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262 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-62 Easthampton NTH.385 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 262 Bridge Street Historic Name: Luther and Wealthy Clark House Uses: Present: three-family residence Original: single-family residence Date of Construction: pre-1720 Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette Style/Form: First Period Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: not visible Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Ell and garage and porch room added in 20th century. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.461 acres Setting: This is an east-facing house that overlooks the Connecticut River valley to the east. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [262 BRIDGE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.385 ___ 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 Clark House is a First Period house, the construction of which was based on medieval English precedent that led to the second story jetties that project over the first floor of the two-and-a-half story house and beneath the attic in the gable ends. There is a large center chimney on the roof, which extends to first floor level on the west to create a saltbox profile. The clapboard-sided house is five bays wide and the equivalent of three bays deep and sits on low foundations. Attached to the north elevation is a one-and-a-half story wing followed by a garage. Attached to the south is a one-story porch room. During the first half of the 19th century, probably between 1820 and 1850, the original door surround of the house was replaced by a Greek Revival style trabeated door surround that has double paneled pilasters supporting the entablature and framing half -length sidelights. As one of the oldest houses in Northampton, this building is historically significant for its architecture as well as for its long social history. 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 unified 1970 and 1980 form B, “This house contains a ship’s staircase and five old fireplaces, one of a very unusual type. The library is paneled. Massive beams run straight through the house, upstairs and down. The ship’s staircase leading from the second to the third floor is a feature rarely found except I houses near the sea. This is an early 18th century house. The exact date is not known but when in 1883 it was bought by Timothy Griffin it was said to be at least 125 years old.” An article in the Hampshire Gazette (May 20, 1936) states, “The dwelling is one of the oldest houses in Northampton, having been built before 1720. A walled in garden is a feature of the grounds. Owners of the house have included: Luther Clark and his wife Wealthy (Wilder) married in 1820. Timothy Griffin – in the 1890s. Dr. Joseph D. Collins and family Mrs Mina Curtiss, (a professor at Smith College) until 1936. Prof. Ernst Mensel (professor of German at Smith College) `1936- The Putnams – an inn 1956 “ This was lot 102 of the original 17th century Proprietor’s layout and was allocated to William Janes according to town records mapped by James Russell Trumbull and published in the History of Northampton. The house appears on the map of 1831. By the map of 1860, the estate of J. Parsons owned this house and its neighbor at 252 Bridge Street. In 1873 the two houses were again in single ownership, this time by A. R. Parsons, and by 1895 solely this house was owned by Timothy Griffin. 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. The Hampshire Gazette, May 20, 1936; Nov, 7, 1953; Feb 27, 1956 (advertisement for sale) Trumbull, James Russell. History of Northampton Massachusetts from it Settlement in 1654, vol. I, “Map of the Original 17th century Homelots”. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [262 BRIDGE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 NTH.385 INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [262 BRIDGE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 3 NTH.385 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 Luther and Wealthy Clark House is individually eligible for the National Register as one of the few remaining original houses built on the first allotment of homelots in Northampton, ca. 1720. It is architecturally significant as one of Northampton’s only remaining First Period Houses and stands as a fine example of the timber framing traditions of that period.