78 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-223 Easthampton NTH.2105
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 78 Pomeroy Terrace
Historic Name: Osmyn Baker House
Uses: Present: Institution
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1855
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, 10/27/1855,
12/11/1855 Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: William Fenno Pratt
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brownstone
Wall/Trim: stucco
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Accessible ramp added, ca. 2000; porch enclosed and
second story addition made, ca. 1990.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 7.18 acres
Setting: This building faces west and occupies a
large landscaped lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [78 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2105
_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 Baker House is a grand Italianate style house that differs from its many Italianate style neighbors by being masonry
construction rather than being frame, although it shares with a number of them design by William Fenno Pratt, Northampton
architect. This is a two-story house under a truncated hipped roof that has wide eaves. The stucco building has corner pilasters
that rise and merge with a wide frieze, creating frames for each elevation of the main block of the house. The house is three
bays wide and three bays deep and there is a two-story rear ell. The main entry on the west façade is slightly recessed below a
wide transom light and is sheltered by a portico on exotic battered columns with acanthus leaf bases resting on high pedestals.
The portico roof has a row of modillion blocks below its cornice. At second story level the center bay is occupied by an arched
window below an arched lintel. The window has narrow sidelights. The south elevation of the main block of the house has a
verandah on Ionic columns. The verandah has been enclosed where it extends along the ell, but its columns remain visible and
engaged. The south elevation of the main block has full-length Italianate windows. A second story addition has been made
above the verandah on the south elevation.
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: “Osmyn Baker was an attorney and the leading spirit in the founding of the Hampshire County Law
Library and the Public Library. He was the first president of the Smith Charities and a Trustee of the Clarke School. Also a
junior counselor to Daniel Webster in the case of Oliver Smith’s will. He was also a member of the Untied States Congress.
After her father’s death, Miss Elizabeth Baker occupied the house before selling it to Mr. French, who in turn sold it to
the Watson family. In 1924, it was purchased by Miss Sarah Whitaker and Miss Dorothy Bement for the administration building
of the Northampton School for Girls, which they founded.”
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] [78 POMEROY TERRACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2105
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 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.