Chestnut Street 50.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. FORM B − BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Topographic or Assessor's Map Please see attached map. Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning
Commission Date (month /year): March, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 17C-186 Easthampton NTH.107 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address:
50 Chestnut Street Historic Name: Florence Sewing Machine Company House Uses: Present: two-family house Original: single-family house Date of Construction: 1856-1873 Source: atlases
Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: vinyl Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added ca. 2000; some windows replace ca. 2000; Condition: good Moved: no | | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.294 acres Setting: House is set at the edge of a commercial area on a quiet
residential street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [50 Chestnut Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.107 __x_ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Use as much
space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate
the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. This is a two-and-a-half story house with a front-gabled roof at whose eaves are paired brackets.
The plan of the house is made more complex by a transverse gable on the south and a two-and-a-half story ell on the west. The transverse gable is unusual in elevation with a square bay
on the second floor perched over a three-sided bay on the second and no transitional forms between between the two. The three-bay wide house has a full-width porch across its east façade.
The porch is the most decorative feature of the house with chamfered posts and graceful Tudor, or four-centered arch – bracing at the eaves. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Discuss the history
of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. From the Form
B of 1980, “This is the largest and most distinguished of the nine houses on the west side of Chestnut Street that originally were owned by the Florence Sewing Machine Company. This
Company was formed during the early 1860s and had a large plant built at the corner of Chestnut and Main Streets in Florence. The Company had a substantial amount of housing constructed
for its workers, mostly of the cottage type, although there were a few larger blocks. The other eight houses on the west side of Chestnut Street are all one-and-a-half story cottages.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts, New York, 1873. Hales, John G. Plan of the Town or Northampton in the County of Hampshire, 1831.
Miller, D. L. Atlas of the City of Northampton and Town of Easthampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, 1895. Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City,
Massachusetts, Boston, 1884. Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [50 Chestnut Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.107 National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district Contributing to a potential
historic district Potential historic district Criteria: A B C D Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________ The criteria
that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. This property would contribute to a Florence Center Historic District. The potential historic district of Florence Center
is significant as the commercial, residential, institutional center of the village that developed from 1657 when it was set off as Northampton’s “Inner Commons” as agricultural land
and 1681 when the first sawmill was erected at a falls on the Mill River. The agricultural and industrial village developed through the 18th and 19th centuries around industry on the
Mill River, agriculture on the alluvial flood plain and the Strong Tavern and later Cottage Hotel at the intersection of Main and Maple Streets. It is significant for the silk industry
that flourished through the Civil war as an alternative to slave-picked cotton and for the establishment of the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, a utopian community
that existed 1843-1847. Association members after its close continued in Florence their principles of equality by running the Underground Railroad through the village and harboring fugitive
slaves. It is significant as the home of Sojourner Truth. 19th century industry in the Center included the Florence Sewing Machine Company, which built its own housing. Architecturally
the Center is significant for the range of Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick Style, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style homes, for its commercial blocks and library
in the Revival styles of the late 19th century. Gothic Revival and Italianate style churches are architect-designed in high style versions. The potential district has integrity of workmanship,
design, feeling, association, and materials.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [50 Chestnut Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 3 NTH.107