In 1882 and 1885, the 233 to 237 High Street block is being called the Tilley Block. Also the 229 to 231 High Street block is called the Wolcott Block.
In 1918 the McAuslan Wakelin Block was at 239 to 243 High Street.
The McAuslan Wakelin building is a fairly new structure. It has existed since 1885 and had another store in South Hadley.
In 1907 a fire trolley was used at at fire in this building. The Springfield Massachusetts trolley company had one of only two fire trolleys in the world. The other was in Duluth Minnesota.
After the fire the structures around the Wolcott building were made into one large unit. The Wolcott and the Tilley had a new facade added to them. This new structure had a walkway over the alley that lead to the new building at the corner of Maple and Dwight. This new building itself was appended to the former Temperance Society building.
Sanborn map analysis:
Sanborn 1895 map shows the older buildings that would burn in 1899.
Sanborn 1915 map shows the department store both on Maple and on High Street and the walkway between them
Sanborn 1949 map shows the store even larger since the Saint Jerome Temperance Hall was bought and the department store expanded into it