49 Gothic 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-237 Easthampton NTH.696
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 49 Gothic Street
Historic Name: Abiel Eastman House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1860’s
Source: Atlases & visual evidence
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: Abiel Eastman, builder, attr.
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Porch added, ca. 1900.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.178 acres
Setting: This is a west-facing building on a street with a
mix of commercial, residential and institutional buildings.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [49 GOTHIC STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.696
___ 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 Northampton’s numerous Italianate style houses. It is two stories in height under a flat roof with very wide eaves
to make it look like a villa with a wide frieze. It is three bays wide and the main block is one bay deep. It has a two-story ell on
the rear or east. The main block has a full-width porch that was either added or altered during the Colonial Revival period as it
has a pedimented roof, square posts for supports and solid shingle railings. It crosses the west façade that has a center entry
and windows with projecting, crown molding lintels. Sash in the house is 2/2. The rear ell appears to have had a side porch on
the north elevation that was glass enclosed.
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: “This two-story, flat-roofed house was most likely built during the 1860’s by Abial Eastman, a carpenter.
Mr. Eastman is shown as the owner of this house on the 1873 Atlas. Gothic Street received its name from the ‘Gothic Sem inary’
which had been built in the mid 1830’s. The street was one of several, including State Street, Masonic Street, and Center Street
that were laid out in the 1830’s and 1840’s to provide more building lots for the expanding town. A number of fine residences
remain from the second third of the 19th century on Gothic Street, but not, unfortunately, the seminary.”
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. 136-P. 81