Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District

Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District
Location: Springfield, Massachusetts
Built: 1811
Architect: Richardson,H.H.; Et al.
Architectural style: Mid 19th Century Revival, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Late Victorian
Governing body: Local
NRHP Reference#:

74000371

[1]
Added to NRHP: May 8, 1974

Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District is a historic district in Springfield, Massachusetts, bounded by Chestnut Street to the West; State Street to the South; and includes properties on Mattoon, Salem, Edwards and Elliot Streets. Located in the Metro Center, The Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District is one of the few neighborhoods in the Knowledge Corridor lined with historic, restored red-brick Victorian row houses on both sides, covered by tree canopies.

The Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District consists of housing stock of various architectural styles, from detached Victorian houses, to attached red-brick row-houses, to H.H. Richardson churches. The Historic District, unfortunately, does not include the historic Hotel Kimball or the Apremont Triangle. [2]

Since 2006, Metro Center - and in particular, the Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District - has seen a notable resurgence in residential living, with growing populations of people seeking an urban, cultural environment at reasonable prices, e.g. 20-somethings, LGBTs, bohemians, urban professionals, and empty-nesters. The Mattoon Street neighborhood features many of Springfield's most prestigious residential addresses, on Mattoon Street, Salem Street, Elliot Street, etc. It also features one of the famous architect H.H. Richardson's first works in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the Hispanic Baptist Church. Early each Fall, the neighborhood hosts a large arts festival, "The Mattoon Street Arts Festival."

The Quadrangle-Mattoon Street Historic District features The Quadrangle, a grouping of five museums around the Dr. Seuss Memorial Sculpture Garden. Recent developments include 2008's $57 million Moshe Safdie-designed, Federal Courthouse on State Street; and the $101 million adaptive re-use of Springfield's original Technical High School for Massachusetts' Data Center. [3]

Current projects like Baystate Health's $300 million "Hospital of the Future," and the $1 billion New Haven - Springfield high speed rail; and the $72 million, northern intercity commuter rail from Springfield through Northampton, Massachusetts, to Brattleboro, Vermont, (and then ultimately to Montreal, Canada,) are making Springfield's architecturally significant Metro Center an increasingly desirable place to live.

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