49 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
31B-221 Easthampton NTH.684
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center
Address: 49 Elm Street
Historic Name: Northrop House
Uses: Present: Smith College dormitory
Original: Smith College dormitory
Date of Construction: 1911
Source: Smith College Archives
Style/Form: Georgian Revival
Architect/Builder: Charles A. Rich of NY
Exterior Material:
Foundation: granite
Wall/Trim: brick, brownstone, granite
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition:
Moved: no | | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.44 acres
Setting: Located on a corner lot in an area of Elm Street
where many of Smith College’s dormitories were built.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [49 ELM STREET ]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.684
___ 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 dormitory is identical to its neighbor at 47 Elm Street. It is Georgian Revival in style and is three stories in height under a
truncated hipped roof. It is a red brick building under a truncated hipped roof of slate with transverse gable bays at the
southeast and southwest corners and on the west and east elevations. The building has deep eaves with oversized brackets at
the eaves and along the rake of the eaves. There is a row on the south side of the roof of four hipped-roof dormers. The
building’s corners have bricks laid as quoins, while brownstone watertable and belt course separate the stories in the Georgian
manner. The building has on its first floor windows of 9/6 sash; on the second and third floors are windows of 6/6 sash, and in
the attic 8/8 sash. The windows have splayed lintels with center keystones. The entry to the building is on its east façade where
it is connected by an open arcade on columns to the entry to the neighboring dormitory at 49 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 1977: “Northrop House was built by Charles A. Rich of New York and opened in 1911. The house is named for
Birdseye Grant Northrop who graduated from Yale in 1841 and from Yale Divinity School in 1845. He served as a pastor of the
Congregational Church in Saxonville, Massachusetts for ten years, as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Education, and
as a member of the Connecticut Board of Education. Japan entrusted the education of its first students in the United States to
Birdseye Northrop. Like Edward Gillett, Birdseye Northrop was named in Sophia Smith’s will as one of the original trustees of
Smith College. He served in this position 1871-1898.”
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.