112 Island Road
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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
46-54 Easthampton NTH.1106
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Ox Bow
Address: 112 Island Road
Historic Name: Connecticut River Lumber Company
Housing Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: late 19th century
Source: Atlases & visual evidence
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: asbestos shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Carriage barn, chicken coop, shop.
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added, windows replaced 1970-2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.758 acres
Setting: This is a north-facing house on a large, fenced
property.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [112 ISLAND ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.1106
___ 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 modest, one-and-a-half story house under a front-gable roof, and is one of a number of similarly modest houses in the
Ox Bow. It is two bays wide and the equivalent of three bays deep for a rectangular plan. There is a one story ell, four bays
long on the south. The house has a full-width porch on the north façade resting on posts with simple braces at the eaves. There
is a one-story bay window on the west elevation that adds to the complexity of the plan. Windows have been replaced and the
house sided in asbestos shingles.
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 is one of several 1 ½ story cottages located on the Ox Bow in Southern Northampton. This area
originally was part of Hadley, but in 1840, flood waters made this an island on the western side of the river. The entrance to the
Ox Bow quickly silted up and the island became connected to Northampton. The 1860 map shows two houses in the Ox Bow,
and 24 years later there was only one more. However, a spur of the Connecticut River Railroad had been introduced to the Ox
Bow and the 1884 atlas shows the Connecticut River Lumber Co., Mt. Tom Kindling Wood Co., and several small shops.
Expansion of his industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to about 25 more houses being built, including two large
boarding houses. This house probably first appears on the 1895 atlas.” On that atlas it is identified as part of the Lumber
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.