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-179 Easthampton NTH.657
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: Prospect Street
Historic Name: Davis Student Center
Uses: Present: Smith College Student Center
Original: Classical School for Girls gymnasium
Date of Construction: 1898
Source: Smith College Archives
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: clapboards, flushboard
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 3.4 acres
Setting: This building is set back from the street
behind a large lawn.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [PROSPECT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.657
_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.
Davis Student Center is a one-story building under a hipped roof on which there are two cupolas, one at each end. The main
block of the building is ten bays long and there are shallow wings on north and south that add two more bays to the whole. The
exterior of the building is divided as if it were two stories. The lower portion of the building is flushboard sided and on the east
façade it has a band of French doors that open to the building’s main space behind a low, open porch. Above the flushboard the
building is clapboard sided and divided into three bays by two colossal pilasters that support a full entablature. The center bay
consists of eight windows with triple sash of 16/8/8. The windows have architrave surrounds with capped lintels. In the outer
two bays of this façade are two windows with 12 light fixed sash between two-light transoms. The north and south wings of the
building are framed with pilasters and have recessed corner entries that are flushboarded. The well-designed building meets its
functional purposes while contributing to the Colonial Revival architecture of the Smith Campus and its surrounding
neighborhood.
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: “Smith College’s Davis Student Center, located between Prospect Street and Henshaw Avenue, contains
a snack bar, ballroom, and space for various campus organizations.”
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.