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153 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): May, 2011 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 22B-31 Easthampton NTH.148 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 153 Pine Street Historic Name: H. Smith House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: ca. 1850 Source: map of 1860 Style/Form: Greek Revival transitional to Italianate Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Pool and poolhouse Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.525 acres Setting: This house is on the outer western margin of residences on Pine Street and is set on a tree-shaded lot. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [153 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.148 _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. The Smith House is a good example of a Greek Revival style house built late in the style’s period when the Italianate style was becoming popular so its builder incorporated elements of each style. It is a one-and-a-half story house with a front-gable roof. The south façade is three bays wide and the east and west elevations are the equivalent of four bays long for a rectangular plan. There is a cross-gable wing on the east, a one-story square bay window on the west, and a one-and-a-half story ell on the north. The clapboard-sided house has wide Greek Revival style corner pilasters that rise to an entablature beneath the eaves with a wide frieze in Greek Revival style. The south entry has a trabeated surround with full-length sidelights. However, the south façade also has Italianate style, full-length first floor windows with 4/4 sash and shed-roof lintels on the second story that are Italianate in style as well. A porch on Doric columns crosses the south façade and wraps around the east elevation to end at the wing. It was probably a Colonial Revival addition made at the end of the 19th century. 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 compact, 1 ½ story residence is located on the road to the lower bridge crossing in Florence. It predates Florence’s rise to industrial prominence, and probably predates Florence itself, as that name was given to this general area in the early 1850’s when the Post Office was established.” Ownership of this house appears to have remained in the same family for several generations, though the genealogy is not entirely clear. In 1860 on the map of that year the house was owned by H. Smith. The Massachusetts census of 1865 lists Henry and Elizabeth Smith in Northampton among several other H. Smiths who were farmers. In 1873 the map indicates the house was still in the Smith family ownership, though the first initial is unreadable. Finally in 1884 H. Smith is still in the house to be replaced by Plympton Smith in 1895. Plympton Smith is listed in Northampton in 1865 and in 1870, though not in 1900. In the 1865 Massachusetts census Plympton Smith was listed with his wife Mary in Northampton with children Ida, Kate, and Isaac and Plympton was a merchant. Plympton and Mary were in their mid-30s. By 1870 Plympton and Catherine Smith were listed. They were in their 40s, and he was a carpenter. They had children Helen, Perry, Jennie and George as children. While this is not impossible, it is unlikely and more research needs to be done to identify more closely the secession of owners of the house. 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. U.S. federal censuses 1850-1900. Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884. Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [153 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 NTH.148 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.