109 Main 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
32A-140 Easthampton NTH.2060
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center
Address: 109 Main Street
Historic Name: Northampton Institution for Savings
Uses: Present: Commercial
Original: Institutional
Date of Construction: 1916
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, Feb. 18, 1916
Style/Form: Renaissance Revival
Architect/Builder: Thomas M. James, Architect,
Boston Exterior Material:
Foundation: granite
Wall/Trim: brick, limestone
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.26 acres
Setting: This building occupies a corner lot and
faces south on Northampton’s major thoroughfare through
the Center.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [109 MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2060
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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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.
The Northampton Institution for Savings is a free-standing brick and limestone building that is a single story in height with tall
proportions and Renaissance Revival style. It is three bays wide and three bays deep under a flat roof, and there are three ells
on the north elevation of brick and cast stone, all relatively the same height as the main block, but divided into two stories. The
south façade’s outer two bays consist of blind brick panels bordered with quoins on the outer corners and by limestone keyed
into the brickwork - in the same pattern as the quoins - on the inner border. The center bay is an elaborate composition with two
pairs of limestone colossal pilasters with Corinthian capitals framing an arched center entry that is glass in its upper half and in
its lower half contains a limestone architrave surround with a projecting cornice supported on two consoles. The entry door is
recessed. The pilasters support an entablature with architrave, frieze and projecting molded cornice that has both a dentil row
and a row of modillion blocks as ornament. A solid balustrade encircles the roof above the cornice. The east and west
elevations of the main block have three bays of arched, full-height windows within archivolt surrounds that have keystones at
their apex. The glazing within the windows has a fanlight above twelve fixed lights.
The land north of the banks slopes down so the three ells follow that slope with exposed basement levels of brick. The first ell,
the earliest of the three is only one bay deep and has a continuation of the entablature and cornice from the main block. The
second and third ells have been made more geometric and practical with brick walls and cast stone cornice bands along with
irregular fenestration for banking and office use.
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.
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.