Driscoll's Block
Driscoll's Block | |
 Driscoll's Block | |
   | |
| Location | Springfield, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°6′14″N 72°35′33″W / 42.10389°N 72.59250°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architectural style | Romanesque |
| MPS | Downtown Springfield MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 83000746 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | February 24, 1983 |
Driscoll's Block is a historic commercial building at 211-13 Worthington Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1894, it was the first building to be built in the area after a fire destroyed five blocks of Worthington Street the previous year. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[1]
Description and history[edit]
Driscoll's Block is located in downtown Springfield, on the southeast side of Worthington Street, just southwest of Stearns Square. It is a modest four-story brick building, with a flat roof and decorative corbelled brick cornice. The ground floor houses a single store front, with recessed entrances (one to the retail space and the other to the upstairs) flanking a display window. Windows on the second and third floors are set in segmented-arch openings, in two groups of three with shared sills. Fourth-floor windows are similarly arranged, but are set in round-arch openings. The exterior of the building was, at the time of its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, notable for a series of mid-20th-century advertising stencils that were applied to its eastern facade after the 1940 demolition of the adjacent building.[2] Those advertisements have since faded significantly. In 2022 City Mosaic of Springfield, Massachusetts was approached by State Representative Sean Curran to paint a mural on Driscoll's Block. Instead of painting a new mural the artists decided to bring the previous mural back to life. In late August 2022, the mural was revealed as a stunning four-story piece of art with historical advertisements.
The block was built for J.R. Driscoll, and at first housed a bowling alley. This business ran until 1915, and was followed by a succession of tenants, including briefly a Sears and Roebuck branch. The tenants have principally been manufacturing or warehousing concerns.[2]
See also[edit]
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Springfield, Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts
References[edit]
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b "NRHP nomination for Driscoll's Block". Retrieved 2013-12-09.
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