110-112 Pine 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): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
23A-149 Easthampton NTH.208
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 110-112 Pine Street
Historic Name: Florence Congregational Church
Parsonage Uses: Present: three-family house
Original: one-family house
Date of Construction: ca. 1860
Source: History of Florence
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.01 acres
Setting: This house is located in a neighborhood of largely
19th century houses and its street is broad and tree-shaded.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [110 PINE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.208
__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 house under a side-gable roof with an Italianate style, centered, transverse gable. It is only three
bays wide and three bays deep, but the proportions of the house are large, which was a feature of the later Italianate style . It
has a hipped roof, partly glassed-in porch across the north façade and a portion of the east elevation. The porch rests on turned
posts with brackets at its eaves. There is a one-and-a-half story wing on the west elevation. It is two bays wide and has one
interior chimney, wide boxed eaves and a side entry with double windows at one side. Florence has many fine examples of the
Italianate style and this house ranks among the late versions with large proportions and simplified detail.
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.
According to Form B of 1980, “This […] house was originally built as a parsonage for the Florence Congregational Church. The
land for the church and parsonage was donated by the Greenville Manufacturing Company, a large cotton cloth manufactory in
Florence. The church was dedicated in October of 1861 and the parsonage was probably ready soon thereafter.”
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.
Sheffeld, Charles (ed.) History of Florence, Florence,1895.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [110 PINE STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.208
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 Congregational Church Parsonage 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.