239 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
25C-242 Easthampton NTH.415
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 239 Bridge Street
Historic Name: Joseph Murray House
Uses: Present: single-family house
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: ca. 1895
Source: atlas of 1895
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards and shingles
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.165 acres
Setting: House overlooks the Connecticut River flood
plains on the east.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [239 Bridge Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.415
___ 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 Joseph Murray house is a two-and-a-half story house under a slate-covered, front-gable roof with a transverse gable on the
north and a one-story, three-sided bay window on the south elevation. The house is only two bays wide and is preceded by a
wrap around porch on heavy turned supports. The porch has a curved corner and a spindled frieze. Adjacent to the entry is a
large, fixed-light window, a feature that was popular in Northampton at the turn-of-the-century. The clapboard and shingle-sided
house is set on a hillside so its basement is exposed on the east. The main block is two bays deep and there is a two-and-a-half
story ell at the rear. The house has a center chimney. The gable ends of the house have been shingle sided to highlight the
surface of the building. The house represents the Queen Anne style as it was applied to a large building modestly.
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 1976, “This house appears first on the atlas of 1895. It is shown as the house of Joseph Murray a mason
and building mover and stylistically seems to date from this time.”
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] [239 Bridge Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.415