60 Masonic 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, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31D-122 Easthampton NTH.769
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 60 Masonic Street
Historic Name: Fire Station
Uses: Present: commercial
Original: fire station
Date of Construction: 1872 and ca. 1890
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette
Style/Form: eclectic
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: brick, brownstone, steel
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Converted from fire station to commercial use, ca. 1990.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.239 acres
Setting: This building occupies a wide lot with
adjacent parking.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [60 MASONIC STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.769
___ 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 fire station is a two-story brick building five bays wide and five bays deep under a flat roof. The main block is square in plan
to which are attached two towers, a four-and-a-half story bell tower on its southwest corner and a three-story stair tower on its
southeast corner. The bell tower has a hipped roof on top of which is an open belfry and the stair tower has a flat roof. The
brick of the building has been laid in two different styles giving this building an eclectic style. The bell tower has straight lintel
windows of brownstone on the lower three stories and Italianate arched fourth story windows with brownstone springings and
keystones. A continuous stringcourse links the arches. The cornice of this tower has a filet below small pendants. The east
façade of the main block and the stair tower are stylistically linked as Queen Anne with corner quoins and bays separate by
rusticated piers below a developed paneled attic and cornice. Three former vehicle bay openings have been enclosed with
glass storefronts beneath steel lintels for the new building use and an entry in the stair tower has been enlarged beneath a Cor -
Ten steel lintel. The fire station character of this building has not been lost during its rehabilitation.
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 history of organized fire fighting in Northampton began with two volunteer fire companies, ‘The
Torrent’ and ‘The Deluge.’ Competitions between these fire companies were held on Main Street; the steeple of the old church
served as the height standard against which streams of water were measured.
In 1857, the town fire department was organized. In about 1870, the core of the present stationhouse was constructed
on Masonic Street, on land purchased from Ansel Wright.”
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.