Longmeadow Street-North Historic District

Northern Longmeadow Street in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, follows a gently curving one-mile course along a terrace above the Connecticut River, from the Springfield line to Cooley Drive and Westmoreland Avenue. Wide setbacks, large lots and mature trees give the road a spacious, boulevard-like character. The district holds 85 contributing buildings, mostly houses. The oldest are former farmhouses, including the Cooley-Williams House, built before 1765, and the 1794 Alexander Field House in the Federal style. Greek Revival, Italianate, Stick Style and Queen Anne houses follow, along with Colonial Revival, Craftsman and Tudor Revival homes built as suburban infill. Its significance rests on how residents and developers shaped the street as a suburban alternative to Springfield. Forest Park's development in the 1890s, a street railroad in 1896, and deed restrictions on subdivided farmlots all played a part. The street's great width traces back to the twenty-rod road laid out in 1703.