Mid-Town prepares for Victorian homes tour

Five homes are featured on the tour, and free shuttle rides will be available, according to a news release from the association.

Mid-Town, located in the north-central section of Springfield, has the city’s largest registered concentration of historic structures. A large portion of the Mid-Town Urban Conservation District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989; at that time, 309 properties with cultural or architectural significance were listed for Mid-Town. Of those, only about 150 remain, and those are primarily single-family homes.

Each of the homes on the tour is a single-family residence, and participating homes will be open to the public.

Homes on the tour include that of Drury University President John D. Sellars at 1234 N. Benton Ave. Others are at 1438 N. Washington, 1412 N. Washington, 1324 N. Washington and 1329 N. Washington.

Also on the tour is Drury’s Congregational Hall, 1312 N. Benton.

Tour visitors will see one- and two-story houses built in high-style and vernacular designs of the Victorian period. A large collection of early 20th century stables, garages and other outbuildings are associated with the historic homes. Street and sidewalk patterns have remained, and a few sections of original brick sidewalks laid in a herringbone pattern are found throughout the district.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $10 after Thanksgiving at Maschino’s Home Express, Enterprise Lanes, Holiday Lanes, Sunshine Lanes, The Medicine Shoppe pharmacy at 811 E. Division and at the Urban Neighborhoods Alliance office at 304 W. McDaniel.

Tickets are $12 on tour days, and are available at the Drury University Diversity Center in the historic Washington Avenue Baptist Church.