10-22 Center 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
31D-148 Easthampton NTH.783
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 10-22 Center Street
Historic Name: Central Chambers
Uses: Present: commercial and residential space
Original: office and commercial
Date of Construction: 1912
Source: Springfield Daily Republican and integral date
stone Style/Form: Eclectic Classical Revival/Art Deco
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: concrete
Wall/Trim: brick and limestone
Roof: tar and gravel
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Storefronts have been altered and latest changes date ca.
1990.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.213 acres
Setting: This building occupies the first lot on the south
side of Center Street. It is a very narrow street with mixed
commercial, institutional and residential uses.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [10-22 Center Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.783
___ 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 five-story, brick and limestone building that is 16 bays wide. It has on its street façade three slightly projecting pavilions
giving the building a fenestration pattern of 3-4-2-4-3. The first floor is devoted to seven commercial storefronts, in the center of
which is an entry to the upper stories of the building under a suspended canopy. The storefronts are separated by fiberglass
pilasters but retain their configuration of recessed entry flanked by two show windows. The upper four stories of Flemish bond
brick are separated by limestone stringcourses. Windows have replacement metal 1/1/1 sash. Second story lintels are flat but
the remaining stories have splayed limestone lintels that on the third and fourth stories have keystones. The fifth floor is the
most highly ornamented with limestone bands and Art Deco geometric patterns in limestone inserted on the piers between the
pavilions. A wide metal cornice with modillion blocks and consoles provides the Classical Revival portion of the eclectic
building’s style.
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 B, is this quotation from the Springfield Daily Republican of December 30, 1912, “ The 1912 building record
of Northampton is the best in the history of the city…The largest item in 1912 was the handsome five-story block on Center St.,
including six stories and 70 office rooms, built by E. G. Southwick at a cost of $75,000. It is the largest block in the city and
marks an important step in side street development.”
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.
Atlas of 1915.
Northampton Directory of 1922.
Springfield Daily Republican, December 30, 1912.