21 Meadow 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, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
17C-279 Easthampton NTH.135
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 21 Meadow Street
Historic Name: Gary H. Emerson House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: c. 1884
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: French Second Empire
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboard
Roof: wood shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced with vinyl, ca. 2005
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.149 acres
Setting: This south-facing house occupies a
corner lot and has a wrought iron fence with gate opening
from Meadow Street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [21 MEADOW STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.135
___ 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 Emerson House is a French Second Empire house one-and-a-half stories in height. There are fewer than ten of these
mansard-roofed houses remaining in Florence and this is a well-maintained example. The south-facing house is L-shaped in
plan with a short wing on the east. It is three bays wide and has a very steeply-pitched lower mansard slope that is now covered
with shingles rather than with slate. In this lower slope are large rectangular dormer windows that have paired 2/2 sash. There is
an angled bay window on the west elevation of the clapboard-sided house, as elements from earlier styles such as the Italianate
style were commonly used for the French Second Empire. Most of the windows on the first story have vinyl replacement sash.
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: “This cottage was built on lot no. 12 of Alfred Lilly’s subdivision plan for the land north and west of the
Free Congregational Society’s land at the corner of North Main and Meadow Streets. Mr. Lilly was a charter member of the
Society and prominent in their affairs. In 1887, he paid $3000 for the tract of land which eventually became Lilly Street and its
residential lots.
The cottage first appears on the 1884 atlas and is owned by Gary H. Emerson, a joiner, who perhaps built the house
himself. In 1888, the property was purchased by William and Miranda Smith. Mr. Smith was a jeweler on Main Street in
Florence, and served as postmaster for Florence during the 1890’s.”
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. 420-P. 179, 416-535, 379-74, 359-390 and 391, 337-483