257-259 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-117 Easthampton NTH.767
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center
Address: 257-259 Main Street
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: commercial, residential
Original: commercial, residential
Date of Construction: ca. 1886
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette
Style/Form: Queen Anne/Panel Brick
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: brick, pressed metal
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Storefront altered multiple times; second story window in-
filled, ca. 1980.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.036 acres
Setting: This building faces south on the last
commercial block at the north end of Main Street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [257-259 MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.767
___ 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.
This three-story, red brick building’s south façade is divided into three bays on the second and third stories by piers. In the outer
two bays there are single windows with 1/1 sash and in the center bay on the third story there are three narrow windows and on
the second floor a single window and a brick-in bay. The building has ornamental brickwork that was typical of the late 19th
century and the Panel Brick version of the Queen Anne style. Between each pier and above the third story windows is a row of
corbelled brick and in the spandrels between second and third stories there are panels corresponding to the windows above with
brickwork laid in a checkerboard pattern. Bands of brownstone form continuous window lintels for the second and third story
windows of the south façade, but they do not continue across the east elevation. Windows of both south and east have straight-
heads. Topping the building is a relatively modest pressed metal cornice with paired brackets. The first story of the building has
a single storefront adjacent to a recessed entry to the upper stories on the western side of the façade.
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: “This series of five brick blocks was built on upper Main Street late in the 1880’s. The lot was empty prior
to this time. The Edwards Church had been rebuilt on the corner of Main and State Streets in 1874. About 1886, the lot was
first considered for commercial development when a four story brick block was contemplated at the corner of Main and Masonic
Street. Although these plans were abandoned, several other blocks had been built by late 1886, and the Daley Block is
inscribed with the date 1887. The block adjoining Edwards Church was first known as Higbee Block; lawyer J.B. O’Donnell
owned #2 & #4 and sold them early in 1887.”
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.