54 Old South 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: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31D-234 Easthampton NTH.2010
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 54 Old South Street
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: Four-family residence
Original: Single family residence
Date of Construction: 1761
Source: 1972 property owner
Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Brick
Wall/Trim: Vinyl
Roof: Asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Vinyl siding & windows (late 20th century)
Condition: Good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.35 acres
Setting: Property faces north onto a busy street of former
single family homes that have been converted to
apartments or businesses.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [54 OLD SOUTH STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2010
___ 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.
This is a two story Federal style home with low pitched hipped roof and low brick foundation. Most of the original architectural
features have been removed or replaced with vinyl copies. This house is five bays wide and two bays deep. As an earlier house,
this house carries over some Georgian features such as the front entry door, which has a tall trabeated door surround topped by
a broken pediment. The vinyl windows are six over six sash. Second story windows of the front façade as well as all windows on
the western elevation have projecting vinyl cornices. Windows may have had Georgian crown molding, but we don’t know
because of the vinyl covering. The house also has large paired brick chimneys on the opposite slopes of the roof. There is a
large two-story rear ell on the southern elevation of the home.
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 1972: “ This house was built in 1761 by a brother of Noah Parsons who built the house next door at 48 Old
South Street. According to Trumbull's History of Northampton, the property of Noah Parsons was divided in 1749. The two front
rooms are in the original condition. The present owner Dick Fish purchased the house from Mrs. Hazel Turner in 1960. Her
father Charles Howard owned it before that time- in the 1930s and perhaps earlier.”
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.
Trumball, History of Northampton
Property owner in 1970s (Form B of 1972)