27 Park 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): May, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
23A-23 Easthampton NTH.169
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 27 Park Street
Historic Name: Edwin Brewer House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1895
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboard, shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: Good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.137 acres
Setting: This house occupies a corner lot and
faces west on a residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [27 PARK STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.169
_x__ 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-and-a-half story Queen Anne style house. It has a hipped roof with a cross-gable on the west and a cross-gable
wing on the south, as well as an ell on the east. Returns at both gables make full returns to form pedim ents that are shingle-
sided in contrast to the lower two stories that have clapboard siding. A porch on turned Queen Anne posts crosses the west
façade and continues on the south elevation until it abuts the south wing. Supports on the porch are turned posts and there are
turned braces at the eaves. The first floor of the west façade is only two bays wide, a conceit often used in the Queen Anne
style in Northampton during this period. A narrow entry under a simple projecting lintel is adjacent to a large, fixed light window.
At the second story three bays have windows with 2/2 sash and projecting cornice lintels, windows that are repeated throughout
the house.
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: “This is one of two identical houses built in the mid 1890’s next to each other on Park Street. Charles
Gould bought ¼ of an acre on the east side of Park Street, north of West Center Street in 1895 and sold the land in two parcels
within a few months. This parcel was bought by Edwin Brewer, a carpenter, who possibly constructed both houses. The 1895
atlas shows the two houses.”
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. 478-P. 130
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [27 PARK STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.169
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district
Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district
Criteria: A B C D
Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G
Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
This property would contribute to a Florence Center Historic District. The potential historic district of Florence
Center is significant as the commercial, residential, institutional center of the village that developed from 1657 when
it was set off as Northampton’s “Inner Commons” as agricultural land and 1681 when the first sawmill was erected at
a falls on the Mill River. The agricultural and industrial village developed through the 18th and 19th centuries around
industry on the Mill River, agriculture on the alluvial flood plain and the Strong Tavern and later Cottage Hotel at the
intersection of Main and Maple Streets. It is significant for the silk industry that flourished through the Civil war as
an alternative to slave-picked cotton and for the establishment of the Northampton Association for Education and
Industry, a utopian community that existed 1843-1847. Association members after its close continued in Florence
their principles of equality by running the Underground Railroad through the village and harboring fugitive slaves. It
is significant as the home of Sojourner Truth. 19th century industry in the Center included the Florence Sewing
Machine Company, which built its own housing.
Architecturally the Center is significant for the range of Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick Style, French Second
Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style homes, for its commercial blocks and library in the Revival styles of
the late 19th century. Gothic Revival and Italianate style churches are architect-designed in high style versions. The
potential district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.