321-331 Riverside Drive
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
30A-033-038 Easthampton NTH.423
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Bay State
Address: 321-331 Riverside Drive
Historic Name: Cutlery Worker’s Housing-The Block
Uses: Present: Six-family housing
Original: Six-family housing
Date of Construction: c. 1840
Source: visual evidence
Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: granite
Wall/Trim: brick/granite/shingles
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: Cumulatively, over one acre.
Setting: This rowhouse sits on a high lot
overlooking the river and facing south.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [321-331 RIVERSIDE DRIVE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.423
_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.
This is a fine example of high quality worker’s housing from the early 19th century. It is a row of six units, two-and-a-half stories
in height under a side-gable roof. Each house is three bays wide and the row is two bays deep. The end walls rise as stepped
parapet walls and contain two chimneys each. There are two additional chimneys on the roof. The building has the simplicity of
the Federal style with straight granite lintels and sills for the windows with 6/6 sash and for the entries. The cornice beneath the
eaves is corbelled. There is an added one story screened porch on the west end of the building.
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: “This block of worker’s housing, now privately owned, was long the property of the factory concern acros s
the road. Last owned by the Northampton Cutlery, the brick block may have been constructed by the Northampton Paper Mills
in the period of 1835-1848. A map of property belonging to the Bay State Hardware Company in 1867 indicates the brick block
overlooking the Mill River and a company established boardinghouse was mentioned in the Gazette as early as 1841, although
another building may have served the purpose.
The practice of providing mill workers with conveniently located lodgings was an integral part of the factory system.
Some industrialists found this to be an excellent means of controlling the laborers —factory operatives were in some instances
overcharged for the services they received. Some moralists felt it necessary to bring the laborer under the paternal wing of the
industrialist for whom he worked; other reformers regarded the system of factory housing as an evil which contributed to the
plight of the working class.”
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, Hampshire County, 286.306, 283.317, 276.103, 240.190, 180.422, 174.312-318, 164.370, 155.115, 140.7,
130.109, 129.281
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [321-331 RIVERSIDE DRIVE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.423
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 Paper Mill Village Historic District for the industry that occupied the site on the
Mill River from 1789 – 1889 and included a water power system, whose canal remains, as well as a boarding house
for its workers at 111-117 Milton Street, the Mill superintendent’s house at 122 Federal Street and The Block at 321-
331 Riverside. Several properties not yet inventoried would contribute to the potential district as well. Subsequent
history of the properties would develop further industrial uses and residences for those associated with the cutlery
industry after 1889. The remains of a canal are important as part of a water power system that began in the late 18th
century.
Architecturally the buildings in this potential historic district represent Federal and Greek Revival and the common
forms constructed for boarding houses, superintendents’ houses, single-family workers’ house and a paper mill.