380 Elm 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
24C-42 Easthampton NTH.279
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 380 Elm Street
Historic Name: Northampton High School
Uses: Present: High School Building
Original: High School Building
Date of Construction: 1939-40; addition-1960
Source: City Reports, 1938; Date block on
building. Style/Form: Art Deco and Modernistic
Architect/Builder: J. Williams Beal Sons, Builder
Exterior Material:
Foundation: granite
Wall/Trim: brick, limestone, slate
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced, ca. 2000
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 24.96 acres
Setting: School fronts on Elm Street and a small triangular
island with Childs Park on the north and playing fields to the
south. This is primarily a residential neighborhood.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [380 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.279
___ 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.
Northampton High School’s 1940 building, its main block, is three stories in height under a flat roof and is Art Deco in style. It is
thirteen bays long with a center, three-bay, limestone entry block rising three stories in height, outer bay, two-story limestone-
framed secondary entries, and eight bays of windows in between. These windows are separated by two-story high limestone
piers that stop short of the third story, so that the third story windows become two bands of fenestration at each side of the
center entry – an attic level. Between the first two stories and the third story in the brick spandrels are Art Deco ironwork grilles
and Art Deco geometric flutes are carved into the limestone piers. The center entry has a geometric pedimented surround with
an integral date stone. The windows of first and second stories have triple composition lights in grids of twelve and they are
separated between stories by triple panels of black slate in an aluminum framework. The windows are recent replacements
whose framework is now a painted aluminum. This section of the building is nine bays deep. Additions are multiple on north,
west and south and maintain the red brick and limestone trim. Notable among them is a northwest addition of two stories, set
back from the plane of the main façade, with fluted limestone piers framing a three-bay principal façade with a rounded entry
marquee. A wing with a rounded corner on the west has a large, rounded, glass block window.
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: “Northampton’s third large high school building was built at the upper end of Elm Street in 1939. It was
preceded by a Gothic Revival structure (1860’s, W. F. Pratt, now demolished) and a Classical Revival style school (1895,
Gardner, Pyne, & Gardner, now D. A. Sullivan School). When built, the new high school incorporated special foreign language,
industrial arts, and social sciences classrooms; a new emphasis was also placed on sports, with large gyms and locker rooms.”
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.