North Maple Street 21-23.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 117C-219 Easthampton NTH.112 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 21-23 North Maple Street Historic
Name: Pease’s Block Uses: Present: Three-family residence Original: Commercial, residential Date of Construction: 1882-1884 Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.256 Setting: This building faces west at the commercial center center of Florence.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [21-23 NORTH MAPLE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.112 _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. Pease’s Block is a two-and-a-half story building with a front-gable roof. It is a simple three
bays wide but it is six bays deep giving it a rectangular plan that is extended by a one-and-a-half and a one-story ell on the east. The clapboard-sided building has a two-story porch
across its west façade. The porch is supported on posts with braces at the eaves, certainly later replacements. There is a three-part window in the gable field and windows on all elevations
have Italianate pedimented lintels. Beneath the widely overhanging eaves is a frieze of vertical matchboard that adds to the picturesque quality of the building’s exterior. The west
facade is three bays wide with a pair of doors and a large fixed-light window on the first story and a side hall door adjacent to two windows at the second story. There is a secondary
entry on the south façade with a small porch entry. 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: “Robert Pease purchased the grain store of L. B. Moore in 1877. In 1861, he erected
this block on North Maple Street, just north of the Cottage Hotel. At that time, he expanded his business to include a line of groceries and men’s furnishings. The second floor most
likely contained an apartment. By 1915, both floors were used for residential purposes.” 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.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [21-23 NORTH MAPLE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.112 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 Florence Center Historic District. The potential historic district of Florence Center
is significant as the commercial, residential, institutional center of the village that developed from 1657 when it was set off as Northampton’s “Inner Commons” as agricultural land
and 1681 when the first sawmill was erected at a falls on the Mill River. The agricultural and industrial village developed through the 18th and 19th centuries around industry on the
Mill River, agriculture on the alluvial flood plain and the Strong Tavern and later Cottage Hotel at the intersection of Main and Maple Streets. It is significant for the silk industry
that flourished through the Civil war as an alternative to slave-picked cotton and for the establishment of the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, a utopian community
that existed 1843-1847. Association members after its close continued in Florence their principles of equality by running the Underground Railroad through the village and harboring fugitive
slaves. It is significant as the home of Sojourner Truth. 19th century industry in the Center included the Florence Sewing Machine Company, which built its own housing. Architecturally
the Center is significant for the range of Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick Style, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style homes, for its commercial blocks and library
in the Revival styles of the late 19th century. Gothic Revival and Italianate style churches are architect-designed in high style versions. The potential district has integrity of workmanship,
design, feeling, association, and materials.