188 Bridge Street
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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: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
25C-158 Easthampton NTH.395
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 188 Bridge Street
Historic Name: Lyman Clark House
Uses: Present: two-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1830
Source: map of 1830
Style/Form: Greek Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: clapboards, flushboard
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Attic window added, ca. 1850
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.275 acres
Setting: Set on a large corner lot, this house is shaded by
maple and pine trees.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [188 BRIDGE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.395
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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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 Lyman Clark House is a good example of the Greek Revival style as it developed in Northampton between 1820 and 1830.
It is a two-and-a-half story house with a front-gable roof whose eaves make full returns to create a temple-like pediment. The
tympanum of the pediment is flushboarded to suggest stone. A later Gothic window was inserted in the tympanum. The house
is three, widely spaced bays wide and the equivalent of five bays long for a rectangular plan. One-and-a-half and one-story ells
on the rear add to the complexity of the plan. The side hall entry has a wide trabeated surround with pilasters supporting a full
entablature and enclosing half-length sidelights. Windows in the house have architrave surrounds and sash is 6/6. There is a
large center chimney centered on the roof ridge.
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 1980, “The north side of Bridge Street was originally lined with homesteads extending northerly to North
Street. During the latter part of the 19th century these began to be subdivided for residential lots. This lot occupies part of the
Bridge Street frontage of the Clark family homestead. It’s difficult to pin down exactly which Clark, as the 1860-61 directory lists
64 Clarks in Northampton, and 14 are on Bridge Street. However, in 1868 Isaac Clark, a farmer, lived here and in 1895 Sidney
Clark, a surgeon and physician was listed here. Dr. Clark lived here at least until 1930.” The current owner traced the house to
Lyman Clark as its first owner and reports that there was a building on this site as early as 1797, but this would require further
research to verify which part of the house, if any, could date to the 18th century.
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.
Northampton Directories of 1885-86; 1873-74; 1868-69; 1860-61, 1930.
Hampshire County Registry of Deeds, Book 1520, Page 539, Book 1102, Page 26, Book 1102, Page 24, Book 1021, 57, Book
933, Page 146, Book 611, Page 81, Hampshire County Family and Probate Court, Registry of Probate, Wills, Volume 81, Page
73.