Friedrich Block

The Friedrich Block at 449-461 Main Street in Holyoke is a four-story mixed-use commercial block built in 1908 at a prominent downtown corner in the Second Renaissance Revival (Neoclassical) style. Its two street elevations are richly detailed with vitrified orange-red brick, brownstone banding and keystones, decorative brickwork, and sheet-metal bays and an elaborate ornamental entablature and cornice, while ground-floor storefronts served commercial uses and the upper floors held residences. It was designed by George P. B. Alderman, Holyoke's best-known architect of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose Beaux Arts- and Renaissance Revival-inspired commercial designs shaped the city. The block was built by the E. H. Friedrich Company, a maker of metal building products and custom architectural millwork, and is one of the few surviving commercial blocks on Main Street from South Holyoke's economic boom of 1880-1910. It meets National Register Criteria A and C for commerce and architecture, with a period of significance of 1908-1952.

Friedrich Block is a landmark in Holyoke, 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 42.1981, -72.6093 near Holyoke. The nearest cataloged historic site is Ward Three Engine House (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Sargent Street Bridge over First Level Canal, Robert, Clovis Block, and Farr Alpaca Company Mill #1 - Weave Shed D.

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