54 Prospect 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: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31B-127 Easthampton NTH.625
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 54 Prospect Street
Historic Name: Solomon Stoddard House, “The Manse”
Uses: Present: Four-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 18th century
Source: Town records
Style/Form: Georgian
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
North wing added, n.d.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.87 acres
Setting: This house is set on a rise in the landscape and is
surrounded by a large lawn shaded by mature trees. It is
largely shielded from street view.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [54 PROSPECT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.625
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. This house is on the National Register.
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 Manse is Northampton’s finest Georgian style house. It is a two-and-a-half story house under a gambrel roof on whose
ridge is a pair of chimneys flanking a copper-roofed belvedere and on whose lower slope are three dormers. The outer two
dormers have hipped roofs, the center dormer has a round-arched pediment with a flushboard field. The house is five bays wide
and five bays deep. The east façade has its outer windows set closely together and a centered entry beneath a pedimented
portico on four slender columns. Second floor windows are set close to the cornice. First floor windows of the façade and a ll the
windows of the side elevations have Georgian pedimented lintels that project from the plane of the house to suggest their
masonry inspiration.
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 1970: “Art Murals depicting history of the house by Prof. Oliver Larkin of Smith College
Government Col. John Stoddard (second owner of the house) was sent to Canada to negotiate the return of Deerfield natives,
which he did successfully. He was 16 times elected to the General Court and called by Trumbull (‘History of Northampton’) ‘one
of the five great leaders in shaping the affairs of Western Massachusetts.’
Dr. Benjamin Barrett, who owned the house from 1844 to 1889 was a member of the House of Representatives and the
State Senate.
Literature Dr. Josiah G. Holland, a protégé of Dr. Benjamin Barrett, lived in the house; for 17 years he was editor of the
Springfield Republican and founded Scribner’s Magazine. He wrote several novels and biographies including ‘Katherine,’
‘History of Western Massachusetts,’ and a ‘Life of Abraham Lincoln.’ He was an intimate friend of Emily Dickinson.
Religion The Manse was built by Solomon Stoddard in 1684. He was the 2nd minister of Northampton. During the 60 years he
served as minister, he was the dominant influence in the town. His grandson, Jonathan Edwards, lived in the house also. ‘The
profoundest thinker in 18th century America’- a ‘world famous theologian and philosopher.’”
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.