58 North Main Street
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
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-258 Easthampton NTH.123
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 58 North Main Street
Historic Name: Sylvester J. Bosworth House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1870
Source: Atlas and History of Florence
Style/Form: front-gabled house
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
House sided in vinyl and windows replaced, ca. 2005.
Porch supports replaced, ca. 1980.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.548 acres
Setting: This house occupies a double lot and
faces north. Its side lot is landscaped.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [58 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.123
___ 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.
The Bosworth House is a relatively standard house form for the 1870s in Northampton and has several examples on North Main
Street. It is two-and-a-half stories in height under a front-gable roof with a single chimney on its roof ridge. The building is three
bays wide and the equivalent of four bays deep and its windows have been replaced with 1/1 vinyl sash. What remains on the
north façade suggesting the house may have been Italianate in style originally is a segmentally arched window in the gable field
as well as a main entry whose door has arched glass panels in its upper half. The house has a one-and-a-half story ell on the
south as well as an enclosed side porch. The main entry has a pedimented portico that is supported on wrought iron railings,
substitutions for earlier wood posts.
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: “This house was built for Sylvester Bosworth, a merchant and farmer, most likely during the 1870’s. In
1861, Mr. Bosworth had bought over 15 acres of land between Meadow and North Main Streets for $1500. The deed states that
this is the ‘homestead on which S.J. Bosworth now lives and occupies as a residence.’ However, this is probably referring to the
‘Polly Bosworth Place’ which was a small, one story house at the junction of the two streets. This had been built in 1817 by
William Warner, but long lived in by Polly Bosworth and Sylvester J. The small house was removed when Cosmian Hall was
built in the early 1870’s, and this is the probable date for the present house.”
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. 200-P. 13, 176-445