{"nrhp_refnum":"83000763","name":"Smith Carriage Company District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bounded by Main, Peabody, Willow, and Park Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.100017698000045,"lon":-72.58432686099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small industrial district of three brick buildings on both sides of Park Street in downtown Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts, built for the Smith Carriage Company between about 1880 and 1924.","why_significant":"The buildings reflect the expansion of a locally important carriage maker that later shifted to automobile body parts. They are also a surviving example of the densely built downtown industrial zone. A federal reviewer noted significance under Criterion A for the company's continuing production of carriages and, later, auto body parts.","narrative":"Three industrial buildings line Park Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, all built for the Smith Carriage Company as the firm grew. The earliest, from the late 19th century, is a three-story, seven-bay brick building with broad segmental arched windows and a corbelled brick cornice. Two later buildings from the 1920s are four-story steel and concrete structures faced in brick, with large bays of industrial sash and unusually detailed terra cotta coursing and pilasters. Each drops to two stories at Willow Street. The company was founded on Park Street in 1827 by David Smith, and his son William H. Smith took over in 1873. The firm made light carriages and is credited with supplying the first frame used for an automobile by the Stevens Duryea Company, a second-hand buggy frame. Between 1910 and 1920 it turned to auto body parts, continuing until the 1940s. The district covers about one acre and preserves the company's remaining buildings.","period_of_significance":"c. 1880-1924","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Industrial; late 19th century brick manufacturing building and 1920s steel and concrete industrial design","criteria":["A"],"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 02:11:56.306379-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/7903/63790347/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000763.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000763/41b5730658-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000763/41b5730658-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_Street,_Springfield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Park_Street,_Springfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790347","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Carriage_Company_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7545083"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/smith-carriage-company-district-83000763/"}