111 Pleasant Street
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FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Recorded by: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32C-056 Easthampton NTH.935
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 111 Pleasant Street
Historic Name: Sylvester Graham House
Uses: Present: Commercial / Restaurant
Original: Residence
Date of Construction: c. 1800
Source: Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: French Second Empire and Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Granite
Wall/Trim: Brick
Roof: Slate and Asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Residence converted to commercial use and two wings
added, ca. 1920.
Condition: Good
Moved: no | | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.113 acres
Setting: Building sits very close to the street in the busy
Central Business District.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [111 PLEASANT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.935
___ 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 main block of the Graham building is two-and-a-half stories in height under a mansard roof in which there are open-
pedimented dormers on each elevation. Attached to the south elevation of the main block are a two-story connector and a two-
story wing, both with flat roofs. The main block has a commercial storefront on the first floor of its east façade with wood-framed
glass storefronts flanking a recessed center entry. It is approximately eight bays deep and there is a secondary entry on the
north elevation for a long rectangular plan. The connector is set back slightly from the plane of the façade of the main block. It
is one bay wide and contains an entry beneath a Colonial Revival style porch topped by a balustrade. The connector has a
dentil row at its cornice, an arched window at the second floor and a pair of doors at the first story level. In the same plane of
the main block is the wing of the building. It is two stories and two bays wide. A row of dentils links it to the connector building
on its north elevation. This is an additive building that has seen many changes. Not clearly visible or identifiable is an 1836
section.
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: “Dr. Sylvester Graham (1794-1851) was a scientist, food faddist and lecturer, vegetarian, follower of the
Temperance movement, and fresh air addict. Graham recommend that people eat whole wheat bread, avoid meat, and take cold
showers. His invention of the Graham Cracker won him national fame in spite of the many who disputed his views. The cracker
inventor bought this house in 1836 and lived there until his death in 1851. He was quite an eccentric about town, taking an early
morning dip in the Mill River, followed by a stroll down Main Street in his dressing gown. Dr. Graham died in 1851 and is buried
at the Bridge Street Cemetery. A plain thick sandstone shaft marks the gravesite of this “benefactor of mankind.”
Graham purchased “all the land forming the homestead of Eli P. Ashman” from George and Lewis Ashman according to Registry
of Deeds document 78.141.
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 78.141