185 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-16 Easthampton NTH.64
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 185 North Main Street
Historic Name: Charles W. Merry House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1872-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: Charles Merry, Builder, attributed
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added, windows replaced, ca. 2005
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.417 acres
Setting: This house faces south towards the Mill
River and Route 9.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [185 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.64
___ 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.
One of the earlier houses on North Main Street, this is a two-and-a-half story house with a front-gable roof and a two-and-a-half
story wing on the east, as well as a two-and-a-half story ell on the north for a T-shaped plan. The main block of the house is
three bays wide and has a side hall entry sheltered by an added, front-gabled portico on posts. Windows have replacement 1/1
sash and simple drip mold surrounds. The wing is three bays wide and has a porch across its north façade that has a shed roof
supported on Italianate fluted posts and respondent fluted pilasters. A portion of the porch has been enclosed. There is a third
entry to the house in the ell and it has a shed roof portico. Construction of the house with its boxed eaves that make returns and
the building’s tall proportions give it a post-1850 appearance.
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 1872, Charles Merry, a carpenter, acquired lot no. 3 on Charles Warren’s subdivision plan for the north
side of North Main Street in Florence for $250. Mr. Merry probably constructed this house himself, and is listed as living here i n
the 1873 directory.”
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