Explore downtown Springfield and learn about the places and people who invented and created in Springfield in its industrial heyday.

Springfield is the home of the first gas powered automobile, the monkey wrench, basketball… and so much more. Come see what made Springfield the center of innovation in the late 19th Century, and examined the geographies and buildings where it all began.

The tour departs from the Springfield Museums Welcome Center at 10:30am. The tour is $5 for Springfield Preservation Trust and Springfield Museums members, and is $10 for non-members, payable in advance on Eventbrite, or in cash or check at the outset of the tour.

This tour is part of the Second Saturday Tours series, which explores historic Springfield and is co-presented by the Springfield Preservation Trust and Springfield Museums and is generously sponsored by the Springfield Cultural Council and Mass Cultural Council.

About the Tour Guide

Erica Swallow is president of the Springfield Preservation Trust board of directors. She also serves as a Springfield Museums Advancement Committee member and Forest Park Civic Association board member, and is a local REALTOR®. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and other degrees from NYU Stern and Simmons University, with nearly two decades of marketing experience in the fields of technology and education. Raised in Arkansas and educated in New York and Boston, she chose Springfield as home out of love for its deep history, cultural diversity, and progressive energy. She has served on several Springfield City Council committees and is proud and honored to live in the Forest Park Historic District. She is the mother of two cats.

About the Springfield Preservation Trust

Founded in 1972, the Springfield Preservation Trust strives to preserve and protect properties in Springfield that have architectural or historic significance. As the only non-profit, non-government advocacy group for historic preservation in Springfield, the Trust will continue to be the voice of preservation into the future. Learn more at springfieldpreservation.org.