It didn’t take long for Foot to find tenants for the commercial and office space in the building in 1851,the newly-incorporated Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company rented office number 8 in the building as their original company office. It stood here until 1847, when it was moved a few lots west on State Street, as seen in this post, which gives more details about its history.Īfter the old tavern was moved in 1847, businessman Homer Foot built Foot’s Block, the building seen in the 1892 photo here. However, it also operated clandestinely a stop on the Underground Railroad.
On the surface, it was a popular stagecoach tavern that regularly entertained visiting dignitaries like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Thomas Bates built a tavern here in 1773, which operated well into the 19th century. The site now occupied by 1200 Main Street has had its share of historic buildings over the years.
Image from View Book of Springfield (1910) Foot’s Block at the southwest corner of State and Main Streets in Springfield, around 1892.
