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83 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 23A-134 Easthampton NTH.201 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 83 Pine Street Historic Name: Hill Institute Uses: Present: educational facility Original: educational facility Date of Construction: 1876 Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, Mar. 15, 1887 Style/Form: Queen Anne Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards, concrete block, glass Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Carriage barn Major Alterations (with dates): Ell and wing added, ca. 1980 Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 1.7 acres Setting: This building faces south on a large, tree- shaded lot on a mainly residential street. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [83 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.201 _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 large frame school building two-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof. Its south façade has a centered, front-gable pavilion one bay wide and two bays deep, which contains the main entry to the building under a hipped roof portico supported on posts with braces at the eaves. At each side of the pavilion is a three-story, front-gabled bay that is angled at the first story but square above. These two bays rise through a shed roofed porch that rests on posts with braces at their eaves. They have at the second and third stories triple windows on the south façade with 4/4 sash. The 4/4 sash is also found in the remaining windows of the building. The porches have spindled friezes and railings with square balusters. The main block of the school is two bays deep and extending from its north elevation is a two-and-a-half story ell. The varied forms of this building from pavilion to bays make it a Queen Anne style building whose aim was to be varied in plan and elevation as a picturesque composition. A shingled, concrete block, and glass, one-story ell and wing extends beyond the north elevation. It is a later addition. 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 1976: “The Hill Institute was built in 1876 under the sponsorship of Samuel L. Hill. Mr. Hill may be remembered as having pioneered the Northampton Association for Education and Industry in the mid-nineteenth century; an institution providing for its members moral, literary, scientific and agricultural instruction. He is also noted for the operation of an Underground Railroad station, aiding and abetting the safe transport of slaves from one destination to another. A Board of Trustees was set up in 1882 to manage the institute and included A.G. Hill, A.T. Lilly and E.K. Learned. He endowment can be attributed to Samuel Hill and Alfred Lilly, the latter enabling the institute to expand its activities to meet the vital needs of the community. Mr. Hill, having always a keen interest in the affairs of Florence, established a Mothers Club and Parents Meetings at the school. The school was set up primarily as a kindergarten affording every child in Florence from ages three to seven a free education. The institute was divided into three floors, the first for general recreation, the second for older children learning occupations and the third for advanced pupils. In 1905, a department of manual training was opened here. Both day and evening classes were held providing for endeavors in wood and metal work, weaving and dressmaking. The work produced here ranged from simplistic to rather complex artistic designs. In 1935, more than 5000 persons attended the annual exhibition at the Hill Institute viewing individual works from the primary grades and vocational classes.” 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. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [83 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 NTH.201 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 Hill Institute would contribute to a Florence Center Historic District and it would also stand as an individual listing on the National Register for its progressive establishment to provide free education through Kindergarten to Florence children in 1876. 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.