North Main Street 29.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 17C-253 Easthampton NTH.121 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 29 North Main Street Historic
Name: Nelson Davis House Uses: Present: Offices and residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1870 Source: 1873 Atlas of Northampton Style/Form: French Second
Empire Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Windows replaced;
ell added, n.d. Condition: fair/poor Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.435 acres Setting: This This building faces south at the edge of Florence’s commercial district.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [29 NORTH MAIN STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.121 ___ 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 French Second Empire style house that once was one of the grandest
houses in Florence. While the style appears in Florence in small, one-and-a-half story houses, this may be the only example of the two-and-a-half story version. There are several examples
in Northampton Center, however. The south façade is composed of two corner angled bay windows of two-and-a-half stories at each side of a three-and-a-half story center tower. The center
tower has a mansard roof capped by elaborate cresting rails. The angled bay windows are repeated at the northeast corner of the building and all three of them have hipped dormers penetrating
their mansard roofs. The dormers are ornamented with a metal cap at their peak. The tower has pedimented dormers on its mansard roof. The building has a rear ell that was a later addition.
Sash in the house is replacement 1/1. A full-width porch on paired posts crosses the south façade. It has a solid railing and leads to a center entry that is topped by a high transom
light. 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 1976: “The house accommodated Nelson, on of the early entrepreneurs of Florence. Nelson Davis owned a building in the center of the village
that served as a drugstore and elicited commercial growth here.” 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.