61 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-249 Easthampton NTH.2536
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 61 North Main Street
Historic Name: Jehiel Davis House
Uses: Present: residential/commercial
Original: residential
Date of Construction: 1869-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds, map of 1873
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: asbestos shingles
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced, ca. 2000. siding added, ca. 1970.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.5 acres
Setting: This house faces south and shares a lot
with two other houses.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [61 North Main Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2536
___ 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 Italianate style was favored in Florence above other styles during the 1850s through the 1870s and this house is
representative of the architectural level of the mainstream. It is relatively simple in form, but has the distinctive decorative
ornament and features of the style. The house is front-gabled and is two-and-a-half stories in height. It is three bays wide and a
tower at its southeast corner adds a fourth bay. It is the equivalent of four bays deep and has a two-story ell on the north with
side porches on both first and second stories on the east elevation. The porch on the first story is partially enclosed. There is a
full-width porch on the south façade that is supported on Italianate style posts with scroll-cut brackets at the eaves. As was
typical of Italianate houses, the porch has no railings. First floor windows on the south façade are full-length, a feature of the
style and lintels are shallow pedimented hoods with bracket supports. The door surround follows the same pattern.
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 1869, Jehiel Davis bought lots no. 6 and 7 of the Littlefield and Graves subdivision plan for the area
bound by Graves Street (later Myrtle Street, now Bardwell Street), North Main Street and North Maple Street in Florence. The
house was built by 1873 as it is shown on the atlas of that year. Mr. Davis became superintendent of the Florence Furniture Co.
when it was founded in 1873.” This history refers to one of the three houses on this lot, 61 North Main Street. The two other
houses on this lot were added after 1900, possibly as workers’s housing for the nearby Florence Furniture Company.
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.