68 Front 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
11A-43 Easthampton NTH.38
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 68 Front Street
Historic Name: George H. Ray House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1872-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick, concrete
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Two garages and a shop
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.501 acres
Setting: This is a south-facing house that sits on a
corner lot on a slight rise in the landscape.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [68 FRONT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.38
___ 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.
The Ray House is a two-and-a-half story Italianate style house with a front-gable roof whose wide eaves are supported on
brackets. The main block of the house is three bays wide and four bays deep and there is a rear ell of one-and-a-half stories
with attached enclosed porches of one-story. On the main block of the house the first story windows are full length, a feature
that developed during the Italianate period to allow more air and light into the households as well as to suggest the windows of
an Italian villa. In the gable end is a pair of arched windows. Across the south façade is a full-width porch with chamfered posts
supporting its low-pitched hipped roof and ornamented with scroll-cut brackets at the eaves. Windows have hooded lintels that
rest on small consoles. On the east elevation is an angled bay window with bracketed eaves. Although the house is relativel y
simple in design, it conveys the best features of its style.
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: “George H. Ray bought an 81 square rod lot from Samuel L. Hill, president of Nonotuck Silk Company in
1874, however his name is listed next to this house on the 1873 map of Leeds. The house was probably built in 1872-872 as
title was transferred from Nonotuck Silk Co. to S.L. Hill in late 1872 for $275. While George Ray paid $1300 for the parcel two
years later, Mr. Ray I listed as bookkeeper, station and express agent in the 1875-76 Directory. By 1885, he had become the
assistant treasurer of the Nonotuck Silk Co. Within the next decade, he moved to Florence and held the post of secretary as
well as assistant treasurer for the company.
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.
Registry of Deeds: Bk. 312-P.475, 299-273