153-159 Main 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
31D-144 Easthampton NTH.779
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 153-159 Main Street
Historic Name: Todd Block
Uses: Present: commercial
Original: commercial/residential
Date of Construction: 1870
Source: Hampshire Gazette
Style/Form: altered Italianate
Architect/Builder: J.M. Miner, architect, Cleveland
Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: brick/brownstone
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Storefronts altered; fenestration altered ca. 1890-1900
Condition: good/fair
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.054 acres
Setting: This building is south-facing in Northampton
downtown.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [153-159 MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.779
___ 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 Todd Block is a three-story brick building that is seven bays wide under a flat roof and an elaborate cornice. On the first
story the building has three storefronts and an off-center entrance separated by rusticated brownstone piers that support a
brownstone lintel that has a narrow molded cornice. The westernmost of the stores has a side entry and a single glass displa y
window but the center and easternmost stores have recessed center entry storefronts with glass display windows. They are
separated by the piers and the entry to the upper stories. This entry is Craftsman in style dating, no doubt, after the alterations
of 1890-1900 that were made to the building’s façade. Within a rusticated architrave surround is a transom with arched lights
above the main door that is made of matchboards in which is an ogive-shaped window. The door is sheltered by a pent roof that
is tile-covered and supported on wrought iron consoles. The fenestration of the second and third stories was altered ca. 1900 as
ten bays were reconfigured to seven bays, alternating single windows with 1/1 sash, with three-part window compositions. On
the second floor the single windows have partial label lintels of brownstone and footed brownstone sills while the composition
windows have a narrow brick lintel. At the third floor all the windows have segmentally arched brownstone lintels with keystones
and footed brownstone sills. In the spandrels between second and third stories beneath the composition windows are recessed
stucco panels. The windows of both second and third stories have leaded glass transoms and the glass of the outer sections of
the composition windows are also leaded glass. The cornice of the building dates from its 1870 construction date and is a good
example of the brickwork that characterized the Italianate style buildings of that decade in downtown Northampton with
corbelling of the bricks into moldings, panels, and pendants.
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 1975: “The Todd Block of 1870 replaced an earlier brick building with wooden cornice following the fire of July
1870. The fire destroyed several commercial blocks as well as the Warner House Hotel. The Fitch Hotel (later the Draper) and
the commercial blocks built on the north side of Main Street following the fire were the work of J.M. Miner, a Cleveland native
who was located for a time in Northampton.”
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.