Bright Street 28.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. FORM B − BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY 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-138 Easthampton NTH.631 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 28 Bright Street Historic Name: John
Rowe House Uses: Present: two-family residence Original: single-family residence Date of Construction: 1881-1885 Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette 1/23/1883; 5/15/1883; 6/17/1884. Style/Form:
eclectic Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: vinyl Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage Major Alterations (with dates): Sided,
windows replaced, porch enclosed ca. 1990 Condition: fair-good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Date Acreage: 0.247 acres Setting: this house faces north on a tree-shaded residential street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [28 BRIGHT STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.631 _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 one of several similar eclectic style houses built on Bright Street in the 1880s. The shared
characteristics among the houses are the jerkin head roofs a Queen Anne style feature, Stick Style ornament, and for two of the houses there are center projecting pavilions on their
facades and paired interior chimneys. This is a one-and-a-half story house with a pavilion projecting from its north façade, similar to the house at 33 Bright Street. It has two interior
chimneys. Unfortunately, this house has been sided in vinyl covering its Stick Style siding that was visible in 1980, thereby obscuring, if not removing, much of the house’s stylistic
appearance. There is a rear two-story addition under a shed roof and the front porch, also under a shed roof, has been enclosed. Remaining from the house’s eclectic origins is a Gothic
Revival style lancet window in the second story of the pavilion. 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 the 1980 form: “Parker R. Whitcomb purchased a large tract of land known as the Bright Estate
from Professor Benjamin Blodgett about 1881 and the two men collaborated on developing Bright Street through the center of the Estate. By January 1883, Whitcomb had erected several cottages
and and planned to build others; in June, 1884, a total of nine cottages had been built along the new street. Whitcomb retained the properties and leased them to tenants until just after
the turn of the century.” Several of the houses that Whitcomb built were designed by Northampton architectural firm William Fenno Pratt and Son. 33 Bright Street was among those documented
as having been designed by the Pratt firm but similarities between the two houses suggest this house may also have been Pratt’s work. Listed in the 1917 directory as residing here is
John Rowe. John and Elizabeth Rowe and their eight children had previously lived in Leeds where John was a blacksmith and made a shift to a repair shop. By 1937 the Rowes were replaced
by Bartholomew and Mary Bresnahan. Bartholomew was Chief of Police for Northampton and Mary worked on the staff of Smith College. 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. Daily Hampshire Gazette. January 23, 1883; May 15, 1883; June 17, 1884; December 8, 1885. Registry of Deeds, Book 551, Page 131; Book 600, Page
252.