Henshaw Avenue 59.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 31B-98 Easthampton NTH.617 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 59 Henshaw Avenue Historic Name: Charles
Bowker House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1909 Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas Style/Form: Colonial Revival Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles Roof: wood and asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good/fair
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.14 acres Setting: This house is west-facing and its lot slopes precipitously down to the east.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [59 HENSHAW AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.617 _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 unique variation on the Colonial Revival style house with a gambrel roof on whose lower
angle are five recessed windows as if they were inverted dormers. This lower angle is wood shingle-sided and the windows have 1/1 sash. They are sheltered beneath a shed roof extension
of the upper roof level. Three eyebrow windows are evenly spaced on the upper level of the roof. The first story of the west façade is five bays wide with a pedimented porch extending
from the center door across the last two bays to the south. It is supported on columns. The north end of the façade is occupied by an angled bay window. The house is four bays deep and
is clapboard-sided on the first story and wood shingled on the upper story and attic level. There are two tall interior chimneys on the roof. 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 in 1909 for Charles Bowker at an approximate cost of $6000. Mr. Bowker was the proprietor of the Draper Storage Co., located in the rear of the Draper Hotel,
and treasurer of the New England Hotel Association. This portion of Henshaw Avenue, north of no. 37, was opened in the late 1880’s through the Hinckley homestead, known as ‘The Manse.’
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. 649-P.56, 580-321, 574-129
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [59 HENSHAW AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.617 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 Bowker House would contribute to a potential historic district that extends north of Northampton’s primary corridor,
Elm Street, encircling and encompassing the primary feature of that landscape, Round Hill. The potential historic district is significant for its 19th century development from a few
gentlemen’s farms to a neighborhood dense with the homes of its most prominent residents and educational institutions that shaped the character of Northampton for several hundred years
to the present. Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne style houses, the Colonial Revival
and Tudor Revival styles of the 20th century that were often architect-designed by the region’s most well-known designers. The Bowker House is a rather unusual example of the Colonial
Revival style and would contribute to the historic district. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.