Elm Street 593.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 23B-47 Easthampton NTH.238 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 593 Elm Street Historic Name:
Silk Mill Boarding House Uses: Present: Multi-family Residence Original: Boarding House Date of Construction: ca. 1843 Source: The History of Florence Style/Form: utilitarian Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): West wing added, n.d. Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 15 acres Setting: Building occupies a rise in the landscape which slopes down to the east.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [593 ELM STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.238 ___ 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 boarding house is typical of buildings constructed mid-19th century for workers’ housing in
that it is simply constructed, with a minimum of ornament, yet large enough to accommodate a substantial number of men. It is a two-and-a-half story building with a front-gable roof
whose eaves make pent roof returns to form a pediment. It is three bays wide and has an added door surround. Sash is now 1/1. Window surrounds are flat stock, cornerboards narrow and
there is a fairly wide skirt board above the foundations. On the west is a two-story wing that is four bays long and in the angle of the two sections of the house is an infill one bay
wide and one bay deep. The house has a center chimney. This is a utilitarian building that yet has presence in the streetscape. 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: “In 1822,
Enoch Jewett bought land on both sides of Boughton Meadow Brook. Soon afterwards (before 1830), he built a dam across the brook and raised the pond which became ‘Holland’s,’ and later
‘Warner’s’ pond. The water power was used in a small shop to manufacture spools and bobbins for the area’s woolen and silk mills. Mr. Jewett’s house was also located on this property.
The 80 acres of land with with house, shop, dam, and water privilege were sold to Joseph Conant, Earle Swift and Orwell Chaffee in November of 1842. These three men had recently withdrawn
from the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, or ‘The Community’ as it was known, and they immediately erected a silk mill on the Jewett property. They were succeeded
by Joseph Warner, who is known to have owned the silk mill as early as 1859, and his son Luther. In the mid 1880’s, John Leonard took over the property and operated the silk mill until
it burned down in the mid 1890’s. The site was purchased by the Nonotuck Silk Co., but they never rebuilt. The pond was drained, and the property was acquired by the city of Northampton
early in the 20th century. Smith’s Agricultural School was built on the northern part of the lot, fronting on Locust Street, in 1908. Oliver Smith, a wealthy citizen of Hatfield, left
$30,000 in his will in 1844 for this project, with the proviso that the money not be used for sixty years. Mr. Smith also established Smith Charities, and through his niece Sophia Smith,
Smith College and Smith Academy. The Smith School still has the entire property. The boarding house was probably built during the early 1840’s for the silk mill established by the three
members of NAEI. It is the only structure still standing from the site’s industrial past, although part of the foundation of the silk mill is still visible on the western side of the
brook just north of Elm Street.” This building was renovated by students at Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School prior to 2010. 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 New York, 1860.