96 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-19 Easthampton NTH.84
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 96 North Maple Street
Historic Name: Erastus P. Root House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1884-1895
Source: Atlases
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replaced with 1/1 sash, n.d.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.426 acres
Setting: This is an east-facing house on a street
that is solidly residential.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [96 NORTH MAPLE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.84
___ 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 well-maintained Erastus Root house is one of the larger houses on North Maple Street. It is two-and-a-half stories in height
under a front-gable roof and it has a two-and-a-half story ell on the west that is four bays long. The main block of the house is
three bays wide and four bays deep and it has a full-width porch across its east façade that is Queen Anne in style with turned
posts and scroll-cut brackets at its eaves. It has a railing with square balusters. There is a single-story bay window on the south
elevation adjacent on the first story to a clapboard-enclosed stair window. The ell has a full-length, two story porch across its
south elevation. The porch at each story has turned posts, and scroll-cut brackets with square baluster railings arranged in four
bays.
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 1883, Erastus Root bought ¼ acres on North Main Street for $300. The house does not appear on the
1884 atlas, but was probably built soon thereafter. The 1888 directory lists Mr. Root at this address and describes him as a
carriage maker, with a shop on North Maple Street near the railroad.”
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