About this Event
Hosted in partnership with The Springfield Libraries and Springfield Museums—and sponsored by Peter Pan Bus Lines—this guided bus tour offers a fascinating journey through Springfield’s most historically significant medical institutions.
Led by Dr. Kate Benson, the tour explores how architecture, medicine, and social history intersect—highlighting the buildings and institutions that shaped the city’s approach to mental health and disability care. From visionary founders to evolving treatment philosophies, each stop reveals stories that continue to influence Springfield today.
Perfect for history enthusiasts, architecture lovers, medical professionals, and curious locals alike, this experience invites you to see the city through a new lens—comfortably aboard a Peter Pan charter bus.
The Second Saturday Tours series explores historic Springfield and is co-presented by the Springfield Preservation Trust and Springfield Museums and is generously sponsored by the Springfield Cultural Council and Mass Cultural Council.
About the Bus Tour & Presenter
The Annual Bus Tour is co-presented by the Springfield Preservation Trust, Springfield Museums, and Springfield City Library, and is sponsored by Peter Pan Bus Lines, a Springfield institution since 1933.The bus tour will be presented by Dr. Kate Benson. Dr. Benson is the award-winning author of Hospital Hill and its companion novel, Shadows in the Ward. She is also the author of Behind the Walls, a volume on the history of insane asylums in institutions in New England. She is a special education teacher and architectural photographer who leads a lecture series on the history of mental illness and its treatment. She is currently hard at work on a number of asylum projects. She is also the owner of Otherwords Press, an independent publishing imprint representing authors from all over the world. Kate is a Springfield Preservation Trust board member and lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, her beagle, and a very feisty cat.
About the Springfield Preservation Trust
Founded in 1972, the Springfield Preservation Trust strives to preserve and protect properties in Springfield that have architectural or historic significance. As the only non-profit, non-government advocacy group for historic preservation in Springfield, the Trust will continue to be the voice of preservation into the future. Learn more at springfieldpreservation.org.
About Peter Pan Bus Lines
Peter Pan Bus Lines operates the largest privately-owned bus transportation network in the United States with over 1,000 daily departures to over 100 destinations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Peter Pan coaches travel over 25 million miles every year, or the equivalent of nearly 100 trips to the moon annually. That translates to one of Peter Pan’s buses traveling around the world three times every day. The business was founded in Springfield in 1933 by Peter C. Picknelly and is now four generations strong, still operated by the Picknelly family. Learn more at peterpanbus.com.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Springfield Library Parking Lot, 220 State Street, Springfield, United States
USD 23.18 to USD 28.52
