{"nrhp_refnum":"83000752","name":"Henking Hotel and Cafe","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15-21 Lyman St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.10849942200008,"lon":-72.59368012399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick hotel with a two-story cafe addition at 15-21 Lyman Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, across from Union Station. The hotel facade dates to 1899 and the cafe addition to 1909; William Becker designed the facade.","why_significant":"The building reflects Springfield's growth as a commercial center around the railroad station and was founded by a prominent German family. It is a very early and elaborate commercial example of Georgian Revival design downtown. It is also the only surviving small businessmen's hotel from that era.","narrative":"Located at 15-21 Lyman Street in downtown Springfield, directly opposite the entrance to Union Station, this four-story brick hotel with an attached two-story cafe served travelling businessmen. The hotel began with Gustave and Elizabeth Gruendler, early German immigrants who ran hotels downtown from 1857 to 1899. Employee Henry Henking acquired it in 1899, renamed it Hotel Henking and had local architect William Becker design a Georgian Revival facade. The five-bay front has brick piers, a projecting second-level window with spiral columnettes and a scrolled pediment, leaded transoms reading The Henking, and a modillioned wooden cornice above festoons. His son Gus added the cafe and banquet hall in 1909. Only the ground-floor storefronts have been altered. The building is considered an early and elaborate downtown example of Georgian Revival commercial design, and the only remaining small businessmen's hotel in a city whose later hotels were far larger. It remains in use as a hotel and restaurant.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Becker","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Has remained in continuous use as a hotel and cafe; only the first-floor storefronts have been altered (Moderne storefronts 1946, Permastone storefront 1960s).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.048874-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7903/63790313/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000752.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000752/6820b38635-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000752/6820b38635-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HenkingCafe.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HenkingCafe.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790313","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henking_Hotel_and_Cafe","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5714518"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/henking-hotel-and-cafe-83000752/"}