43 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
31B-270 Easthampton NTH.715
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 43 Center Street
Historic Name: B. P. O. E. Hall
Uses: Present: Offices and shelter
Original: hall and offices
Date of Construction: 1913
Source: Springfield Daily Republican
Style/Form: Classical Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick and concrete
Wall/Trim: stucco and clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Ell added ca. 1990; colonnade glassed in ca. 2005 and
transom gables glazed ca. 2005.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.257 acres
Setting: The building is in a neighborhood of converted
residences, commercial and institutional buildings.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [43 Center Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.715
___ 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 B.P.O.E. Hall is a three-and-a-half story building with a front-gable roof. There are transverse gable bays on both the east
and west elevations of the building and an ell at the rear of the building for a Latin cross plan. The building is Classical Revival
in style and has a temple front with four colossal Doric columns supporting an entablature with attic windows in its frieze and a
full pediment. The two-level porch created by the columns in antis has been enclosed in glass. The remaining porch railings are
Chippendale in pattern. The building is stucco-covered and windows are 6/1 in square frames on the first story and then on the
second story on the lateral elevations windows are Colonial Revival in style with fanlight filled arches. A clock is located in the
main pediment. The scale of this building goes beyond any other on the street and together with the choice of its style aimed to
convey the strength of its owning organization.
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 1980, “The Elks Home was constructed in 1913-1914 at a cost of $40,000. It was built on the site of the
former Methodist Episcopal Church and since it is located at the foot of Masonic Street has a long line of sight to Main Street.”
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 1914
Springfield Daily Republican, December 29, 1913, and December 28, 1914.