At the time of its construction in 1891 the Fogg Block was the largest commercial building in Springvale. This photograph was probably taken upon its completion, though certainly before 1893 when trolley tracks were laid along Bridge Street.

The two ground floor stores of the building were first occupied by grocers Abbott and Weeks and a five & dime stored called the Boston Branch Store. When the Fogg Block was destroyed 14 years later, in a great fire of 1905, the Folsom Brothers furniture store and Howard J. Frost's jewelry store occupied the first two floors of the building.

The upper floors were occupied by various tenants including the William F. Willard Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, which was named for a 21 year-old soldier who died on July 31, 1864, while helping wounded comrades at the Battle of Petersburg. All of the Posts' Civil War relics were lost in the fire.