{"nrhp_refnum":"78000447","name":"Republican Block","other_names":["Brigham's Block"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1365 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.10229421900004,"lon":-72.58980321299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-01-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story red brick commercial building at 1365 Main Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, built in 1858 in the Italianate style and also known as Brigham's Block.","why_significant":"It housed the Springfield Republican newspaper during Samuel Bowles II's editorship, from 1858 to 1867. It is also noted as the last remaining mid-19th century commercial building in Springfield's business district. Later, D.H. Brigham's clothing store occupied it until 1969.","narrative":"Built in 1858 on Main Street in the center of Springfield, this four-story red brick commercial building has an Italianate design, with wooden quoins at the Townsley Avenue corner, a large paneled entablature and curved brackets under deep eaves. It is believed to have been built by local architect-builder A.L. Chapin and was the first commercial building north of Court Square. It was enlarged in 1861 and extended eastward in 1867. From 1858 to 1867 it was home to the Springfield Republican, the newspaper edited by Samuel Bowles II, whose staff and ventures reached well beyond Springfield. In 1867 D.H. Brigham bought the building for a large men's clothing store, which a Boston paper called one of the most magnificent in New England; the business continued here until 1969. The upper floors keep original details, though the ground floor was remodelled in the 1950s. It is the last mid-19th century commercial building left in the downtown business district.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"A.L. Chapin (believed; local architect-builder)","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as private property in good condition; the first floor was remodelled in the 1950s and the second floor altered in the late 1880s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.637858-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7952/63795203/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/78000447.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000447/6fe8b38558-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000447/6fe8b38558-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Republican_Block,_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:Republican_Block,_Springfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795203","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7314573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/republican-block-78000447/"}