28 Bright 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
31B-138 Easthampton NTH.631
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 28 Bright Street
Historic Name: John Rowe House
Uses: Present: two-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1881-1885
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette 1/23/1883; 5/15/1883;
6/17/1884. Style/Form: eclectic
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Sided, windows replaced, porch enclosed ca. 1990
Condition: fair-good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.247 acres
Setting: this house faces north on a tree-shaded
residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [28 BRIGHT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.631
_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.
This is one of several similar eclectic style houses built on Bright Street in the 1880s. The shared characteristics among the
houses are the jerkin head roofs a Queen Anne style feature, Stick Style ornament, and for two of the houses there are center
projecting pavilions on their facades and paired interior chimneys. This is a one-and-a-half story house with a pavilion projecting
from its north façade, similar to the house at 33 Bright Street. It has two interior chimneys. Unfortunately, this house has been
sided in vinyl covering its Stick Style siding that was visible in 1980, thereby obscuring, if not removing, much of the house’s
stylistic appearance. There is a rear two-story addition under a shed roof and the front porch, also under a shed roof, has been
enclosed. Remaining from the house’s eclectic origins is a Gothic Revival style lancet window in the second story of the
pavilion.
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 1980 form: “Parker R. Whitcomb purchased a large tract of land known as the Bright Estate from Professor Benjamin
Blodgett about 1881 and the two men collaborated on developing Bright Street through the center of the Estate. By January
1883, Whitcomb had erected several cottages and planned to build others; in June, 1884, a total of nine cottages had been built
along the new street. Whitcomb retained the properties and leased them to tenants until just after the turn of the century.”
Several of the houses that Whitcomb built were designed by Northampton architectural firm William Fenno Pratt and Son. 33
Bright Street was among those documented as having been designed by the Pratt firm but similarities between the two houses
suggest this house may also have been Pratt’s work. Listed in the 1917 directory as residing here is John Rowe. John and
Elizabeth Rowe and their eight children had previously lived in Leeds where John was a blacksmith and made a shift to a repair
shop. By 1937 the Rowes were replaced by Bartholomew and Mary Bresnahan. Bartholomew was Chief of Police for
Northampton and Mary worked on the staff of Smith College.
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.
Daily Hampshire Gazette. January 23, 1883; May 15, 1883; June 17, 1884; December 8, 1885.
Registry of Deeds, Book 551, Page 131; Book 600, Page 252.