Ethel Apartment House

The Ethel Apartment House at 70 Patton Street in the North End of Springfield is a four-story red-brick apartment building built in 1912, designed by architect Burton E. Gechler (1881-1961) and constructed for retailer Jacob Blisky for $14,000. The front facade features two bowed windows flanking a central entrance, light-gray simulated-ashlar dressing and precast-stone window surrounds at the lower level, centrally paired windows divided by fluted wood mullions, and a tin cornice with modillions; the original 1912 building permit describes it as an eight-unit building with two apartments per floor. It is significant under Criteria A and C as a representative example of early-20th-century small-scale apartment-house construction from the middle of Springfield's 'Apartment Era' (ca. 1910 to the Depression), for its architectural detailing, and for its association with the industrial growth and expansion of Springfield's North End. Architect Gechler, an MIT graduate long associated with John W. Donohue (architect for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield), designed churches, schools, apartment buildings, and a downtown office tower. The building is one of the few apartment blocks surviving the urban renewal that transformed the North End.

Ethel Apartment House is a landmark in Springfield, Hampden County. It is one of 3,654 landmarks documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.

The site sits at 42.1103, -72.5987 near Springfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is Laurel Hall (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Springfield Street Railway - Trolley Barn, Memorial Square Building, and Memorial Square - Springfield Spanish-American War Memorial.

This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.