373 North Farms Road
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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
07-060 Easthampton NTH.8
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
North Farms
Address: 373 North Farms Road
Historic Name: Bridgeman House
Uses: Present: single-family house
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: ca. 1830
Source: map of 1831
Style/Form: Cape Cod form
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Carriage barn
Major Alterations (with dates):
Sided and windows replaced ca. 2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.748 acres
Setting: This house is in a mixed farm/suburban house
neighborhood. It is set on a rise in the landscape and is
south facing.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [373 North Farms Road]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.8
___ 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 a one-and-a-half story Cape Cod form house with a center chimney on a side-gable roof. It is five bays wide and two
bays deep and has an added portico on its south façade. There is a one-story wing on the east that is three bays long. The
house is vinyl-sided and has all vinyl replacement windows, so much of its character is lost or obscured beneath the siding.
From its form, however, it is clear that this house was not the original Bridgeman House, but would have been constructed at a
later date. Its carriage barn remains though a large gambrel-roofed barn present in 1980 has been lost. This was a farm that
was slowly whittled away as suburban development spread in Northampton.
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 the Form B of 1980, “North Farms is located about a mile and a half north of the village of Florence on the road to Whately.
Originally known as Horse Mountain, this section is some four miles from the enter of Northampton and is located between 250
and 400 feet of elevation on the southeastern slopes of Horse Mountain, a long, north-south running mountain located mostly in
Hatfield. About 1759, the town voted Noah Bridgeman a tract of land in this area. This settlement, and the one at what is now
known as Florence, were the earliest out-districts, which are still within the Northampton of today. No settlement had occurred
prior to this because of Indian troubles; however, the end of the French and Indian wars eliminated the problem within the
township. Noah Bridgeman and his son, also named Noah, were the first settlers of this area, establishing their homestead here
at the time of their grant. The homestead remained in the Bridgeman family until 1860.”
On the map of 1831 this house appears to be owned by S. Bridgeman. It has been suggested that William Lloyd Garrison may
have stayed at this house at the time of the Civil War. Further research is needed.
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.