48 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
31D-101 Easthampton NTH.763
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 48 Elm Street
Historic Name: St. John’s Episcopal Church
Uses: Present: Episcopal church
Original: Episcopal church
Date of Construction: 1893
Source: Hampshire Gazette, 5/10/1893
Style/Form: Romanesque Revival
Architect/Builder: R. W. Gibson of NY
Exterior Material:
Foundation: granite
Wall/Trim: granite, limestone
Roof: asphalt shingles and tile
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.795 acres
Setting: This building is set between Smith College
buildings on Northampton’s main street. It occupies a wide,
tree-shaded lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [48 ELM STREET ]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.763
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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 Romanesque Revival style church constructed in rough-faced, but dressed, granite blocks, with limestone trim and an
asphalt shingle roof. The sanctuary is a front-gabled building with a one-story narthex in which the building’s main entry is
located beneath a round arch with Romanesque, half-length columns ornamenting its jambs. This main entry is flanked by two
round-arched windows and a secondary entry is located in a square corner tower at the northeast corner of the building. The
tower is fortress-like in its first two stages, due to lack of regular fenestration and where openings exist they are small, and
double-arched in Romanesque Revival fashion. The tower has three stages and is topped by a balustrade connecting three
small corner pinnacles and a larger pinnacle that is arcaded. Gargoyles extend from below the corner towers. The third tower
stage consists of a louvered belfry. A one-and-a-half story wing extends from the eastern side of the nave. It has a double
arched entry that is glazed alongside arched windows. St. John’s Episcopal church adds considerable diversity to the Revival
style buildings along Elm Street.
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: “St. John’s Episcopal Church erected this stone church on Elm Street 1892-1893. The gift of George
Bliss, the Church was dedicated May of 1893. R. W. Gibson of New York was the architect.
Episcopalianism first received notice in Northampton in 1826 when Joseph Cogswell of the Round Hill School and
others were granted the right to use the town hall for Episcopal worship. In 1829 the first church was built on Bridge Street, near
Market; in 1866 W. F. Pratt remodeled the wooden structure which continued to be in use until 1893. In 1905 the old building
was purchased by the congregation of B’nai Israel.”
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.