Damon Road 345.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 25A-007 Easthampton NTH.378 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 345 Damon Road Historic Name: Uses:
Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: pre-1831 Source: map of 1831 Style/Form: Cape Cod form Architect/Builder: Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone Wall/Trim: clapboard Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Entry wing added, ca. 1970 Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes |
| Date Acreage: 1.67 acres Setting: This is an east-facing house overlooking the Connecticut River.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [345 DAMON ROAD] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.378 ___ 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 Cape Cod form house one-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof. It has
two interior chimneys that rise from the ridge rather than a center chimney, suggesting that the house was constructed after the Revolution when Federal style adopted the two-chimney
floor plan. It has low fieldstone foundations and clipped eaves in the gables, which were common building practices prior to the Revolution and after, as well. The house is five bays
wide and two bays deep and a secondary enclosed entry wing 1 x 1 bay has been added to the south elevation. This is one of Northampton’s early houses and represents late 18th-early 19th
century building practices in the city. 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 1976: “An early dwelling in Northampton, now located on Damon Road, this structure faces south toward
Bridge Street and is located neat the Coolidge Bridge which spans the Connecticut River. Bridge Street originally led from the town center to a ferry crossing of the Connecticut River;
in the 19th century the first bridges were built and the highway was named. To the north off Damon Road, the terminus of the Northampton-New Haven Canal was constructed in the early
19th century; this section of Northampton was thus important for transportation and communication with other valley communities.” This house appears on the map of 1831 but is unnamed.
On that map it is on the south side of Water Street and Damon Road had not yet been constructed. The map of 1895 indicates that the property was on a proposed extension to Water Street
prior to its being constructed and re-named as Damon Road. In preparation for constructing the road, the property south of the house was owned by the City of Northampton and this house
may have been part of the farm owned by F. Elwell who lived nearby on Bridge Street. 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.