207-211 '/2 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
31D-136 Easthampton NTH.775
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center
Address: 207-211 ½ Main Street
Historic Name: Rust’s Block
Uses: Present: Commercial, residential
Original: Commercial
Date of Construction: 1867
Source: Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: William Fenno Pratt
Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: brick/brownstone
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Storefronts changed over time.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.035 acres
Setting: This building is on a corner lot, the last in
a row on the north side of Main Street in downtown
Northampton.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [207-211 ½ MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.775
___ 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.
Architect William Fenno Pratt designed this building in the mid-19th century commercial style that was based on the Italianate
palazzo with a strong cornice above regular, symmetrical fenestration, the whole façade framed as if by classical piers. The
building is three stories in height under a flat roof with a broad, corbelled cornice line. The six bays of the façade are set within a
recessed plane that has a row of corbelling across its upper margin. The windows of second and third stories have straight-
head brownstone lintels that are footed and brownstone sills that are also footed. Now glazed with 1/1 sash, they would more
likely have had 6/6 sash in 1867, adding to the visual activity of the façade. The first story is now divided into two storefronts
separated by an entry to the upper stories. Above the entry is a brownstone block carved with the name of the building. The
storefronts are late 20th century creations based on recessed center entries with flanking glass store windows, the most common
assembly for commercial storefronts on Main Street.
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 building stands on the old homestead of Joseph Lyman. Owners of the property to 1867 were
Samuel F. Lyman, Hannah E. Brewer, Frances Brewer, Joseph Lyman, Eliza Henshaw, Thomas Jones, Joseph L. Jones,
William G. Jones, Susan Lesley, and Catherine R. Delano. The building was sold in 1870 by Theodore and Charles Rust, who
had bought the property in 1867 for $2500.
-C. Keith Wilbur
The Rust Block was designed by William Fenno Pratt.”
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.
Registry of Deeds, Hampshire County