86 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
46-056 Easthampton NTH.1108
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 86 Island Road
Historic Name: A. Johnson House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: c. 1870
Source: Atlases
Style/Form: Cape Cod
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick and concrete
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
New England style barn across the street; studio
Major Alterations (with dates):
Two rear ells added, ca. 1980, wing added on west, and
windows replaced, ca. 1990.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.08 acres
Setting: This house faces north towards the
Connecticut River and is screened from the road by a dense
cover of shrubbery and trees.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [86 ISLAND ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.1108
___ 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 two-story house under a front-gable, asphalt shingled roof with a center chimney. It is three bays wide and the
equivalent of four bays deep with two, one-story ells added to the south or rear. It is a very modest house stylistically but has a
side porch on the east elevation with Queen Anne style turned posts. Windows are replacement 1/1 and there is a long shed
roof dormer on the west side of the roof that raises the elevation of the house.
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 the Connecticut River cut through the slender neck of the Ox Bow and made this an
island and the western side of the river. The entrance to the Oxbow 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 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
Company, Mt. Tom Kindling Wood Company, and several small shops. Expansion of these industries 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 1873 atlas as the property of A. Johnson. The 1875 directory lists Herbert
Johnson, a farmer, in this area. By 1885, Garrett O’Neil, an employee of the Connecticut River Lumber Company, was living
here.”
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.