93 Bancroft Road
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
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: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): April, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
24D-314-001 Easthampton NTH.
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 93 Bancroft Road
Historic Name: Edward and Anna Finn House
Uses: Present: Single-family house
Original: Single-family house
Date of Construction: ca. 1925
Source: Street Directories
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: concrete
Wall/Trim: wood shingles
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.262 acres
Setting: This house is placed on a steep lot high
above the level of Bancroft Road. It is reached by stairs at
the east and west sides of the house.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [93 Bancroft Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.
_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.
This is a two-story house that has a side-gable roof. It is late Colonial Revival in style and is modest in size and details. It is
three bays wide and two bays deep and its basement is exposed on the north elevation where the land slopes away. On that
elevation at basement level is an attached garage. It is an integral part of the house and reflects people’s commitment to owning
a car and their interest in having their cars handy to the house. The Colonial Revival house has clipped gable eaves and
shallow front eaves. Its center entry is through a barrel-vaulted portico on posts with lattice sides. This is a feature that was
popular during the 1920s and 30s.
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.
This house appears to have been built by Edward and Anna Finn who owned the E & J. Cigar Company on Main Street in
Northampton. The appear in the directory of 1930 but there was no house of this address in 1920. The Finns were here through
1940 when their son Edward, Jr. lived nearby at 2 Bancroft Road and was a part of the business. The E. & J. Cigar Company
expanded from selling tobacco and candy to a wholesale tobacco company that was incorporated and sold through vending
machines by 1950. Edward Finn was president of the company and his son was its Vice President. Company offices were at 15
Conz Street.
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 FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [93 Bancroft Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.
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 potential Round Hill Historic District. This potential historic district is significant according to criteria A
and C and would have local significance.
The residential streets that cross Round Hill are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of development in Northampton from
the early 19th century (1807) through the 1950s. Residential development began on Round Hill with the establishment of gentleman’s estates
but grew with schools and a resort hotel until the 1890s when residential development increased significantly. From the 1890s through the
1950s (1959 McAlister Infirmary) Round Hill became home to Northampton’s wealthy and to the Clarke School for the Deaf.
Architecturally this area of Northampton is significant for the range of residential architectural styles including the Queen Anne and Colonial
Revival, and for its institutional buildings in the French Second Empire, through High Victorian Gothic and Colonial Revival styles ending
with the American International style. The potential district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.