39 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
24D-167 Easthampton NTH.327
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 39 Myrtle Street
Historic Name: Henry Frost House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1871
Source: Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Porch enclosed on west, ca. 1900.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.158 acres
Setting: This is a south-facing house on a corner
lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [39 MYRTLE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.327
___ 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 is one of the house forms that is repeated on Myrtle Street a number of times. It is one-and-a-half stories in height under a
steeply-pitched front-gable roof that is slate-covered and has a centered chimney. At 29 Myrtle Street the same house form was
given Gothic Revival trim, at 17 Myrtle Street it has lost its trim but was given the same form. Here the house was made
Italianate in style with the insertion of two arched windows under earred architrave surrounds. Above the two windows in the
gable field is a rondel window. The house is three bays wide with a side-hall entry that is sheltered by a pedimented portico on
posts with curved brackets at its eaves. A one-story wing across the west elevation may originally have been a porch that was
enclosed for extra space. Sash in the house is a mixture of 1/1 and 2/2.
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 1870 and 1871, Warner and Dawson purchased two acres of land between State Street and King
Street. A subdivision plan was prepared and filed in 1872 for Pearl Street (now Myrtle Street) and the north side of Summer
Street. Most of the lots had ‘cottage houses’ built upon them, and were leased to tenants.
This corner lot was built upon and sold to Henry Frost for $2800 in August of 1871.”
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. 411-P. 190, 313-425, 291-427, 285-191, 277-15, 276-445 and 446