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99 King Street 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-159 Easthampton NTH.643 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 99 King Street Historic Name: Sacred Heart Church Uses: Present: Church Original: Church Date of Construction: 1916 Source: Gazette, Nov. 13, 1916 Style/Form: Architect/Builder: John W. Donahue, architect, Springfield Exterior Material: Foundation: concrete Wall/Trim: brick, limestone, wood Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: 1891 Chapel on same lot. Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 1.8 acres Setting: Sacred Heart church is set back from the street on a slight rise in the landscape. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [99 KING STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.643 ___ 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. Sacred Heart Church is a brick building, Classical Revival in style, that is basilica in plan. That is, it has a high central nave with a clerestory and lower side aisles on each side of the nave, and is preceded by a projecting narthex or two-story entry that, in this case, is temple-like in form. The nave and side aisles are ten bays long and the façade is three bays wide. The narthex is pedimented and is distyle in antis, having two composite, fluted, limestone columns between limestone antae, or respondent pilasters. Wide limestone frieze and dentilled cornices define the pediment in whose tympanum is a circular medallion. The church’s brick exterior walls were laid with a darker contrasting brick in diamond and paneled patterns. At the junction of the nave and the narthex on the roof is a three-stage wood bell tower with a base, belfry and lantern. This is a composition found in early 19th century New England churches and contrasts in its wood construction with the masonry Classical Revival church below. Architect John Donahue’s work in the region was stylistically widely varied and this church represents some of the diversity of his work. South of the church is a small, wood frame chapel of 1891. 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: “By 1885, there was a sizable French-Canadian population in Northampton. This group, largely non- English speaking, felt the need for a church of their own. At that time, there was one Roman Catholic Church serving all of Northampton center. St. Mary’s, located on King Street (at the present Church and Hooker Streets), was a small church, with the congregation almost entirely Irish. In 1885, a new St. Mary’s Church was built on lower Elm Street and after petitioning the bishop, the French Catholics received the old church. The influx of French-Canadians was so rapid that a new church was almost immediately needed. In 1889, the Erastus Hopkins homestead on King Street was bought, and the Gazette carried a drawing and description of the proposed church. It was to be built of brick and brownstone, and would cost $20,000. The Hopkins House would serve as the parsonage. This plan was never realized. A frame chapel and school were constructed in 1891 at a cost of $9000, and the Hopkins House, built in 1825 from designs of Isaac Damon, was remodeled to serve as a parsonage. Soon afterwards, a wood- frame convent for the French-speaking Sisters of Saint Joseph was constructed. The next step was the construction of a separate facility to serve as a school. The present two-story brick school was built in 1911.This is probably from designs of John W. Donahue. The desire for a larger, more substantial church continued, and in 1916, the present church was dedicated. This was designed by Mr. Donahue, a prominent Springfield architect of the first third of the 20th century. A specialist in ecclesiastical design, he served as the official architect for the Roman Catholic diocese of western Massachusetts. Churches, schools, hospitals, convents and rectories form the majority of this out-put. In Northampton, he also drew the plans for St. Michael’s School.” 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. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [99 KING STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 NTH.643 Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860. Chapel of 1891.