Category: Springfield

Hampden Savings Bank (1918)

by Dan//Banks, Neoclassical, Springfield

Hampden Savings Bank (1918)

The Hampden Savings Bank Building, at 1665 Main Street in Springfield, was built in 1918. Designed by Max Westhoff, it displays fine Classical Revival detailing. The bank was founded in 1852, the same year Springfield was incorporated as a city. It was originally established to serve railroad workers and was located near the railroad depot. From 1852 to 1871, the Hampden Savings Bank shared space with the Agawam National Bank. In 1899 it moved to the Fort Block, at the corner of Main and Fort Streets. The bank occupied its 1918 building until 1952, when it moved to a new building at 19 Harrison Avenue. The former bank building now houses a law office.

74 Fairfield Street, Springfield (1903)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Foursquare, Houses, Springfield

74 Fairfield St., Springfield

The house at 74 Fairfield Street in Springfield was built in 1903 for Henry Russell, but it is most notable as the childhood home of Dr. Seuss. Theodore Geisel was born on March 2, 1904, in his family’s home on Howard Street. In 1906, when he was two, his family moved to 74 Fairfield Street, where they would live until 1943. The author’s father, Theodore Geisel, senior, ran the family brewery until it closed due to prohibition. He then became superintendent of city parks, which included the local zoo. Ted Geisel moved away after he graduated from Dartmouth in 1925, but images from his childhood in Springfield would later reappear in his illustrated children’s books.

St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral (1869)

by Dan//Churches, Gothic, Springfield

St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Springfield

In 1865, a society was formed to establish a new Congregational church in the the north section of Springfield. The cornerstone for the new Memorial Congregational Church was laid on July 18, 1867. The church, constructed on a knoll at Plainfield and North Main Streets (an area now called Memorial Square), was designed by Richard Upjohn. The granite used for the building was the gift of Mr. William Flint of Monson. The church was dedicated on June 3, 1869. In 1940, Memorial Congregational Church merged with Hope Congregational Church (Hope Church merged with Faith Congregational Church in 1977). The former Memorial Congregational Church building was sold to the Hellenic Religious Building Fund Corporation to become St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church. A brick house on Auburn Street had become the church’s first building in 1907. The church moved to Patton Street in 1919. In 1977, one-third of the church community left to form the new St. Luke parish in East Longmeadow. St. George Church then became known as St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

Foot-Wallace House (1844)

by Dan//Gothic, Houses, Springfield

The Foot-Wallace House is a Gothic Revival cottage-style structure built in 1844 at 201 Maple Street in Springfield. Its originally wood exterior walls were covered in stucco in 1898, the same year an orange tile roof was added. Later part of the campus of the MacDuffie School, the house‘s tile roof sustained major damage from the Springfield tornado of June 1, 2011. The above photograph was taken before the tornado.