"The significance of the Day House, apart from its survival for 100 years, lies in its architectural interest and its association with a Springfield businessman and local politician, George Sale Day.
George Sale Day was a mason and brick maker. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, on December 25, 1826, he came to Springfield from St. Louis in 1871' and bought the Hudson Brickyard and Kilns. On May 17, 1875, he bought the lot on South Street upon which the Dav House stands from Morris Mitchell. The house was finished fay the fall of 1875. It is one of the oldest brick residences in the city.
Built on a central hall plan, with chimneys integrated into the exterior walls, the house 1s capped with a mansard roof. As Day was both a brick maker and a mason, his house was an advertisement for his business. Its present owner, Richard P. Stahl , A., I. A., says "nowhere else in the city is there a better example of immediate post-civil war residential architecture."
In the year following the completion of the house, George S. Day was elected to the Springfield City Council. He served two terms, and in 1882 was elected mayor of Springfield. During his term the city was growing rapidly. Grant and Mt. Vernon Streets were extended, the offices of City Engineer and Street Commissioner were consolidated, and a new water works was opened. At the end of the year he left a surplus in the city treasury, but Mayor Day and all other Republicans in city government were turned out at the elections in 1883 in the aftermath of a controversy over the location of the colored school. This brief career apparently satisfied Day's taste for political office, for he never sought election again. He continued as a brick maker until 1889, but also became a partner in a grocery store in the M. M. McCluer addition on West Walnut in partnership with William E. Birch.
As a builder, Day had "contracts on many of the best buildings in the city." From the amount of property disposed of in his will, one would say that the firm of Birch and Day also prospered.
The Day House had been deeded by George S. Day to his wife, Theresa, in 1877. Their daughter, Laura, married S. M. Godby. She died in 1880, and upon the death of Theresa Day 1n 1882 title to the house passed to her grandchildren. In 1907 Milton A. McCluer, a nephew of M. M. McCluer, bought the property from the heirs, and the Day House remained in the hands of the McCluer family until 1934.' Its present owner. Richard P. Stahl, uses it as the offices of his architectural firm. Mr. Stahl is proud of the historic associations of the property, and is in the process of restoring its outward appearance to its original state." - National Register Nomination
The building has been fully restored and now serves as offices for a marketing and advertising firm.