Quadrangle-Mattoon Historic District (Boundary Increase)

This twelve-acre district in Springfield, Massachusetts, lies beside the Springfield Armory grounds along Byers, Pearl, Spring and Salem Streets. It extends an existing historic district and contains thirty-six principal buildings, one large outbuilding and a small park. Development began in the 1830s as housing near the Armory. The oldest surviving houses date from 1850 and mix Greek Revival and Italianate features. Later single- and two-family homes show Second Empire, Stick, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles, often built by local masons and carpenters. From 1895, brick apartment blocks replaced many older houses, and by 1930 over half the district consisted of four- and five-story buildings, many with red pressed brick and marble trim in bow-front Georgian Revival form. They housed clerical and retail workers from downtown businesses. French-Canadian builders, notably the Gagnier and Angers families, carried out most construction after 1899. Armoury Commons, a park built in 1977, adds open space. Despite demolitions, the district keeps substantial integrity.