Forbes Avenue 51.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 Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date (month /year):
March, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 31A-130 Easthampton NTH.502 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 51 Forbes Avenue Historic Name: Joseph
Fowler House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1887-95 Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas Style/Form: Stick Style/Queen Anne
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Shed Major Alterations (with dates): Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.191 acres Setting: This house is located on a quiet quiet residential street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [51 FORBES AVE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.502 _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. The house first owned by Joseph Fowler is Stick Style with a few Queen Anne features. It is a two-and-a-half
story house with a side-gable roof on which is a front cross-gable for an L-shaped plan. The exterior of the house is set off with stringcourses, beltcourses and cornerboards that suggest
the framing members of the building’s structure – a Stick Style feature. The front gable is ornamented with a lattice-filled King Post truss, which was favored by the Stick Style and
below it is a quatrefoil window, with a variant, a pointed window in the gable of the main block. The porch is Queen Anne in style with its turned posts, turned baluster railings, and
spindle frieze. 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 Form B of 1980: “Forbes Avenue was opened in 1887 by prominent local developers J.C. Hammond ad J.A. Sullivan. Development was slow with only four houses
being constructed by 1895. This was one of those four and is described as belonging to Joseph Fowler. Mr. Fowler, however, did not live here, residing instead on King Street.” 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. Registry of Deeds: Bk. 427-P.541
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [51 FORBES AVE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.502 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 potential historic district that would encompass the residential/institutional side
streets laid out on the south side of Elm Street in Northampton Center between Main Street on the east and the west boundary of Childs Park on the west. This potential historic district
is significant according to criteria A and C and would have local significance. These residential streets are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of the development
of Northampton from the mid-19th century as a relatively affluent community that supported several private schools for young women, which prepared them after 1875 for attendance at Smith
College, and the Clarke School where deaf students were given an education that thoroughly prepared them for the hearing world. The residences in this area made a shift from gentlemen’s
estates to accommodation of the growing middle class in Northampton during the 19th century with businessmen, scholars, teachers, doctors, and retired farmers. According to criterion
C this district would be significant for the range of historical styles that it includes. Gothic Revival, Stick Style, Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival
styles are all well-represented within a landscape of individual large lots, and streetscapes that were laid out and developed at one time.