177 North Main 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
16D-17 Easthampton NTH.65
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 177 North Main Street
Historic Name: Thomas P. Smith House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1870-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas
Style/Form: Gothic Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding applied and windows replaced, ca. 2005
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.42 acres
Setting: This is a south-facing house in a
residential section of Route 9.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [177 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.65
___ 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 house that is gable-and-wing in form and from the steep pitch of its roof and broad eaves
overhang, was originally more Gothic Revival in style than it now appears. It is very similar to the Gothic Revival style house at
124 North Main Street in plan and elevation. The main block of the house is three bays wide and the side hall entry is sheltered
by a hood on consoles that were extended full-length and latticed for a unique entry. The wing of the house has an equally
steeply pitched roof with a shed-roof dormer, and a porch across its south façade that has been extended and enclosed. The
house has been vinyl sided and its windows replaced, so it has lost a large portion of its stylistic character.
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, Thomas Smith, a painter, acquired lot no. 2 of Charles Warren’s subdivision plan for the north
side of North Main Street in Florence. North Main Street had long existed as the ‘road to Williamsburg,’ but hadn’t been
developed residentially until the 1860’s. Mr. Warren had purchased much of the land along the northern side of the street early
in the 1860’s and sold lots for homesteads throughout the next two decades. In 1867, the Williamsburg division of the New
Haven and Northampton Railroad was completed. This connected the mill villages of Williamsburg and Northampton, including
Florence, to the main north-south railroad in the center of Northampton. The railroad ran parallel to, and just north of, Main and
North Main Streets in Florence and a depot was established on North Maple Street. Mr. Warren’s homestead lots backed up to
the railroad right-of-way.”
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