131 Bridge Street
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): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32A-243 Easthampton NTH.2121
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 131 Bridge Street
Historic Name: Josiah Parsons House
Uses: Present: two-family house
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: 1830-1860
Source: atlases of 1830 and 1860
Style/Form: late Federal/Greek Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brownstone
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Ells on east added late 19th-20th centuries; three sided bay
added ca. 1890.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.601 acres
Setting: Set close to the street, this is a south-facing
house.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [131 BRIDGE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2121
__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 Josiah Parsons House is a late Federal, early Greek Revival style house, two-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable
roof that is slate covered and has a small center chimney. From the Federal style is the center door surround composed of
pilasters supporting an entablature and framing a three-light transom. The door is four-panel. At the same time, the builder of
the house took note of the Greek Revival style by making full returns of the eaves in the west gable to create a Greek Revival
pediment that was further developed with a flushboard tympanum, a means of suggesting the stone of a Greek temple. The
house is a conservative three bays wide and three bays deep and windows are relatively large in scale with 2/2 sash that would
replace original 6/6 sash, and architrave surrounds. The house has had additions. One of the earliest additions would be th e
three-sided bay window on the south façade. A second addition is the east wing with an asphalt shingle roof and an enclosed
porch. The wing has an added transverse gable bay at the second story representing several stages of alterations. This hous e
represents the stylistic transitions that were taking place between 1830 and 1850 in Northampton.
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 the Form B of 1974: “Josiah Parsons (d. 1899) was an early relative of the owner Josiah W. Parsons of 1974. The house
has been in the Parsons family for its whole existence. Assessor’s books trace the property back to 1867 when Isaac Clark sold
the land to Josiah Parsons. The 1974 owner claims that Josiah Parsons built the house in 1835.” The Deed of land from Isaac
R. Clark to Josiah Parsons records purchase of a large and newly divided subdivision in 1867, but as is the case with land
deeds, there is no mention of buildings. Isaac Clark first appears by name in Northampton in the 1860 US Census.
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.
Registry of Deeds, Hampshire County. Book 5470, Page 288; Book 4945, 248; Book 4711, Page 263; Book 4618, Page 93;
Book 4603, Page 261; Book 3533, Page 50; Book 1374, 346; Book 1009 Page 32; Book 833 Page 250; Book 648 Page 27;
Book 647 Page 214; Book 312 Page 135.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [131 BRIDGE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2121
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.
The Parsons 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.