6-8 Pomeroy Terrace
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-238 Easthampton NTH.2116
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 6-8 Pomeroy Terrace
Historic Name: Henry Staplin Rental House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Two-family residence
Date of Construction: 1886-1895
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added and windows replaced, ca. 1990
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.328 acres
Setting: This is a west-facing house that is set
above the Northampton Fairgrounds to the east.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [6-8 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2116
_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 Staplin Rental House is a double house under a pyramidal hipped roof, whose double-residence nature is reflected in its
west façade that is two-and-a-half stories with projecting angled bay on the north and a projecting round tower on the south. The
projecting angled bay has a squared-off, front-gable that projects beyond the lower stories and contains in its field a recessed
arched porch opening at the attic level. Between the bay and tower is a stacked porch through which one enters the house in
the center bay. The stacked porch has a shed roof and at each story it is supported by turned Queen Anne style posts and a
decorative scroll-cut railing ornaments the second story. At the rear of the house is a two-and-a-half story ell that follows cross-
gabled bays on the north and south elevations. There is a side porch on the south elevation that also has turned post supports.
As this description suggests, the house has the complexity of plan and elevation that was favored by the Queen Anne style for
its visual liveliness and picturesque qualities, both of which the house possesses.
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: “In 1886, Henry Staplin, a Main Street milliner, purchased parts of lots 1 and 2 on the eastern side of
Pomeroy Terrace. These lots resulted from the subdivision of the Samuel Wright estate in 1884. Mr. Staplin never seems to
have lived in this house and probably had it constructed as a rental property. It is one of the most decorative double houses in
Northampton, and the only such house on Pomeroy Terrace.”
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: Bk. 401-P. 72
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [6-8 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2116
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 Staplin two-family 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. This potential historic district has
integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.