77 & 83 Maple Street

These neighbors are both suffering together on Maple Street. This is a good example of demolition by neglect. If these historic houses are not soon repaired they may be demolished. When buildings like these are deemed unsafe, the City must declare them dangerous health hazards and will order demolition.

The building on the left is 77 Maple Street, the oldest school in Springfield. It was built in 1832 as a private girls school called the Seminary. The drawing at right depicts the building as it was when it was first built, with three stories, which at some point changed to two stories. In the 1840's it was made into a residence and later on it was converted into office space. In the black and white image on the right, one can see number 77 on the far left. It has a two story porch in this picture, which is now gone. It's owner lives outside the region, which makes it easier to ignore. The bottom left picture shows the extent of deterioration. Unfortunately one cannot plainly see the extent of deterioration from the street. The picture plainly shows the seriousness of the situation, a wall is missing! Currently there are no known plans for the building.

The building at right is 83 Maple Street. This Greek Revival house was built in 1841 for Solymon Merrick, the inventor of the wrench. Later it was owned by Ansel Phelps, the fourth Mayor of Springfield. It is also one of the oldest buildings in the city, and is very significant to Springfield. The property was foreclosed on and has been on the market by a bank ever since.

Both of these historic buildings have extensive deterioration and will require large amounts of investment to be turned around. Right now the future of two of Springfield's oldest buildings is uncertain.