{"nrhp_refnum":"83000745","name":"Downtown Springfield Railroad District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Lyman, Main, Murray, and Spring Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.10859822300006,"lon":-72.58980623199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-05-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of eleven railroad-related resources (nine buildings and two structures) in downtown Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, roughly bounded by Frank B. Murray, Main, Lyman and Spring Streets, built mostly between 1875 and 1925.","why_significant":"The district is described as the city's most direct representation of the impact of railroads on Springfield, which became the junction of major north-south and east-west rail lines. Rail access gave the city an economic advantage in late 19th century industrial and commercial growth. The nomination cites criteria A and C, noting the area's integrity and its mostly brick vernacular warehouses, station, hotel and railroad structures.","narrative":"Downtown Springfield's Railroad District groups eleven buildings and structures tied to the Boston & Albany Railroad, covering about 18.6 acres near the tracks between Main, Lyman, Spring and Frank B. Murray Streets. Most are brick. The district includes the long freight house, a row of multi-story warehouses on upper Lyman Street, the Terminal Building, the Hotel Charles, Union Station, and the granite Railroad Arch and retaining wall. The arch carried the tracks over Main Street in 1889, ending a congested grade crossing, and followed a design proposed by H. H. Richardson and completed by his successor firm. Union Station was built in 1925-26 and replaced earlier stations. Warehouses housed cotton waste dealers, grocery wholesalers and commission merchants who needed rail access. Springfield, the junction of major rail lines, became known as the crossroads of New England, and this district is the city's clearest surviving record of how railroads shaped its commerce and growth.","period_of_significance":"1875-1925","architect_builder":"Feldheimer and Wagner (Union Station); F. B. Freeman (baggage, mail and express building); F. M. Davison (freight house office); Albert Lavalle (Hotel Charles); E. C. and G. C. Gardner (Terminal Building); H. H. Richardson and Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (Railroad Arch)","architectural_style":"Variety of vernacular late 19th and early 20th century styles; modified classical (Union Station); French Renaissance (Hotel Charles)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.217242-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/63/7903/63790363/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000745.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000745/0647eead11-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000745/0647eead11-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amtrak_Station,_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:Amtrak_Station,_Springfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790363","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Springfield_Railroad_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5303586"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/downtown-springfield-railroad-district-83000745/"}