Wigglesworth Building (Springfield, Massachusetts)

Last updated
Wigglesworth Building
SpringfieldMA WigglesworthBuilding.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location23 Oak St.; 71 Lillian St., Springfield, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°6′31″N72°34′26″W / 42.10861°N 72.57389°W / 42.10861; -72.57389 Coordinates: 42°6′31″N72°34′26″W / 42.10861°N 72.57389°W / 42.10861; -72.57389
Arealess than one acre
Built1917 (1917)
ArchitectHowes, Lyman
Architectural styleColonial Revival
NRHP reference No. 100003943 [1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 2020

The Wigglesworth Building is a historic apartment house at 77 Lillian Street and 23 Oak Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1917, it is a good local example of Colonial Revival architecture, typifying the city's multiunit construction after the introduction of new building codes. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. [1]

Contents

Description and history

The Wigglesworth Building is located southeast of the extended former Springfield Armory grounds, at the southeast corner of Oak Street and Lillian Street. It is a four-story masonry structure, organized in a U shape with its main facade facing Oak Street and wings extending east. The Oak Street facade houses then main entrance at the center of a five-bay facade. The outer corner bays project slightly, articulated by stone corner quoining. Windows in those bays are grouped in threes, with transom windows above, with shouldered stone lintels. Windows in the center bays are paired sash, with unshouldered stone lintels. The Lillian Street facade is seven bays long, alternating projecting and recessed sections with similar window arrangements. The interior houses sixteen apartments, which have seen significant alteration and retain few period features. [2]

The block was built in 1917 by Joseph Laliberte to a design by Lyman Howes, a local architect. The developer was Austin Wigglesworth, owner of a local construction company, who tore down an older multiunit building on the site. The city had changed its building codes in 1910 to require more fireproof construction materials in larger multiunit residential buildings like this one, resulting in a decline in wood-frame tenement-style housing. Early residents were skilled tradespeople, managers, and shopkeepers. The building's interior underwent a major renovation in 1983. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Lowell United States historic place

The Lowell is an historic triple decker apartment house on 33 Lexington Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1900 to a design by local architect John Hasty, it is a rare multiunit building in the Brattle Street area outside Harvard Square. The Colonial Revival building has a swan's neck pediment above the center entry, which is echoed above the central second story windows. Doric pilasters separate the bays of the front facade, and the building distinctively has side porches, giving it added horizontal massing. It was built before the decision was made to locate the electrified trolleys on Mount Auburn Street instead of Brattle, a decision that reduced interest in building more multiunit housing in that area.

Gardner News Building United States historic place

The Gardner News Building is a historic commercial building located at 309 Central Street in Gardner, Massachusetts. Built in 1906, it has served since its construction as the home of the Gardner News, a mainstay of the local news industry. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 14, 1979, and included in the West Gardner Square Historic District on December 30, 1985.

Briggs Tavern United States historic place

The Briggs Tavern is a historic building at 2 Anawan Street in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Built about 1780 and now used as a private residence, it is the town's only surviving 18th-century commercial building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Johnson School (North Adams, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Johnson School is a historic former school building on School Street in North Adams, Massachusetts. Built about 1898, this Romanesque Revival school is a significant work of the prominent local architect Edwin Thayer Barlow. It was the last of the city's neighborhood schools to be closed. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is now used for Head Start and other social programs.

United States Post Office–Easthampton Main United States historic place

The US Post Office—Easthampton Main is a historic post office building at 19 Union Street in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Built in 1933, this Classical Revival building is one of the town center's most architecturally sophisticated buildings. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It is currently being used as a senior center.

Valentine School (Chicopee, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Valentine School is a historic school at Grape and Elm Streets in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Built in 1898 to a design by George Alderman, it is a prominent local example of Renaissance Revival architecture. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and included as part of the Springfield Street Historic District in 1991. The building has been converted to residential use.

Burbach Block United States historic place

The Burbach Block is a historic commercial and retail block at 1113–1115 Main Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1882, it is one of a series of buildings marking the area's transition from a smaller-scale residential service area to the commercial downtown. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Carreau Block United States historic place

The Carreau Block is a historic Classical Revival apartment block at 640-642 Chicopee Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was built in 1912 by Louis Carreau, a locally notable builder of French Canadian extraction, and is his only known surviving building of this type. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Ethel Apartment House United States historic place

The Ethel Apartment House is a historic apartment building at 70 Patton Street in the North End of Springfield, Massachusetts. The four story red brick building was built in 1912 for Jacob Blisky, a successful local retailer, at a cost of $14,000. It was designed by Burton Gechler, a local architect who designed a number of other apartment blocks during the 1910s. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Indian Orchard Branch Library United States historic place

The Indian Orchard Branch Library is a historic branch library at 44 Oak Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Classic Revival building was constructed in 1909 to a design by John Donohue, and was the first permanent branch library building in the Springfield public library system; it was funded in part by a grant from Andrew Carnegie. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999; it continues to serve as a library as a branch of the Springfield City Library system.

Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Co. United States historic place

The Springfield Fire & Marine Insurance Co. is a historic commercial building at 195 State Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1905 to a design by the renowned architecture firm Peabody and Stearns, it is a fine example of commercial Classical Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Methuen Water Works United States historic place

The Methuen Water Works is a historic water works building on Cross Street in Methuen, Massachusetts. Built in 1893 or soon thereafter, it was one of the city's first major public works project. The surviving building, designed by Ernest N. Boyden, is a distinctive local example of Romanesque architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It now houses offices of the city's water department.

Walnut Street School (Reading, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Walnut Street School is a historic school building at 55 Hopkins Street in Reading, Massachusetts. A two-room schoolhouse built in 1854, it is the town's oldest public building. Since 1962 it has been home to the Quannapowitt Players, a local theatrical company. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Bancroft Trust Building United States historic place

The Bancroft Trust Building, formerly the Dodge Block and Sawyer Buildings, is an historic commercial building at 60 Franklin Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the result of combining the 1883 Sawyer Building with the 1869 Dodge Block, one of the few surviving buildings of Worcester's early industrial age. Both buildings were designed by Fuller & Delano of Worcester, and were combined into the Bancroft Building in 1920. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The Russell (Worcester, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Russell is an historic apartment house in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1894, it is one of the few surviving apartment blocks, of many built, in the Main-Wellington-Chandler area, which had one of the city's highest concentrations of such buildings by 1900. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Item Building United States historic place

The Item Building is a historic commercial building at 26 Albion Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Built in 1912, the single story brick building serves as the headquarters of The Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield's main community newspaper, and is a well-kept example of early 20th century commercial architecture.

Oliver House (Wakefield, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Oliver House, also known as the Smith-Oliver House, is a historic house at 58 Oak Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Probably built in the late 18th century, this Federal period house is distinctive for its association with the now-suburban area's agrarian past, and as a two-family residence of the period, with two "Beverly jogs". The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Robinson and Swan Blocks United States historic place

The Robinson and Swan Blocks are a pair of mixed commercial-residential buildings at 104-108 Pleasant Street and 1-3 Irving Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built about 1884 to nearly identical designs by Fuller & Delano, the buildings are well-preserved examples of Victorian Gothic architecture executed in brick. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, but due to administrative lapses, are not listed in its NRIS database.

St. James Apartments United States historic place

The St. James Apartments are a historic apartment house at 573 State Street & 5 Oak Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1904, it is a good local example of Classical Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

Moseley School (Westfield, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Moseley School is a historic school building at 24 Dartmouth Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1924, it is a good local example of Colonial Revival architecture, and served the town as an elementary school for nearly a century. The building, vacant since 2009, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for Wigglesworth Building". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2020-01-27.