33 Prospect 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): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31B-204 Easthampton NTH.678
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 33 Prospect Street
Historic Name: Gill Hall
Uses: Present: Smith College Campus School
Original: School Building
Date of Construction: 1918
Source: Smith College Archives
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Richardson & Driver, Architects of
Boston Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick and stone
Wall/Trim: stucco
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Ramp access added, ca. 2000
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.55 acres
Setting: This building is located on a lot that
slopes down to the east and is shared with other college
buildings.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [33 PROSPECT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.678
_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.
Gill Hall is a Colonial Revival style, stucco building that is one and a half stories in height under a slate-covered, gambrel roof.
The building is L-shaped in plan and the rear cross gable, located on the slope of the lot, is two-and-a-half stories in height. The
main block of the building has a front-gable roof. It is three bays wide and has a center entry reached through an open,
gambrel-roofed portico on heavy, Doric columns. Respondent pilasters frame the double-leaf entry beneath a semi-circular
fanlight. Centered above the portico is a three-window composition that has its own segmentally-arched fanlight. Slate-sided
shed-roofed dormers are located on the south roof of the main block and on the west elevation of the wing. A gambrel-roofed
dormer is centered on the wing roof. The dormer has two windows beneath a segmentally arched fanlight. An added ramp and
secondary entry are located at first floor level on the wing. This architect-designed building is late Colonial Revival, altering the
traditional proportions and forms for an early 20th century interpretation of the style.
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 1977: “This building was done by Richardson and Driver in 1918. It replaced the original Gill Hall, which was
part of the Capen School. Gill Hall is now used as a day school by the Department of Education.”
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] [33 PROSPECT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.678
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 potential Round Hill Historic District. This potential historic district is significant according to criteria A
and C and would have local significance.
The residential streets that cross Round Hill are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of development in Northampton from
the early 19th century (1807) through the 1950s. Residential development began on Round Hill with the establishment of gentleman’s estates
but grew with schools and a resort hotel until the 1890s when residential development increased significantly. From the 1890s through the
1950s (1959 McAlister Infirmary) Round Hill became home to Northampton’s wealthy and to the Clarke School for the Deaf.
Architecturally this area of Northampton is significant for the range of residential architectural styles including the Queen Anne and Colonial
Revival, and for its institutional buildings in the French Second Empire, through High Victorian Gothic and Colonial Revival styles ending
with the American International style. The potential district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.