59 Henshaw Avenue
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
31B-98 Easthampton NTH.617
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 59 Henshaw Avenue
Historic Name: Charles Bowker House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1909
Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles
Roof: wood and asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good/fair
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.14 acres
Setting: This house is west-facing and its lot
slopes precipitously down to the east.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [59 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.617
_x__ 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 a unique variation on the Colonial Revival style house with a gambrel roof on whose lower angle are five recessed
windows as if they were inverted dormers. This lower angle is wood shingle-sided and the windows have 1/1 sash. They are
sheltered beneath a shed roof extension of the upper roof level. Three eyebrow windows are evenly spaced on the upper level
of the roof. The first story of the west façade is five bays wide with a pedimented porch extending from the center door across
the last two bays to the south. It is supported on columns. The north end of the façade is occupied by an angled bay window.
The house is four bays deep and is clapboard-sided on the first story and wood shingled on the upper story and attic level.
There are two tall interior chimneys on the roof.
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 house was built in 1909 for Charles Bowker at an approximate cost of $6000. Mr. Bowker was the
proprietor of the Draper Storage Co., located in the rear of the Draper Hotel, and treasurer of the New England Hotel
Association. This portion of Henshaw Avenue, north of no. 37, was opened in the late 1880’s through the Hinckley homestead,
known as ‘The Manse.’
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. 649-P.56, 580-321, 574-129
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [59 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.617
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district
Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district
Criteria: A B C D
Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G
Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
The Bowker House would contribute to a potential historic district that extends north of Northampton’s primary
corridor, Elm Street, encircling and encompassing the primary feature of that landscape, Round Hill. The potential
historic district is significant for its 19th century development from a few gentlemen’s farms to a neighborhood dense
with the homes of its most prominent residents and educational institutions that shaped the character of Northampton
for several hundred years to the present.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and
Queen Anne style houses, the Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles of the 20th century that were often architect-
designed by the region’s most well-known designers. The Bowker House is a rather unusual example of the Colonial
Revival style and would contribute to the historic district. This potential historic district has integrity of
workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.