{"nrhp_refnum":"77000180","name":"Memorial Square District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Main and Plainfield Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.11043700000005,"lon":-72.60204913883037,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Art","Transportation","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of seven buildings, a small park and a traffic island centered on the intersection of Main and Plainfield Streets in northwestern Springfield, Massachusetts. The buildings date from the 1880s to 1914.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant as the focal point of Springfield's Brightwood and North End neighborhoods and for its architecture. It contains work by two nationally prominent architects and several of Springfield's leading turn-of-the-century architects. Notable structures include the Trolley Barn, the branch library and Memorial Church.","narrative":"Memorial Square sits where Main and Plainfield Streets meet in northwestern Springfield, Massachusetts. The district groups seven buildings, a small triangular park and a traffic island around this junction. Memorial Church, a granite Gothic Revival building with brownstone trim designed by Richard Upjohn and his son and completed in 1866, is the focal point. Nearby are a 1914 Italian Renaissance library, an 1897 trolley barn and office building, a 1911 six-story apartment and store block, an 1894 Classical Revival parish house, and two Queen Anne houses from the 1880s. A bronze Spanish-American War statue stands in the park. The district was listed because it served as the center of the Brightwood and North End neighborhoods and because of its architecture, which includes work by nationally known and leading local architects. The buildings have changed little, although Round Hill was levelled and highway and urban renewal projects reshaped the surroundings.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Richard Upjohn and R. M. Upjohn (Memorial Church); Edward Tilton with E. C. and G. L. Gardner (library); Gardner, Pyne, and Gardner (Street Railway Building); F. R. Richmond (Parish House); F. R. Richmond and B. H. Seabury (Smith and Sweatland Houses, believed); Melzar H. Mosman (war memorial statue)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival, Italian Renaissance adaptation, Classical Revival and Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good and unaltered. The library was recently purchased privately and was to house a funeral home. The surrounding area has changed significantly.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.431099-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7952/63795217/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/77000180.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000180/5ea7ac7cf6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000180/5ea7ac7cf6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_George_Greek_Orthodox_Cathedral,_Springfield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_George_Greek_Orthodox_Cathedral,_Springfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795217","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Square_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49525222"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/memorial-square-district-77000180/"}