17 Park Avenue
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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
31B-313 Easthampton NTH.638
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 17 Park Avenue
Historic Name: Asahel and Wealthy Abell Workshop
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Workshop, attributed
Date of Construction: 1854-1860
Source: Maps
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick, concrete
Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles
Roof: asphalt, metal
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Shed
Major Alterations (with dates):
Dormer added, portico added, garage doors converted to
windows, roof re-built, patio and patio doors added, ca.
2000.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.08 acres
Setting: This building is located on a dead end street and
is surrounded by a picket fence.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [23 PARK AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.638
___ 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 Abell Workshop at 17 Park Avenue is a two-and-a-half story, clapboard and shingle-sided building with a full third story
created by a hipped roof dormer on its roof ridge. The building has a side-gable roof and at the southwest corner of its south
façade is a one-and-a-half story ell for an L-shaped plan. The main block of the building is six bays wide and has recently
undergone rehabilitation as a two-family residence with new fenestration, the third story dormer, reconstructed roof, and new
portico added to its south façade. From a utilitarian outbuilding/tenement, the building has been converted to a two-family
residence in Colonial Revival style. Its widened eaves make short returns in the gable ends while a beltcourse connecting them
creates pediments that are shingle-sided on both the main block and the south ell. A double leaf garage/carriage barn entry on
the east end of the south façade has been replaced by a triple window composition while sash has been converted to vinyl 6/6.
A Colonial Revival style, front-gabled portico with a barrel vault shelters the main entry to the building on the south façade. It is
supported on two pairs of posts and has respondent pilasters at each side of the entry. Slightly off -center on the roof is a third
story space that is made up of a hipped roof dormer. It has a triple window composition on its south façade. The east side of
the roof of the south ell extends beyond the plane of the ell to create a porch supported on posts.
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: “Asahel S. Abell, a local carpenter, acquired ¾ of an acre of Lyman’s Lane (later Park Street, now
Trumbull Road) in 1839, and constructed his residence (now 15 Park Avenue) soon thereafter. The 1854 map shows his
residence fronting on Park Street, but no building in the rear. The 1860 map shows a structure behind his residence, and the
1873 atlas gives the building outline, which corresponds to this house. Mr. Abell lost title to his property in an 1866 County
Supreme Court action, but continued residing in his house until his death c. 1880. After his widow’s death in the early 1890’s,
Porter Underwood, the owner of the property, had the Abell’s house moved to the rear of the lot, east of this house. He then
sold the Park Street frontage for two building lots. The original building was probably used for tenements, though the garage
doors are unusual.”
According to the state census of 1855, Asahel was a sash and blind maker and in 1865 he was listed as a carpenter, and in
other federal censuses he listed his occupation variously as mechanic and joiner. Given his related occupations that all req uired
work space, it is likely that this building was originally a workshop on his property.
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.
Massachusetts State Censuses of 1855 and 1865.
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. 256-P. 72, 234-389, 86-22