Prospect Street 54.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-127 Easthampton NTH.625 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 54 Prospect Street Historic Name:
Solomon Stoddard House, “The Manse” Uses: Present: Four-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 18th century Source: Town records Style/Form: Georgian
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): North wing added, n.d. Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.87 acres Setting: This house is set on a rise in the landscape and is surrounded by a large lawn shaded by mature trees. It is largely shielded
from street view.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [54 PROSPECT STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.625 ___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This house is on the National Register. 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 Manse is Northampton’s finest Georgian style house. It is
a two-and-a-half story house under a gambrel roof on whose ridge is a pair of chimneys flanking a copper-roofed belvedere and on whose lower slope are three dormers. The outer two dormers
have hipped roofs, the center dormer has a round-arched pediment with a flushboard field. The house is five bays wide and five bays deep. The east façade has its outer windows set closely
together and a centered entry beneath a pedimented portico on four slender columns. Second floor windows are set close to the cornice. First floor windows of the façade and all the windows
of the side elevations have Georgian pedimented lintels that project from the plane of the house to suggest their masonry inspiration. 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 1970:
“Art Murals depicting history of the house by Prof. Oliver Larkin of Smith College Government Col. John Stoddard (second owner of the house) was sent to Canada to negotiate the return
of Deerfield natives, which he did successfully. He was 16 times elected to the General Court and called by Trumbull (‘History of Northampton’) ‘one of the five great leaders in shaping
the affairs of Western Massachusetts.’ Dr. Benjamin Barrett, who owned the house from 1844 to 1889 was a member of the House of Representatives and the State Senate. Literature Dr. Josiah
G. Holland, a protégé of Dr. Benjamin Barrett, lived in the house; for 17 years he was editor of the Springfield Republican and founded Scribner’s Magazine. He wrote several novels and
biographies including ‘Katherine,’ ‘History of Western Massachusetts,’ and a ‘Life of Abraham Lincoln.’ He was an intimate friend of Emily Dickinson. Religion The Manse was built by
Solomon Stoddard in 1684. He was the 2nd minister of Northampton. During the 60 years he served as minister, he was the dominant influence in the town. His grandson, Jonathan Edwards,
lived in the house also. ‘The profoundest thinker in 18th century America’-a ‘world famous theologian and philosopher.’” 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.