345 Damon Road
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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
25A-007 Easthampton NTH.378
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 345 Damon Road
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: pre-1831
Source: map of 1831
Style/Form: Cape Cod form
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: clapboard
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Entry wing added, ca. 1970
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.67 acres
Setting: This is an east-facing house overlooking the
Connecticut River.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [345 DAMON ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.378
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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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 Cape Cod form house one-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof. It has two interior chimneys that rise
from the ridge rather than a center chimney, suggesting that the house was constructed after the Revolution when Federal style
adopted the two-chimney floor plan. It has low fieldstone foundations and clipped eaves in the gables, which were common
building practices prior to the Revolution and after, as well. The house is five bays wide and two bays deep and a secondary
enclosed entry wing 1 x 1 bay has been added to the south elevation. This is one of Northampton’s early houses and represents
late 18th-early 19th century building practices in the city.
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 1976: “An early dwelling in Northampton, now located on Damon Road, this structure faces south toward Bridge
Street and is located neat the Coolidge Bridge which spans the Connecticut River.
Bridge Street originally led from the town center to a ferry crossing of the Connecticut River; in the 19th century the first
bridges were built and the highway was named. To the north off Damon Road, the terminus of the Northampton-New Haven
Canal was constructed in the early 19th century; this section of Northampton was thus important for transportation and
communication with other valley communities.”
This house appears on the map of 1831 but is unnamed. On that map it is on the south side of Water Street and Damon Road
had not yet been constructed. The map of 1895 indicates that the property was on a proposed extension to Water Street prior to
its being constructed and re-named as Damon Road. In preparation for constructing the road, the property south of the house
was owned by the City of Northampton and this house may have been part of the farm owned by F. Elwell who lived nearby on
Bridge 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.