In this paper, an overview is presented of recently developed modeling approaches and tools for the assessment of local failure mechanisms in historic masonry structures. In the proposed rigid block modeling approach, historic masonry structures are represented as an assemblage of rigid blocks interacting at frictional interfaces. Different analysis types are implemented, including limit equilibrium analysis, nonlinear static and time history analysis. Numerical problems related to different analysis types are solved following a variational-based formulation. Potentialities and applications of the developed software tools for the analysis of planar or spatial structures are illustrated.