Acushnet Avenue, has nine central bays flanked by classroom wings that have bands of five sash windows on each level. The central section has three entrance bays at its center, the entries recessed under segmented arches. The upper-floor bays have round-arch windows articulated by brick pilasters. Building corners have brick quoining, a dentillated cornice, and a low balustrade on the flanking end wings.</p><br>
<p>The school was constructed in 1895 in response to rising enrollments. It replaced a three-room schoolhouse, built c. 1840, that was nearby. The new school was built by contractors A.A. and S.T. Ball and was completed in 1897. The architect was Francis R. Richmond, who had designed several other school buildings for the city. The building served as an elementary school into the mid-1970s, and was briefly used for special education classes thereafter. It was finally vacated by the school system in 1982.</p><br>
<p>Springfield District Court, now the City Hall Annex, is a historic former courthouse at 1600 E. Columbus Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1929-30, it is a prominent local example of civic Classical Revival architecture, designed by well-known local architects. After serving as a county courthouse until the 1970s, it was adapted by the city to house additional municipal offices. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Springfield District Court building is located in downtown Springfield, just west of the Municipal Group of institutional buildings where City Hall is located. It faces east onto East Columbus Avenue, which separates it from that cluster of buildings. It is a two-story structure, built out of steel and concrete faced in limestone, with Classical Revival styling. Its main facade is nine bays wide, with the center three projecting slightly and housing the main entrance area. The entrances are recessed behind two massive columns placed in antis within the recess, and the opening is flanked by pilasters. The outer bays of the facade have large multi-section windows, separated between floors by decorative metal panels.</p><br>
<p>The building was constructed beginning in 1929 to replace the previous police court, which was outgrowing its quarters. The new building served as a district court facility, housing a diversity of court needs for Springfield and surrounding communities. It was connected to other facilities by a tunnel (through which female prisoners were transported) and by a bridge called the "Bridge of Sighs" because it was where male prisoners were transported. It continued in that use until the 1970s, when a new courthouse was built at Court Square. It was then turned over to the city, which has used it for municipal offices since.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Co. is a historic commercial building at 195 State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1905 to a design by the renowned architecture firm Peabody and Stearns, it is a fine example of commercial Classical Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Company building occupies the northeast corner of State and Maple Streets in downtown Springfield, a prominent location opposite Merrick Park the Quadrangle. It is a large three-story masonry structure, faced in limestone. The ground floor is set in wide courses of large blocks, with windows set in keystoned segmented-arch openings. The bays of the upper levels are demarcated by two-story pilasters, with hooded windows on the second level and keystoned lintels on the third. The entrance is recessed at the center of the 9-bay State Street side. The building is capped by a modillioned cornice and balustrade surrounding a flat roof.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Co. was incorporated in 1849. Originally housed at the City Hotel, it built the Fort Block on Main Street in 1858 to house its growing business. It had this building built in 1905, and occupied it until 1966. It was merged into the Insurance Company of North America in 1958. The building has since been used as the headquarters of the City of Springfield School Department, and presently houses local offices of the State Street Corporation.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company is a historic building at 127-131 State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1933, it is a prominent local example of Art Deco architecture, including many well-preserved interior features. Closed by the Trust Company successor Fleet Bank, it was donated to The Community Music School of Springfield. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company is located in downtown Springfield, occupying a parcel that fronts on State Street between Willow and Main Streets, which extends all the way back to Stockbridge Street. The building is four stories in height, with a steel frame finished in a combination of stone, concrete, and brick. The front facade is faced in limestone, and rises well above the rest of the building, giving it a monumental appearance on State Street. The main feature of the facade is a central arch, which houses the main entrance and windows above. The building corners are adorned with figures near the top of the facade. The main entrance now provides access only to the upper floors of the building, while the building&#39;s principal occupant, the Community Music School, uses a side entrance. The interior retains many original finishes and features, including bank vaults, marble floors, limestone walls, and a mural of the George Washington Bridge in the main lobby. The lobby also boasts stonework depicting symbols of thrift and prudence from the animal world.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company was founded in 1886, originally occupying premises on Main Street. Experiencing rapid growth, it moved in 1908 to the newly built Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company building at State and Main. By 1930 it had once again outgrown its space, and the present building was constructed in 1933 to make a permanent home. The bank directors deliberately chose to hire many local workmen for its construction, which took place at the height of the Great Depression. The building was designed by Thomas James of Boston, who was by then well known for many bank commissions. The bank was eventually acquired by Fleet Bank through a series of corporate mergers and acquisitions, and the building was closed in the 1990s. The bank donated the building to the Community Music School in 1996.</p><br>
<p>The Springfield Steam Power Company Block is a historic industrial building at 51-59 Taylor Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1881, it is a surviving example of a late 19th-century power distribution component, part of a scheme by the Springfield Steam Power Company to deliver steam power to nearby industrial facilities. The block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Its ground floor now houses "The City Church", a local community of Jesus followers.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The Springfield Steam Power Company Block is located on the south side of Taylor street in downtown Springfield, opposite its junction with Kaynor Street. It is a utilitarian three-story brick building with a flat roof. Its upper-floor bays consist of recessed segmented-arch sections two stories in height, with windows on each level separate by a brick panel. There is some decorative brick corbelling in the eave below the main roof. The ground floor is divided into five bays separated by pilasters, with a retail entrance to their right, and an upper-story building entrance at the far right.</p><br>
<p>The block was built in 1881 for the Springfield Steam Power Company, which was established by the directors of the Wason Car Manufacturing Company to provide steam power to factory buildings the company offered to build nearby. The business plan was made possible by what was the largest real estate transaction in the city&#39;s history to that time, in which entire city blocks changed ownership. This particular building was built by the company for lease to smaller industrial concerns; early tenants included a brass foundry, iron works, and a sewing machine company.</p><br>
<p>The Stacy Building is a historic building at 41-43 Taylor Street in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the district of Metro Center known as the Club Quarter. On September 20, 1893, Springfielders Charles and Frank Duryea road-tested the first-ever American-built, gasoline-powered car in Springfield, which they had built at the Stacy Building. The first Duryea Motor Wagons were all built by hand at the Stacy Building on Taylor Street in Springfield. Despite the September 20 road-test on Howard Bemiss Springfield farm, the Springfield Republican newspaper did get the story until the Duryea brothers 2nd public road-test on November 10, 1893.</p><br>
<p>In 1895, the Duryea Motor Wagon won Americas first-ever road race - a 54-mile race from Chicago to Evanston, Illinois, beating out European companies like Daimler Benz. Following this, demand for Duryea automobiles soared. In 1896, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company became the first company to manufacture and sell gasoline-powered automobiles. The Duryea Brothers produced thirteen cars by hand in the companys first year - all at the Stacy Building. The companys motto was "there is no better motorcar." Immediately, Duryeas were purchased by luminaries of the time, including George Vanderbilt. Two months after buying one of the first, manufactured cars - New York City motorist Henry Wells hit a bicyclist with his new Duryea; the rider suffered a broken leg, Wells spent a night in jail, and the United States first traffic accident was recorded.</p><br>
<p>Outside of the Stacy Building - in what is now (as then) Springfield&#39;s Club Quarter - next to what is currently the popular Alumni Club at 90 Worthington Street, there is a model of an 1893 Duryea Motor Wagon - mere feet from the Stacy Building, where the Duryea Brothers invented and manufactured their history-changing machine.</p><br>
<p>The State Armory is a historic armory building at 29 Howard Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1895, it is a prominent and distinctive example of Gothic architecture in the city&#39;s downtown. The building was the first that was purpose-built for the local militia, and was in its later years home to the South End Community Center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.</p><br>
<p>The building was sold by the City of Springfield to MGM Resorts for $1.6 million in 2014 as part of the MGM Springfield redevelopment project, a mixed use redevelopment including casino, hotel, movie theatres, skating rink, restaurants, and shops. While the Drill Shed and rear of building was lost, the stone structure was fully restored on the exterior with the interior stabilized and cleared out. The building currently houses ROAR Comedy Club, a stand up comedy club operated by MGM Springfield.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former State Armory building is located in downtown Springfield, on the south side of Howard Street west of Main Street. The construction of its front section is primarily granite, with decorative elements of brick and brownstone. It has towers that are 50 ft and 60 ft tall with crenellated brick battlements and a parapet connecting the two front towers. The mass of the building is directly on Howard Street, and historically loomed over its neighbors. (Most of the area is now part of the MGM Springfield casino complex.)</p><br>
<p>Attached to the rear of the front section, extending to Union Street, was a large gable-roofed drill shed, built out of brick with brownstone trim. The shed was destroyed by the Greater Springfield tornado on June 1, 2011, and is now the site of the French Congregational Church, which was relocated there as part of the casino construction.</p><br>
<p>The armory was built in 1895 to a design by Wait & Cutter of Boston, with local architects Gardner, Pyne & Gardner supervising. It was the first dedicated facility for the Springfield companies of the state militia. It served for many years as the main facility for all militia companies based in western Massachusetts, and was also the largest space in the city for social functions.</p><br>
<p>The State Normal Training School is a historic training school building at 27 Washington Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was constructed in 1899 to provide a teaching facility for teachers-in-training who were students at the Westfield State Normal School , the second-oldest such school the nation. It was operated jointly by the normal school and the city of Westfield from 1900 until 1956, at which point it was converted into a regular elementary school. The city formally acquired the property in 1977. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The building now houses apartments, and is known in the community as Courthouse Square.</p><br>
<h2>Description and history</h2><br>
<p>The former State Normal Training School building is located one block west of Westfield&#39;s downtown Main Street area, on a parcel bounded by Washington, Church, and School Streets. It is a -story masonry structure, built out of red brick with brownstone trim and resting on a cut granite foundation. It is in the general form of an H, with slightly projecting wings on either side of a central section, each covered by hip roof. Ground floor windows are generally set in rectangular openings, while those on the second story are set in segmented-arch openings. The entrances are recessed in wide segmented-arch openings, flanked on either side by similar openings with windows. The interior is framed in steel and finished in plaster with pine wainscoting; the basic layout and finishes have been preserved.</p><br>
<p>The Westfield Normal School (now Westfield State University) was the second normal school to be established in Massachusetts, in 1839. By the 1870s, its buildings were deteriorating and in need of replacement. A new building (now the Westfield Municipal Building was built for the school in 1889, but a need was also recognized for a state-run elementary school that could be used for teacher training. This building was built in 1899 to a design by Gardner, Pyne & Gardner of Springfield, one of the region&#39;s leading architectural firms. Its doors opened in 1900, and it was operated under a state-city partnership until 1956. It continued to serve the city as a school until the late 1970s. In 2012, the building was completely renovated, while carefully preserving its historic attributes. The property currently serves as a residential apartment building known as Courthouse Square.</p><br>
