THE CITY FROM THE SOUTH 
THE IMPROVEMENT OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 
By GUY KIRKHAM 
C IVIC improvement is in the air, and the 
purpose to bring it down to earth is 
increasingly evidenced. Great things are 
being done in the large cities, and even in so 
modest a place as Springfield, Massachusetts, 
the disposition for improvement is becoming 
manifest and the possibilities are being 
studied, while some excellent things have 
been already achieved. 
Springfield is a city of 65,000 people, 
with a naturally beautiful location and great 
possibilities for growth and improvement. 
It is situated on the left bank of the Connec¬ 
ticut River, here a noble stream near a quarter 
of a mile wide. The right bank opposite 
the city spreads out in broad elm-dotted 
meadows, through which winds the Agawam 
or Westfield River, a tributary stream coming 
down from the line of hills that forms the 
western horizon. The left bank on which 
the city is built rises in gentle slopes from 
the river level, with occasional sharply-pitched 
points giving commanding views. The 
river flows by in long sweeping curves, with 
channel for a considerable traffic and a cur¬ 
rent not too strong for pleasure boating. 
Main Street, the principal business thor¬ 
oughfare, parallels the course of the river in 
a general way, some two blocks removed from 
it; and practically the entire river front of the 
built-up section is cutoff by the railway tracks. 
The Boston and Albany Railroad crosses the 
river a little north of the center of the city. 
The New York, New Haven and Hartford 
approaches from the south along the river 
line and one or two hundred feet back from 
the banks, till its tracks join those of the 
Boston and Albany. The Boston and 
Maine approaches from the north, but is 
somewhat removed from the river until 
within a short distance of where its tracks 
join those of the Boston and Albany. Three 
highway bridges cross the river—two through- 
truss iron bridges, one at the north end and 
one at the south, and one wooden covered 
bridge near the center of the city. 
The place is proud of its pleasant lawns 
and tree-shaded streets. It has some well 
distributed small parks and squares, a few 
enhanced with fountain or pool. Especially 
is it proud of Forest Park, a tract of 460 
acres, the larger part judiciously left with its 
native woods undisturbed except for the 
drives through them. Poorest Park extends 
to the river front. Two small plots between 
the railway tracks and the river are owned by 
the city, one used as a public playground and 
the other as a boat landing. The latter has 
been improved to the extent of a hardened 
roadway and a little turfing, and here two or 
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