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.