Pomeroy Terrace 78.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):
May, 2011 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 32A-223 Easthampton NTH.2105 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 78 Pomeroy Terrace Historic Name: Osmyn
Baker House Uses: Present: Institution Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1855 Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10/27/1855, 12/11/1855 Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder:
William Fenno Pratt Exterior Material: Foundation: brownstone Wall/Trim: stucco Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Accessible ramp added,
ca. 2000; porch enclosed and second story addition made, ca. 1990. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 7.18 acres Setting: This building faces west and occupies a large
landscaped lot.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [78 POMEROY TERRACE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.2105 _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. The Baker House is a grand Italianate style house that differs from its many Italianate style neighbors
by being masonry construction rather than being frame, although it shares with a number of them design by William Fenno Pratt, Northampton architect. This is a two-story house under
a truncated hipped roof that has wide eaves. The stucco building has corner pilasters that rise and merge with a wide frieze, creating frames for each elevation of the main block of
the house. The house is three bays wide and three bays deep and there is a two-story rear ell. The main entry on the west façade is slightly recessed below a wide transom light and is
sheltered by a portico on exotic battered columns with acanthus leaf bases resting on high pedestals. The portico roof has a row of modillion blocks below its cornice. At second story
level the center bay is occupied by an arched window below an arched lintel. The window has narrow sidelights. The south elevation of the main block of the house has a verandah on Ionic
columns. The verandah has been enclosed where it extends along the ell, but its columns remain visible and engaged. The south elevation of the main block has full-length Italianate windows.
A second story addition has been made above the verandah on the south elevation. 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 1975: “Osmyn Baker was an attorney and the leading spirit in the
founding of the Hampshire County Law Library and the Public Library. He was the first president of the Smith Charities and a Trustee of the Clarke School. Also a junior counselor to
Daniel Webster in the case of Oliver Smith’s will. He was also a member of the Untied States Congress. After her father’s death, Miss Elizabeth Baker occupied the house before selling
it to Mr. French, who in turn sold it to the Watson family. In 1924, it was purchased by Miss Sarah Whitaker and Miss Dorothy Bement for the administration building of the Northampton
School for Girls, which they founded.” 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] [78 POMEROY TERRACE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.2105 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 house would contribute to a potential Pomeroy Terrace historic district that developed south and east of the Bridge
Street Cemetery from the second third of the 19th century as Northampton’s finest residential district. Original residents here were merchants, retired farmers, lawyers, and other professions.
As the century progressed the adjacent streets were laid out for the growing middle class with railroad personnel joining clerks, teachers, and others. Architecturally the potential
historic district is significant for the fine examples of the 19th century architectural styles from the Greek and Gothic Revivals, Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles.
The district includes significant examples of the work of Northampton architect William Fenno Pratt. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting,
design and materials.