Harrison Avenue 24.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-229 Easthampton NTH. 541 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 24 Harrison Avenue Historic Name:
John Mason House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1892 Source: Registry of Deeds, Atlas, & SDR Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.214 acres Setting: This is a west-facing house on a shady residential street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [24 HARRISON AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.541 __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 relatively conservative example of the Colonial Revival style as it seems to wish to
hold on to the volumes of the Queen Anne style with some of the features of the Colonial Revival. The house is two-and-a-half stories in height under a pyramidal hipped roof. It has
two cross gables on the west façade and single cross-gable on the south for a complicated plan and elevation. The cross gables on the west have preceding porches. The first, which projects
further from the plane of the façade, has an open, Colonial Revival style pedimented porch across its two bays. The porch rests on posts above a solid railing. Above the porch is a single
Colonial Revival style Palladian window composition beneath a tall and narrow attic window. The second cross gable has a wrap around porch from west to south that is completely glassed
in above a paneled base. It has a pediment on its south elevation. Above this wrap porch on the west façade at second story level is a second Palladian window composition. 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: “This house was built for John Mason in 1892 at a cost of $3500. Mr. Mason was a lawyer and justice for the District Court. He later became president
of the Hampshire County National Bank. Harrison Avenue was opened in 1890 by J.C. Hammond and J.A. Sullivan and quickly became one of the most fashionable streets in the city.” 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 Deed: Bk. 449-P.411
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [24 HARRISON AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.541 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, 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.