Delano Law Offices

The death of Charles H. "Chick" Delano III on January 6, 2006, reminds us that he was a loyal supporter of historic preservation in Springfield. During the 1980s, he purchased the building at the corner of Sixth and Adams and restored it to a 19th-century appearance as Delano Law Offices.

The site has a long history. Elijah Iles and two partners built the American House Hotel there, known as "the finest three-story house west of the Alleghenies." Then Rheuna Lawrence, father of Susan Lawrence Dana, partially razed the building in 1880-81 and erected the present structure on the hotel's hand-fitted foundation.

Occupied by the John Bressmer drygoods store until 1921, the building later became Roland's, a clothing retailer. That store closed and the building sat in ill repair until Mr. Delano bought and restored it.

He was also a life-long member of Blessed Sacrament Church, where he supported expansion and renovation of that building, on Laurel between Walnut and Glenwood.