{"nrhp_refnum":"74000368","name":"Ames Hill/Crescent Hill District","other_names":["See Also:Mills-Stebbins Villa"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by sections of Central, Maple, Mill, and Pine Sts., Crescent Hill, Ames Hill Drive, and Maple Ct.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.096171000000055,"lon":-72.57563744919631,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about 21 acres on two adjoining hills forming a ridge southwest of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. It includes sections of Central, Maple, Mill and Pine Streets and Crescent Hill, with large mansions built from the mid-19th to early 20th century.","why_significant":"The district was developed by prominent Springfield industrialists, bankers, lawyers and merchants and holds one of the finest groupings of domestic architecture in the city. It contains work by important local builders and architects such as Chauncey Shepard, Simon Sanborn, Henry Sykes, Eugene Gardner and Max Westhoff. The land was first opened up by paper manufacturer David Ames, Sr., in 1812.","narrative":"Ames Hill and Crescent Hill form a wooded, heavily landscaped residential enclave on two adjoining hills southwest of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Roughly 21 acres along Maple, Central, Mill and Pine Streets and Crescent Hill hold some thirty large houses built between 1826 and 1930. Paper manufacturer David Ames, Sr. opened this section of Maple Street in 1812 to reach his mill on the Mill River, and later commissioned a wedding house here for his son. Industrialists, bankers, lawyers and merchants then built homes in styles ranging from Italianate and Stick Style to Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival and Tudor. Notable examples include the Walter Wesson House of 1882 and the Julius Appleton House of 1886. Local builders Chauncey Shepard and Simon Sanborn, architect Henry Sykes and designers Eugene Gardner and Max Westhoff worked here. The district was listed for having one of Springfield's finest groupings of domestic architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Chauncey Shepard, Simon Sanborn, Henry Sykes, Eugene Gardner, Max Westhoff, Asher Benjamin (Alexander House design), Ware and Van Brunt","architectural_style":"Varied: Italianate, Federal-Greek Revival, Stick Style, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, Tudor, Georgian Revival, Chateauesque, English Cottage","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked good and altered; the district is occupied and used as private residences, with some commercial, educational and other uses.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.80665-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7952/63795221/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/74000368.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000368/be26743190-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000368/be26743190-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SpringfieldMA_MapleStreetMansion_3.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795221","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_Hill/Crescent_Hill_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4745871"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/ames-hill-crescent-hill-district-74000368/"}