26 Fairfield Avenue
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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
17C-175/176 Easthampton NTH.105
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Florence
Address: 26 Fairfield Avenue
Historic Name: Edward Murphy House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1915
Source: Atlas and directories
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added, windows replaced, door surround replaced,
ca. 2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.257 acres
Setting: This house is near the end of a dead end
street that stops at former railroad tracks that are now
converted to a rail trail.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [26 FAIRFIELD AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.105
___ 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 one of two, originally identical houses on Fairfield Street. The second is at #30. It is one-and-a-half stories under a front-
gambrel roof. It has a cross-gambrel wing on the north and an ell on the west for a T-shaped plan. The front-gambrel section
is two bays wide with an angled bay adjacent to a three-part composition window. Entry to the house is in the wing and its
surround is a stock Colonial Revival style. There is a jetty between first and second floors and t second floor level on the east
façade a centered window has a small fanlight window above it – both are replacements of similar original openings. This house
and its neighbor are representative of the Colonial Revival style of the 1920s as it was interpreted for contemporary family life.
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: ”Around the turn of the century, three streets were laid out north of Main and Locust Streets in Florence:
Plymouth, Fairfield and Summer Avenues. The streets extend northerly only a short distance to the railroad tracks. These two
houses [#26 and #30] are the northernmost on the western side of Fairfield Avenue, and are virtually identical. The 1915
Directory lists at #26 Edward Murphy, foreman of the foundry at the Norwood Engineering Co. and proprietor of Northampton
Iron Works, both in Florence, and at #30 Herbert Freeman, superintendent of the braiding department at Nonotuck Silk Co., as
living in these two houses.”
By 1926 Mack and Anna Mercereau occupied the house. Mack was a carpenter and Anna worked at the College Shop in
Northampton. By 1935 the house was owned by Arthur and Mary Cleary. Arthur was a salesman. The Clearys were gone by
1945 when Philip Bellunduno and Sophia Bellunduno were living here. Philip was in the U.S. Army in that year and after he
returned to Florence he and Sophia changed their last name to Bell and they are listed as P. R. and Sophia Bell. P.R. had
formed a masonry company that did stonework. All these couples who remained in the house about a decade reflect changes in
society during the first half of the 20th century as in some couples the wife worked outside the home, others remained within the
household. World War II affected Florence residents but by the 1950s soldiers had returned to the community and established
new businesses and careers.
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.