Guenther and Handel's Block (Davis)

Guenther and Handel's Block at 7-9 Stockbridge Street in Springfield is a three-story, four-bay brick commercial building erected in 1845 in a vernacular Greek Revival style. Its upper-bay openings are framed by straight stone lintels and sills and its cornice consists of a simple brick dentil band, and it retains a period storefront following a sensitive renovation to offices in 1977. It is significant for its continuous role in Springfield's commercial history and as one of only two surviving mid-nineteenth-century commercial buildings in the area to preserve its early form, meeting Criterion A as a rare representative of downtown Springfield's early commercial development and Criterion C as a relatively intact local example of the Greek Revival style. The street was laid out in 1839 by Elam Stockbridge, who built a series of similar blocks; the ground-floor shop later became a grocery and, from 1913, the imported-grocery and delicatessen business of Emil Guenther and his brother-in-law Richard Handel, which became a well-known local institution. It is part of the Downtown Springfield Multiple Resource Area.

Guenther and Handel's Block (Davis) 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 42.1007, -72.5861 near Springfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is Colonial Block (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include McKinney Building, Bangs Block, and Springfield Safe Deposit and Trust Company Building.

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