National Register of Historic Places

Guenther & Handel's Block

Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts
Listed
February 24, 1983
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
83000749

About this property

The Guenther & Handel's Block is a historic commercial building at 7—9 Stockbridge Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1845 by Elam Stockbridge, it is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city's downtown area, and one of its rare examples of Greek Revival commercial architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The Guenther & Handel's Block is located near the southern end of the built-up commercial downtown area of Springfield. It is on the east side of Stockbridge Street just north of its junction with Main Street, from which it is separated by the Colonial Block. It is a three-story brick building with vernacular Greek Revival styling. Its facade is essentially five bays in width, although the upper two floors only have windows in the three rightmost bays. The ground floor is arranged with a storefront in the right three bays, with display windows in the inner two and the entrance on the right. The building's left bays are both occupied by doors. The block was built in 1845, and is one of the oldest commercial buildings in downtown Springfield. It was built for Elam Stockbridge, who laid out and began to develop Stockbridge Street in 1839. In the 1880s the ground floor business was a grocery shop, which in 1913 was acquired and operated by Emil Guenther and his brother-in-law, Richard Handel. The grocery operation had a local reputation for high-quality goods from around the world, and used the second floor of the building as a kitchen. It remained within the family and at the same location until 1972; the business was sold out of the family and moved to other premises in 1973. National Register of Historic Places listings in Springfield, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts

Location

7--9 Stockbridge St.
Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts
42.10077, -72.58599

Categories

COMMERCEARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Colonial Block
Colonial
0 mi
McKinney Building
Industrial
0 mi
Radding Building
Industrial
0 mi
Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company
Industrial
0.1 mi
Bangs Block
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Attack on Springfield
1675Colonial
0.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Guenther & Handel's Block listed on the National Register?

Guenther & Handel's Block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1983.

What type of historic resource is Guenther & Handel's Block?

Guenther & Handel's Block is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Guenther & Handel's Block?

The period of significance for Guenther & Handel's Block is recorded as the industrial era.

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