64 Massasoit 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
24C-70 Easthampton NTH.285
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 64 Massasoit Street
Historic Name: George W. Smith House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1889-1895
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboard, shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced, ca. 2005
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.364 acres
Setting: This house faces east on a tree-shaded,
residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [64 MASSASOIT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.285
__x_ 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 two-and-a-half story, Colonial Revival style house has a front-gable roof and extends to the west with a long two-and-a-half
story ell. It has a cross-gable bay on the south to which is attached a two-story, square bay window. The house is three bays
wide and has a generous wraparound porch across its east façade and on to the north elevation. The porch has large square
piers that rest on paneled pedestals and are connected by a railing with square balusters. The side-hall entry has a glass and
paneled wood door adjacent to two 1/1 sash windows. At the second story level are three windows with 1/1 sash. Above them
in the shingled gable field is a pair of windows with 2/2 sash under a single lintel. Wide beltcourses divide the stories of the
clapboard-sided first and second floors. The ell almost doubles the house in size.
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 1980: “In 1869, Massasoit Street was laid out through Henry Maynard’s subdivision plan. Most of the
development though took place between the mid 1880’s and mid 1890’s, and by 1895, the street appeared substantially as it
does today.
In 1889, George Smith, a mason, purchased this lot of land for $40 and established his homestead here.”
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: Bk. 431-P. 202, 274-7
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [64 MASSASOIT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.285
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district
Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district
Criteria: A B C D
Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G
Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
The Smith House would contribute to a potential historic district that extends north of Northampton’s primary
corridor, Elm Street, encircling and encompassing the primary feature of that landscape, Round Hill. The potential
historic district is significant for its 19th century development from a few gentlemen’s farms to a neighborhood dense
with the homes of its most prominent residents and educational institutions that shaped the character of Northampton
for several hundred years to the present.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and
Queen Anne style houses, the Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles of the 20th century that were often architect-
designed by the region’s most well-known designers. The Smith House is a good example of the Colonial Revival
style and would contribute to the historic district. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship,
feeling, setting, design and materials.