Elm Street 48.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 31D-101 Easthampton NTH.763 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 48 Elm Street Historic Name: St. John’s
Episcopal Church Uses: Present: Episcopal church Original: Episcopal church Date of Construction: 1893 Source: Hampshire Gazette, 5/10/1893 Style/Form: Romanesque Revival Architect/Builder:
R. W. Gibson of NY Exterior Material: Foundation: granite Wall/Trim: granite, limestone Roof: asphalt shingles and tile Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.795 acres Setting: This building is set between Smith College buildings on Northampton’s main street. It occupies a wide, tree-shaded
lot.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [48 ELM STREET ] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.763 ___ 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 Romanesque Revival style church constructed in rough-faced, but dressed, granite blocks,
with limestone trim and an asphalt shingle roof. The sanctuary is a front-gabled building with a one-story narthex in which the building’s main entry is located beneath a round arch
with Romanesque, half-length columns ornamenting its jambs. This main entry is flanked by two round-arched windows and a secondary entry is located in a square corner tower at the northeast
corner of the building. The tower is fortress-like in its first two stages, due to lack of regular fenestration and where openings exist they are small, and double-arched in Romanesque
Revival fashion. The tower has three stages and is topped by a balustrade connecting three small corner pinnacles and a larger pinnacle that is arcaded. Gargoyles extend from below the
corner towers. The third tower stage consists of a louvered belfry. A one-and-a-half story wing extends from the eastern side of the nave. It has a double arched entry that is glazed
alongside arched windows. St. John’s Episcopal church adds considerable diversity to the Revival style buildings along Elm Street. 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: “St. John’s
Episcopal Church erected this stone church on Elm Street 1892-1893. The gift of George Bliss, the Church was dedicated May of 1893. R. W. Gibson of New York was the architect. Episcopalianism
first received notice in Northampton in 1826 when Joseph Cogswell of the Round Hill School and others were granted the right to use the town hall for Episcopal worship. In 1829 the first
church was built on Bridge Street, near Market; in 1866 W. F. Pratt remodeled the wooden structure which continued to be in use until 1893. In 1905 the old building was purchased by
the congregation of B’nai Israel.” 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.