58 Phillips Place (formerly 47 Pomero:
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
32A-190 Easthampton NTH.2079
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 58 Phillips Place (formerly 47 Pomeroy
Terrace) Historic Name: Watson L. Smith House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1865
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, 12/26/65,
11/30/66 Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: William F. Pratt, architect,
Northampton Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: asbestos shingles
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
East porch enclosed, entrance added on south, ca. 1970.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.248 acres
Setting: This house occupies a corner lot at the
intersection of two residential streets.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [47 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2079
__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-story Italianate style house under a flat roof that has wide, bracket-supported eaves. Paired brackets with
pendants frame metal attic grilles on several elevations, which is an Italianate feature found elsewhere on Phillips Place.
Currently the primary entrance is on the south elevation facing on to Phillips Place, but originally the main entrance was on the
east elevation, now Pomeroy Terrace. The east elevation is four bays wide and centered on it is a rectangular plan pavilion of
two stories. At first floor level, what was originally a full-width porch across the east façade has been partially enclosed except
for the northernmost two bays that remain as a corner porch on Doric columns. The porch entry has globe-topped balusters and
later-added, wrought iron railings. The new south entrance has a hipped roof portico resting on heavy Doric columns. This
elevation is three bays wide and windows have architrave surrounds with crown molding lintels on brackets and replacement 1/1
vinyl sash. There is an angled, two-story bay window in the angle between the west ell and the main block. It has arched
windows whose sash has been replaced with square vinyl, 1/1 sash with the arch glazing left intact. Clearly this house has lost
much of its original appearance in the conversion to a three-family residence, yet retains enough of its form to suggest its
Italianate origins designed by William Fenno Pratt.
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 1975: “This Phillips Place residence was built in 1865-1866 for Watson L. Smith. Like many other residences of
various styles in the Pomeroy Terrace-Phillips Place area, his bracketed residence was designed by William F. Pratt. The Smith
House cost $5000 and was described by the Gazette as ‘one of the handsomest dwellings in that locality.’
While not outstanding, the house is included in the inventory as it is a William Pratt work and it supports and enhances
the other Pratt residences in the Phillips Place-Pomeroy Terrace area.”
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: 967.128, 231.532
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [47 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2079
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.
The Smith House would contribute to a potential Pomeroy Terrace historic district that developed south and east of
the Bridge Street Cemetery from the second third of the 19th century as Northampton’s finest residential district.
Original residents here were merchants, retired farmers, lawyers, and other professions. As the century progressed the
adjacent streets were laid out for the growing middle class with railroad personnel joining clerks, teachers, and others.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the fine examples of the 19th century architectural styles
from the Greek and Gothic Revivals, Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. The district includes
significant examples of the work of Northampton architect William Fenno Pratt, including the Smith House whose
alterations could be reversed. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and
materials.