29 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, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
17C-253 Easthampton NTH.121
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 29 North Main Street
Historic Name: Nelson Davis House
Uses: Present: Offices and residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1870
Source: 1873 Atlas of Northampton
Style/Form: French Second Empire
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced; ell added, n.d.
Condition: fair/poor
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.435 acres
Setting: This building faces south at the edge of
Florence’s commercial district.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [29 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.121
___ 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 two-and-a-half story French Second Empire style house that once was one of the grandest houses in Florence. While
the style appears in Florence in small, one-and-a-half story houses, this may be the only example of the two-and-a-half story
version. There are several examples in Northampton Center, however. The south façade is composed of two corner angled bay
windows of two-and-a-half stories at each side of a three-and-a-half story center tower. The center tower has a mansard roof
capped by elaborate cresting rails. The angled bay windows are repeated at the northeast corner of the building and all three of
them have hipped dormers penetrating their mansard roofs. The dormers are ornamented with a metal cap at their peak. The
tower has pedimented dormers on its mansard roof. The building has a rear ell that was a later addition. Sash in the house is
replacement 1/1. A full-width porch on paired posts crosses the south façade. It has a solid railing and leads to a center entry
that is topped by a high transom light.
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 1976: “The house accommodated Nelson, on of the early entrepreneurs of Florence. Nelson Davis owned a
building in the center of the village that served as a drugstore and elicited commercial growth here.”
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.