235-237 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
Please see attached continuation sheet.
Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
25C-241 Easthampton NTH.414
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 235-237 Bridge Street
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: three-family house
Original: two-family house
Date of Construction: 1923
Source: integral plaque
Style/Form: Craftsman
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: stucco and vinyl
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: poor
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.162 acres
Setting: This house is part of a mixed residential and
commercial neighborhood on a busy thoroughfare
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [235-237 BRIDGE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.414
___ 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 Craftsman style house that is two stories in height under a hipped roof with exposed rafters at its eaves. The house is
six bays deep and four wide and it has an entry on the north end under a pedimented open trellis and a second entry at the side
of an enclosed porch that occupies the center three bays of the building’s façade. The enclosed porch is vinyl-sided as is a two-
story ell on the east and a one-story wing two bays long on the south. An integral date stone on the façade reads, “1923”.
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 was built in 1923 and in 1925 half of it was occupied by John and Marion Berestka. John listed himself as a farmer
and both he and Marion were Polish immigrants. By 1930 John had become a restaurant cook, and the Berestkas were still
living at this address with their son John, Jr.
The second half of the house was occupied by Garry and Minnie Church in 1925. Garry also was an immigrant, from Switzerland
arriving in 1918. Minnie was born in Vermont. Garry worked first in Springfield as a truck chauffeur where he and Minnie had
lived with his mother in 1920. When they moved to this house in Northampton Garry worked briefly as a mechanic but then got
a job as a chauffeur for the Veterans’ Hospital. But by 1931 Minnie was gone and Garry had moved to Orchard Street but
continued to work for the Veterans’ Hospital.
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 1922-24, 1930.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [235-237 BRIDGE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.414