1-23 Eastern 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: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32C-239 Easthampton NTH.2161
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 1-23 Eastern Avenue
Historic Name: Dr. Sheady’s Apartments
Uses: Present: Apartments
Original: Apartments
Date of Construction: 1890-1895
Source: Registry of Deeds, 434.35, 1895 Atlas
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl and wood shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added and windows replaced, 1990-2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.363 acres
Setting: Set on a long corner block, this apartment
building is one of two such blocks in a neighborhood of
primarily late 19th century homes.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [3-23 EASTERN AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2161
__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.
The Dr. Sheady Apartment block is one of at least six such blocks in Northampton that follow similar Queen Anne designs,
though their materials vary from frame to brick. The building is two-and-a-half stories in height under a gable-on-hip roof. There
are tall chimneys on the roof, one per pair apartments. The north façade of the block is asymmetrical with a tower at the
northwest corner and a transverse gable bay on the northeast. Between these two segments the apartment block is divided by
three pairs of transverse gable bays separated by two-story porches on whose first floors are the entries to the apartments. The
porches have square posts and spindle friezes on the first floor, but second floors have turned posts and brackets at the eaves.
Each transverse gable bay is square in plan at the second floor and is chamfered on the first floor; their junction is ornamented
with scrolled brackets. The front-gabled bays have barge boards at their eaves. Above each shed-roofed porch is a front-
gabled dormer. The building has had its first floor sided in vinyl and its second floor in scalloped shingles. There is a shallow
jetty between stories. These apartment blocks add considerably to the architectural richness of 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 1975: “The tenement was built between 1890 and 1895. Charles H. Jones and B. E. Cook transferred the lot of
land to Bryan D. Sheedy in June 1890 for $1600; the apartment block clearly appears on the 1895 Northampton-Easthampton
Atlas, as ‘Dr. Sheady’s.’”
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, Hampshire County, 1245.53, 1158.331, 841.377, 776.145, 649.325, 434.35
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [3-23 EASTERN AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2161
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 Dr. Sheedy Block is eligible for the National Register as a building in which there is a history of residents who represent the
growing middle class of Northampton. The history of the building’s residents has not been developed on the Form B of
1975, however, it should be researched and developed to illustrate the broad patterns of social and political life that took
place in the buildings. Architecturally, the building is eligible for the National Register as the best-preserved of the
approximately six such buildings constructed in Northampton as row houses to accommodate the growing population.
Its Queen Anne style is superior and its features have been well-maintained.