The Chapin National Bank Building is a historic bank building at 1675-1677 Main Street in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
. Built in 1917 for a bank founded in 1872 by
Chester Chapin
Chester William Chapin (December 16, 1798 – June 10, 1883) was an American businessman, president of the Boston and Albany Railroad from 1868 to 1878, and U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts. He was a multimillionaire at his death in 1883, a ...
, it is a notable local example of Classical Revival architecture. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
It now houses other commercial businesses.
Description and history
The Chapin National Bank Building is located in downtown Springfield, at the northeast corner of Main and Lyman Streets. It is a two-story masonry structure, built out of cast stone. The Lyman Street facade has a classical Doric frieze, with four monumental fluted columns set ''
in antis
An anta (pl. antæ, antae, or antas; Latin, possibly from ''ante'', "before" or "in front of"), or sometimes parastas (pl. parastades), is an architectural term describing the posts or pillars on either side of a doorway or entrance of a Greek te ...
''. The Main Street facade originally had a similar appearance, except for the main building entrance, but this has been obscured or replaced by modern paneling, leaving only the frieze below the roofline.
Chester Chapin
Chester William Chapin (December 16, 1798 – June 10, 1883) was an American businessman, president of the Boston and Albany Railroad from 1868 to 1878, and U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts. He was a multimillionaire at his death in 1883, a ...
, a native of nearby
Ludlow, made a fortune first in stagecoach operations, and then in railroads and other businesses. He founded a bank in 1872, which was formally chartered as Chapin National Bank in 1878. Chapin was a city selectman and served a single term in the
United States Congress (1875-77). This building was built in 1917, on the site of a previous building of the same bank. It was designed by Mowbray and Uffinger, architects from
New York City, and remains a distinctive example of Classical Revival architecture in the city despite its facade alterations.
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See also
*
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Springfield, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Springfield, Massachusetts