88 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, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
17C-263 Easthampton NTH.128
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 88 North Main Street
Historic Name: Florence Methodist-Episcopal Parsonage
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1881-1884
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced, ca. 2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.25 acres
Setting: This is a north-facing house on a
residential section of Route 9.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [88 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.128
___ 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 parsonage follows in plan and elevation one of the most popular house forms of the late 19th century, other examples of
which are to be found in number on North Main Street. It is two-and-a-half stories in height under a front gable roof. It is three
bays wide and the equivalent of three bays deep. The clapboard-sided house has an angled bay window on the east and a
cross-gable bay on the west, to add volume to the interior. The house has been well-maintained and cared for since 1980
although its 2/2 wood sash has been replaced with 1/1 metal sash. In the gable field of the north façade is a Palladian window
composition that together with the wide eaves give the house an Italianate stylistic identity.
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 1881, the Reverend Martin Chapin sold one-third of an acre fronting on North Main Street just south of
his homestead to the Trustees of the Florence Methodist-Episcopal Church. Within the deed, it was stated that Rev. Chapin ‘will
spend not less and $1300 within six months on the parsonage.’ The present house was built as the parsonage and is shown on
the 1884 atlas. It continued in use as a parsonage until the Florence church merged with the Northampton church in the mid-
20th century.”
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. 346-P. 201