593 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
23B-47 Easthampton NTH.238
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 593 Elm Street
Historic Name: Silk Mill Boarding House
Uses: Present: Multi-family Residence
Original: Boarding House
Date of Construction: ca. 1843
Source: The History of Florence
Style/Form: utilitarian
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
West wing added, n.d.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 15 acres
Setting: Building occupies a rise in the landscape which
slopes down to the east.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [593 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.238
___ 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 boarding house is typical of buildings constructed mid-19th century for workers’ housing in that it is simply constructed, with
a minimum of ornament, yet large enough to accommodate a substantial number of men. It is a two-and-a-half story building
with a front-gable roof whose eaves make pent roof returns to form a pediment. It is three bays wide and has an added door
surround. Sash is now 1/1. Window surrounds are flat stock, cornerboards narrow and there is a fairly wide skirt board above
the foundations. On the west is a two-story wing that is four bays long and in the angle of the two sections of the house is an
infill one bay wide and one bay deep. The house has a center chimney. This is a utilitarian building that yet has presence in the
streetscape.
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 1980: “In 1822, Enoch Jewett bought land on both sides of Boughton Meadow Brook. Soon afterwards (before
1830), he built a dam across the brook and raised the pond which became ‘Holland’s,’ and later ‘Warner’s’ pond. The water
power was used in a small shop to manufacture spools and bobbins for the area’s woolen and silk mills. Mr. Jewett’s house was
also located on this property.
The 80 acres of land with house, shop, dam, and water privilege were sold to Joseph Conant, Earle Swift and Orwell
Chaffee in November of 1842. These three men had recently withdrawn from the Northampton Association for Education and
Industry, or ‘The Community’ as it was known, and they immediately erected a silk mill on the Jewett property. They were
succeeded by Joseph Warner, who is known to have owned the silk mill as early as 1859, and his son Luther. In the mid 1880’s,
John Leonard took over the property and operated the silk mill until it burned down in the mid 1890’s. The site was purchased
by the Nonotuck Silk Co., but they never rebuilt. The pond was drained, and the property was acquired by the city of
Northampton early in the 20th century. Smith’s Agricultural School was built on the northern part of the lot, fronting on Locust
Street, in 1908. Oliver Smith, a wealthy citizen of Hatfield, left $30,000 in his will in 1844 for this project, with the proviso that the
money not be used for sixty years. Mr. Smith also established Smith Charities, and through his niece Sophia Smith, Smith
College and Smith Academy. The Smith School still has the entire property.
The boarding house was probably built during the early 1840’s for the silk mill established by the three members of
NAEI. It is the only structure still standing from the site’s industrial past, although part of the foundation of the silk mill is still
visible on the western side of the brook just north of Elm Street.” This building was renovated by students at Smith Vocational &
Agricultural High School prior to 2010.
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.