41 Williams 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: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32C-341 Easthampton NTH.2171
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 41 Williams Street
Historic Name: The Belding Tenements
Uses: Present: Nine-unit residence
Original: Apartment building
Date of Construction: c. 1880
Source: Atlases
Style/Form: High Victorian Gothic
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Brick
Wall/Trim: Brick and aluminum
Roof: unknown
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Enclosed front porches
Condition:
Moved: no | | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.154 acres
Setting: Building faces east on a quiet residential street of
late 19th century homes. Minimal shrubbery surrounds the
building.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [41 WILLIAMS STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2171
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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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 three-story brick tenement building with a pyramidal roof with a center wall gable facing Williams Street. Stylistically, it
is a modest example of the high Victorian Gothic style due to its polychromatic brickwork which is hidden in some parts by ivy.
The center of the five bay front façade is dominated by an enclosed, aluminum sided three-story porch. The building is
comprised of two sections. The first is five bays deep with the fifth bay being an entry and then fire escape on the second and
third floors. The second section, slightly recessed from the first section, is also five bays deep. Thin dark brick banding encircles
the building on all three floors as a decorative feature. The segmentally arched windows have brick lintels and brownstone sills.
The building also has a brownstone watertable. The building currently has two brick chimneys on its northern elevation. Form B
of 1980 shows that there was a third brick chimney on this elevation at one time and there may have been more. There is an
enclosed one-story side entry on the southern elevation 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 1980: “This large, brick tenement was constructed to house workers of the Belding Brothers & Company silk
mill, which was located on Hawley Street. Belding Brothers, a Connecticut corporation, established a branch plant here in 1876.
They were the first large outside enterprise to locate in Northampton. The block is the only building of its type in this area, and is
probably the first to have been built in Northampton. Some row housing had been constructed in town but cottages were the
predominant building type for mill workers.”
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.