Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block

	Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block
Location	Springfield, Massachusetts
Built	1866
Architect	Dibble,Wallace; Perkins,Jason
Architectural style	Classical Revival
MPS	Downtown Springfield MRA
NRHP reference No.	83000758
Added to NRHP	February 24, 1983

The Olmsted-Hixon-Albion Block is a historic commercial block at 1645-1659 Main Street in the South End of downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. The building is actually three separate buildings that were conjoined by internal connections in 1929. The Olmsted Block (1645-1649 Main Street) was built in 1875 by John C. Olmsted, a leading businessman and banker in the city, and used as an office building. The Hixon Block (1653-1655 Main Street) was built in 1862 for John Hixon, a wholesale shoe and boot manufacturer. His premises was used by a paper products manufacturer after his death. The Albion Block (1657-1659) was built in 1866 as a boarding house; it was acquired in 1877 by the Bay State Paper Company, which gave the building its name.^[2]

The three buildings were unified in 1927 according to plans drafted by Wallace Dibble for the Walter Young Realty Trust, which had purchased them over the preceding 20 years. The plan involved adding a fifth floor onto the Albion Block, and eliminating some stairways in order to increase the usable office space.^[2] The block was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.^[1]