The building at the corner of Main and Union Streets in Springfield, around 1938-1939. Image courtesy of the Springfield Preservation Trust.
The scene in 2015:
The section of Main Street south of State Street was once primarily residential, but as the city grew in the second half of the 19th century many of the homes were either demolished or, in many cases, had storefronts built in front of them. Based on its blend of Greek Revival and Italianate architectural styles, this house was probably built around the 1850s, but sometime around 1900-1910 the owners built a one-story commercial building around it, presumably incorporating the first floor of the house into the stores. This is similar to what happened to the John Avery House, a c.1825 house located diagonally across the street from here.
When the first photo was taken, the building had several commercial tenants, including The Linoleum Shoppe on the left and a cigar store on the right. The old house was still clearly visible at the time, but later taken down after a fire. The rest of the building was damaged in the June 1, 2011 tornado, and was subsequently renovated into its current appearance, as seen in the 2015 photo.
I used to work in a retail store next to what was once The Linoleum Shoppe. Actually the space that housed The Linoleum Shoppe because Sam’s Sports Bar and later Samuel’s Tavern.
The old landlord of the building was the son of the owner of the cigar shop on the end. One day he told us about how the apartments that were once above the store had caught fire and burned down. By the time I started working there the storefronts seen on the Union St side weren’t even there, it was just an empty space that accessed a small parking lot in back of the building. I worked there from 2003 until the tornado hit in 2011.
The actual structure wasn’t demolished as it says in your description, the current building was renovated with the above decorative structure built over the roof that was once there. The entire space is now a restaurant.
Thanks for the help! I have updated the description based on the info.