McKnight District

This 130-acre neighborhood in southwestern Springfield, Massachusetts, holds more than 350 houses laid out in the late nineteenth century by brothers John and William McKnight. Before 1870 the land held scattered farms, a ravine, a mineral spring and a black settlement near Lake Como. The McKnights bought the Flagg farm in 1870 and expanded in 1881. John planned streets, trees and shrubbery, while William directed construction of 25 to 40 houses a year. Five corner parks with fountains were set out, and part of the original grove was given to the city. Houses range through Italianate, Queen Anne, Shingle, Stick, Tudor and Colonial Revival designs, with Queen Anne dominating, and a consistent scale of two-and-a-half to three stories. The district is almost entirely residential, with two churches, a small store and a school built in 1887. It was Springfield's first large planned residential area and first suburb on the hill. Six mayors and basketball inventor James Naismith lived here. It became a local historic district in January 1976.