Main Street 116-118.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 32C-010-001 Easthampton NTH.2297 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 116-118 Main Street Historic
Name: L. A. Dawson Building Uses: Present: commercial/residential Original: commercial/residential Date of Construction: ca. 1870 Source: National Register Nomination Style/Form: 19th
c. commercial Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: not visible Wall/Trim: brick/brownstone/metal Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with
dates): Storefront altered multiple times; roof raised and third story added, pre-1900. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.04 acres Setting: This building faces
north on to Northampton’s principal commercial street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [116-118 Main Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.2297 ___ 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 two-and-a-half story, beige-painted brick commercial building under a flat roof ornamented
with a pressed metal cornice. Old photographs indicate the building originally was two stories in height and had a low, hipped roof with bracket-supported cornice. The building is three
bays wide, and second and third stories have windows with brownstone straight-head lintels and brownstone sills. The first story is occupied by a single commercial space recently re-designed
with its own entry adjacent to a recessed entry to the upper stories. The building’s second story windows are full-length paired windows with 12 lights per window. The window size has
remained constant but the sash filling the openings has been altered from double hung. The third or added attic story consists of three knee-high windows. Beneath the windows of each
story are three recessed panels of brickwork. This is a modest building architecturally, but it contributes to the row. 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. This building is part of a block of buildings
on the south side of Main Street that was known in the 1860s and beyond as “Merchants Row”. In 1860 the merchants present included an artists’ supply store and a photography store –
both of which commercial uses can still be found here. In 1873 the block was filled in with the exception of one lot near its western end and by 1884 buildings occupied all the lots.
L. A. Dawson owned the building in 1895 and was listed with his wife Ellen and their two daughters in the 1880 census; L.A. Dawson was a stock broker. The small building was raised a
half-story ca. 1900. 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.