Front Street 68.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 11A-43 Easthampton NTH.38 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 68 Front Street Historic Name: George
H. Ray House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1872-1873 Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: brick, concrete Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Two garages and a shop Major Alterations (with dates): Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.501 acres Setting: This is a south-facing house house that sits on a corner lot on a slight rise in the landscape.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [68 FRONT STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.38 ___ 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 Ray House is a two-and-a-half story Italianate style house with a front-gable roof whose wide
eaves are supported on brackets. The main block of the house is three bays wide and four bays deep and there is a rear ell of one-and-a-half stories with attached enclosed porches of
one-story. On the main block of the house the first story windows are full length, a feature that developed during the Italianate period to allow more air and light into the households
as well as to suggest the windows of an Italian villa. In the gable end is a pair of arched windows. Across the south façade is a full-width porch with chamfered posts supporting its
low-pitched hipped roof and ornamented with scroll-cut brackets at the eaves. Windows have hooded lintels that rest on small consoles. On the east elevation is an angled bay window with
bracketed eaves. Although the house is relatively simple in design, it conveys the best features of its style. 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: “George H. Ray bought an 81 square
rod lot from Samuel L. Hill, president of Nonotuck Silk Company in 1874, however his name is listed next to this house on the 1873 map of Leeds. The house was probably built in 1872-872
as title was transferred from Nonotuck Silk Co. to S.L. Hill in late 1872 for $275. While George Ray paid $1300 for the parcel two years later, Mr. Ray I listed as bookkeeper, station
and express agent in the 1875-76 Directory. By 1885, he had become the assistant treasurer of the Nonotuck Silk Co. Within the next decade, he moved to Florence and held the post of
secretary as well as assistant treasurer for the company. 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.
312-P.475, 299-273