1 North Cass Avenue
Springfield, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Kreitinger Garage

Statement of Significance:

The Kreitinger Garage Building was constructed by Springfield businessman Michael Lehrer about 1911 as an investment property and, according to one of his daughters, because he believed the site adjacent to the railroad depot should boast a structure suitable to its "gateway" function (an earlier frame hotel on the site had burned)

First tenant in the building was Louis Kreitinger, who operated an auto dealership. Lehrer is said to have constructed the building for easy possible adaptation to another use (such as a hotel) should the early auto dealership prove unprofitable.

The second floor was utilized as meeting space. The growth of automobile ownership in the early decades of the century had an important and continuing effect of rural communities. The Kreitinger Garage building is significant as a striking visual component of Springfield's downtown area and as one of three important structures in Brown County relating to the early years of automobile use.