37 1/2 Chapel 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
38A-15 Easthampton NTH.2178
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 37 ½ Chapel Street
Historic Name: Northampton Grange
Uses: Present: Church
Original: Chapel
Date of Construction: 1871
Source: Hampshire Gazette
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: William Fenno Pratt
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: fair
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.92 acres
Setting: Set on a corner lot, the building faces south on a
busy state highway.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [37 ½ Chapel St.]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2178
_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 a small Italianate style chapel sided in clapboard and set on high brick foundations. It has a front-gable roof and an
enclosed entry vestibule or narthex. The roof has brackets with circular cut-outs at its wide eaves and one small rose window in
its gable field. Windows along the sides of the building are arched and there are four on each elevation, and two on the south
façade flanking the vestibule. The vestibule has smaller brackets supporting its eaves and an arched entry with double leaf
doors beneath a fanlight. At the peak of the south gable is a pedimented open structure – close to an aedicula in form – and
intended to hold either a statue or to be sufficient as an architectural spire. Its steeply pitched roof is also bracketed. This
building is the model of a small and modest Italianate Chapel.
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 1975, “The Hospital Hill Chapel was designed and built in 1871; local architect Wm. F. Pratt supplied the
plans for the chapel building. Used by members of the First Church downtown and by residents of Hospital Hill working at the
State Hospital, the Chapel was an active site of worship until 1930. After that time, Smith College students conducted a mission
in the old chapel. In 1955 the Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) #138 acquired the building for a meeting place.” Its design was
taken from a 19th c. pattern book. The Grange sold the building to the Resurrection Life Ministries in 2008-2009.
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, March 21, 1871.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [37 ½ Chapel St.]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2178
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 Hospital Hill Chapel is significant in Northampton history for its long and continuing use as a church for the
residents of the Hospital Hill area, which includes the former Northampton State Hospital. As a chapel, Grange Hall,
Smith College building, and once again church, this building has had an association with some the Northampton’s
major institutions and their members from the third quarter of the 19th century to the present.
As the design work of Northampton architect William Fenno Pratt this building is architecturally significant for the
City of Northampton. Pratt was one of the most prolific and well-respected architects in the City’s history and his
work continues to contribute to its architectural importance.