46 Columbus Avenue
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: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
38B-129 Easthampton NTH.1040
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 46 Columbus Avenue
Historic Name: Charles H. Sawyer House
Uses: Present: Single family
Original: Single family
Date of Construction: 1892
Source: Registry of Deeds and Street Directory
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Brick
Wall/Trim: Clapboard
Roof: Slate & metal
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Small shed in rear
Major Alterations (with dates):
Porch (1980-2010)
Metal roof (1980-2010)
Condition: Good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.23 acres
Setting: House among other large single family or former
single family homes in a well-established residential
neighborhood of turn-of-the century homes, which contains
mature trees throughout.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [46 COLUMBUS AVE. ]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.1040
__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 two-story Queen Anne style home with complex plan of hip on multiple gables. Decoratively cut shingles are used in the
gable fields and as a band separating the first and second floors. The defining feature of this home is the three-story tower with
pyramidal roof located at the angle between the frontward facing gable and westward facing gable. The tower serves as the
location for the front entry which is underneath a small metal shed roof porch. According to the 1980 Form B, the front entry
porch originally displayed distinct Queen Anne turned posts and maybe even a spindle frieze. The porch has since been altered
with rounded Tuscan style columns, closed frieze, and square balusters. Windows on the home have all been replaced but still
have their original simple surrounds. A shallow rectangular bay with metal roof adorns the front façade mimicking an oriel. The
2/2 sash window in the gable field appears to be original. On the eastern elevation of the house is a two-and-half story bay with
gabled roof. Also on this elevation is a screened porch. Similar to other homes in this area of Northampton, the house rests on a
brick foundation.
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 Form B of 1980, “This house was built for Charles Sawyer, the assistant postmaster, in 1892. It is on lot 14 of the
Columbus Avenue subdivision. The plan was filed in 1892, thus this was one of the first houses built on the 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.
Registry of Deeds: Book 449-P.410, 450-44