Clement Street Bridge.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions 3/10 for completing this form. FORM F − STRUCTURE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Locus Map Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date (month /year): December, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 30A-A Easthampton NTH.909 Town/City: Northampton Place (neighborhood or village): Leeds Address or Location: Clement Street Name: Clement
Street Bridge Ownership: Public Private Type of Structure (check one): ___ boat or ship ___ canal ___ carousel ___ dam ___ fort ___ gate ___ kiln ___ lighthouse ___ pound ___ powderhouse
___ street ___ tower ___ tunnel ___ wall ___ windmill _x__other (specify) bridge Date of Construction: 1894 Source: atlases Architect, Engineer or Designer: Materials: iron Alterations
(with dates): Condition: good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage: under one acre Setting: This bridge is in a mixed neighborhood of mills and houses.
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN Clement Street MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.909
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. DESIGN ASSESSMENT Describe important design features and evaluate in terms of other structures
within the community. The Clement Street Bridge is an iron, single-span, through-truss bridge approximately 45 feet long, 15 feet wide and twenty feet high. It is composed of two angled
portals with curved corner braces. Four parallel cords of latticed, upright posts connected by a latticed strut and arched braces are arranged across the bridge. In the bays created
by the four chords are cross-bracing cables. The combination of chords and cables support the iron bridge floor and a pedestrian walkway on the east side of the bridge suspended over
the Mill River below. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1923, closed in 2007, and reopened by 2010. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Explain the history of the structure and how it relates to the
development of the community. From the Form B of 1980, “This bridge, constructed between 1884 and 1895 is the only crossing of the Mill River between Florence and the West Street bridge
south of Smith College. The Bay State section of Northampton had been developed in the early 1840s as a small industrial community on the eastern banks of the Mill River, and was linked
to the rest of the town by Riverside Drive, which was also on the eastern side of the river. The bridge made travel between the industrial village and the fine farm and meadow land on
the eastern side of the river easier.” BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 1884 and 1895 atlases DeLony, Eric. Landmark American Bridges, Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. Department
of the Interior, 1993.
INVENTORY FORMF CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN Clement Street MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 NTH.909
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. The Clement Street Bridge would contribute to a potential Bay State Village Historic District. As part of a Bay State neighborhood of workers’
housing and the Clement Cutlery Factory, the bridge has allowed the industrial area to function by providing the only crossing of the Mill River in this area. It is significant as an
example of a typical iron through-truss bridge from the turn-of-the-century.