Stearns Building
Why it's listed
Rising six stories on Bridge Street in downtown Springfield, the Stearns Building was constructed in 1912 as a steel and stone structure with the unusual feature of concrete floors. Seven stores occupied the ground floor, with offices above. Its designers, Samuel M. Green & Co., engineers and architects, laid out the sixth floor for their own offices. The firm was described in 1913 as the largest of its kind in New England outside Boston. The lower stories are restrained, with decoration limited to pilaster capitals and small columnettes between paired second-story windows. Gothic detailing emerges fully at the cornice, where squat lancet-arched reliefs, tracery corner parapets and small turrets mark the bays. It is Springfield's only early twentieth-century office tower with Gothic Revival detail and the downtown's best example of Neo-Gothic design. Alterations have been limited chiefly to the storefronts, and the building continues to house retail and office uses.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as an early example of Gothic Revival motifs applied to a steel and concrete office building and as Springfield's only early twentieth-century office tower with Gothic Revival detail. It also reflects the rapid expansion of downtown Springfield and the arrival of taller office buildings. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83000770, listed February 24, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 289-309 Bridge St., Springfield |
|---|---|
| County | Hampden County |
| Listed | February 24, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83000770 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Samuel M. Green & Co. (Samuel M. Green Co.), engineers and architects |
| Architectural style | 20th century Commercial / Gothic Revival detail (Neo-Gothic) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is retail and office; alterations are minimal, mainly mid-20th-century storefronts. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.10411, -72.59070 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83000770.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7605521
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.