38 Myrtle 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
31B-31 Easthampton NTH.600
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 38 Myrtle Street
Historic Name: Eliza Tunnicliff House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1872-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.108 acres
Setting: This house faces north on a corner lot, on
a short, residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [38 MYRTLE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.600
___ 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 Tunnicliff House is an Italianate style house, two-and-a-half stories in height. It has a front-gable roof that is slate-covered
and has a center chimney on it ridge. The house is three bays wide with a side hall entry and two full-length first floor windows,
which are a feature of the Italianate style. The house has a one-and-a-half story ell on the south elevation and a one-story wing
across the east elevation. A wrap around porch crosses the north façade and turns to the west elevation. It rests on Italianate
posts beneath a broad cornice and has scroll-cut ornamental railings. The roof eaves are also wide and thinly boxed and make
returns in the gable end. This house is the best-preserved of the Italianate style houses on the 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 1980: “In 1871, Dawson and Warner bought two acres of land between State Street and King Street. The next
year, they filed a subdivision plan for Pearl Street (now Myrtle Street) and the north side of Summer Street. On most of the lots,
houses were erected and leased to tenants, however, here they sold a lot to Eliza Tunnicliff, a dress maker, for $700. By 1873,
this house was built.”
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. 295-P. 153, 291-426 and 427, 277-15, 276-445 and 446