101 North Maple 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
17C-34 Easthampton NTH.86
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 101 North Maple Street
Historic Name: Sylvester J. Bosworth House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family house
Date of Construction: 1867-1873
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: wood shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced with vinyl, ca. 2005.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.399 acres
Setting: This house faces west on a quiet
residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [101 NORTH MAPLE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.86
___ 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 an Italianate style house relatively simple in plan and elevation. It is two stories in height under a front-
gable roof that has wide eaves that are thinly boxed. The roof on the south elevation extends at the south east corner to
become a shed roof over a one-story wing once bay wide and two bays deep. The house is three bays wide and has a fine
recessed entry with a trabeated surround of wide pilasters whose entablature has been obscured by the porch roof. Between
the pilasters is a high transom light and the door is flanked by full-length sidelights. The porch, which appears to have been a
later addition wraps across the west façade and most of the south elevation. It has Queen Anne style turned posts on high
pedestals with scroll-cut brackets at the eaves and a square baluster railing. Now wood shingle-sided, the house would
originally have been clapboard sided.
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 1867, the railroad came to Florence. A depot and freight house were built on North Maple Street near
Main Street and industry grew up nearby. Most of the land between Main Street and Bridge Road was a wooded plateau, and
suitable for residential development. By 1873, over a dozen houses had been built along the street. This house appears on the
1873 atlas and was owned by Sylvester J. Bosworth, a Florence merchant who lived on North Main Street. Thus, this house
must have been leased out originally. About 1890, Fred Readio, a carpenter, bought the property and used it as his residence.”
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. 246-P. 151