48 Audubon Road
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FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: PVPC
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
10B-10 Easthampton NTH.11
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 48 Audubon Road
Historic Name: Abram and Julia Tacy House
Uses: Present: single-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1873-1884
Source: atlases
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards and shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.601 acres (Northampton Assessors)
Setting: This is a north-facing house set on a rise in the
landscape. It is on a still-rural road in northwest
Northampton.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [48 AUDUBON ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.11
___ 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 fine example of a one-and-a-half story Queen Anne style house that is modest in size but conveys many of the features
of the developed Queen Anne style. It is one of several examples of the style on Audubon Road, and all are well-maintained. It
has a front-gable roof and is three bays wide and three deep. The clapboard sided house has shingles in its gable field and a
stringcourse between first and second stories to add visual interest to the exterior. Barge boards decorate the eaves of the front
gable and include a King Post truss at the point of the ridge. A full width porch crosses the north façade of the house. It is
supported on chamfered posts on plinths and has scroll-cut brackets at the shed roof eaves. It railing is jigsaw cut as well and
there is a decorative apron beneath the porch that adds to the picturesque effect of the porch. A three-sided bay window on the
east elevation of the house is followed by a shed roof side porch that has been glass-enclosed. The house has a single center
chimney. Window sash is 1/1 replacement.
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.
In 1895 this was the A. Tacy House. Abram and Julia Tacy and their children Frederick, Alonzo, Mary, Wilfred and Lea by the
census of 1900 were living on South Main Street in Leeds but were in this house in 1895. In 1893 Abram was a fireman for the
Northampton Silk Company and in 1900 he listed himself as a 54 year old electric power manager, Julia was at home, Frederick
was a saw mill laborer, Alonzo a milk peddler, Mary and Wilfred were in School and Lea at home. They are representative of
many of the families in Leeds who worked in the local industries, changed employment fairly often and lived in modest homes.
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.