122 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
ner
Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32C-009 Easthampton NTH.2296
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center
Address: 122 Main Street
Historic Name: Charles H. Dickinson Building
Uses: Present: Commercial
Original: Commercial
Date of Construction: ca. 1880
Source: National Register nomination
Style/Form: Beaux Arts
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: marble/metal
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Storefront altered multiple times, fenestration and siding
altered on second floor, pre-1955; roof raised and cornice
added, ca. 1900.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.024 acres
Setting: This building faces north on Northampton’s
principal commercial street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [122 Main Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2296
___ 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.
The Charles H. Dickinson building is a two-story building that is one bay wide. It has a flat roof that is ornamented with an
elaborate Beaux Arts style pressed metal cornice topped by a broken arched pediment above consoles supporting a heavy
cornice with dentil rows and modillion blocks. This upper section of the building was an addition made after ca. 1890 to raise it
from its low two-story height. The first story of the building has a single metal and glass storefront of recent date. The second
story is faced in a glossy beige marble with darker brown marble panels at each side of a large, fixed light window in the fashion
of blinds. This surface is a later addition to the building. Above the window and below the cornice is a sign band without the
marble siding, which appears to be brownstone masonry.
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.
This building is part of a block of buildings on the south side of Main Street that was known in the 1860s and beyond as
“Merchants Row”. In 1860 the merchants present included an artists’ supply store and a photography store – both of which
commercial uses can still be found here. In 1873 the block was filled in with the exception of one lot near its western end and by
1884 buildings occupied all the lots. Charles H. Dickinson was listed in the 1870 census as in the millanery [sic.] business, a
business that was usually owned by women. In the 1880 census he was listed as a merchant on Main Street here at 122 and he
shared the building with his son Charles, Jr. who was a physician. Charles, his wife Martha and their son also shared their home
on Philips Place in Northampton. The map of 1895 identifies this building as being owned by Dickinson but from the directories
it is apparent that he owned it prior to 1895.
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.