210 Elm 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
31A-70 Easthampton NTH.478
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 210 Elm Street
Historic Name: Elihu House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: c. 1828
Source: Northampton Book, 1954.
Style/Form: Greek Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: clapboards, flushboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.352 acres
Setting: Buffered from the street by mature shrubbery, this
house is in a neighborhood of many 19th c. houses.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [210 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.478
___ 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 an early example of the Greek Revival style in Northampton, appearing about eight years after the first Greek Revival
style house was constructed. It is a two-story house with a front-gable roof whose eaves make full returns to create a temple-
like pediment. The pediment has a flushboard-sided tympanum meant to replicate the appearance of stone. The house is three
bays wide and the equivalent of four bays deep and has a rear two-and-a-half story ell. There is one large center chimney on
the roof ridge of the main block of the house, a carry-over from the earlier Federal period. There are two other features that
persist from the Federal style and one is the tall narrow door surround. Rather than the broad trabeated surround of the Greek
Revival that was to follow, this house has a tall surround with narrow pilasters supporting an entablature. A projecting cornice
has a fine dentil row, however, suggesting a Greek Revival interest in classical forms. Window sash is also older in style being
12/12 rather than the more common and later 6/6 light configuration.
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 1970: “Elihu Clark purchased the property in 1828 and built this house ‘soon after.’ H purchased the land from
Abner Hunt and Joseph G. Cogswell. ‘The house closed most of the time during the War of the Rebellion, and only Mrs. Clark
was there a part of the time. George Watson Clark was the last member of the family to occupy it (d. 1929). He was Treasurer
of Northampton, and in 1887 was accountant and poor office overseer in City Hall. In 1941, the house belonged to J. J. Gibson,
Professor at Smith College. It then became the parsonage for the First Church of Northampton until purchased by Paul Evans.”
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.