Fairfield Avenue 26.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 17C-175/176 Easthampton NTH.105 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 26 Fairfield Avenue Historic
Name: Edward Murphy House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: ca. 1915 Source: Atlas and directories Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: vinyl Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage Major Alterations (with dates): Siding added,
windows replaced, door surround replaced, ca. 2000. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | | Date Acreage: 0.257 acres Setting: This house is near the end of a dead end street that
stops at former railroad tracks that are now converted to a rail trail.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [26 FAIRFIELD AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.105 ___ 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 two, originally identical houses on Fairfield Street. The second is at #30. It is
one-and-a-half stories under a front-gambrel roof. It has a cross-gambrel wing on the north and an ell on the west for a T-shaped plan. The front-gambrel section is two bays wide with
an angled bay adjacent to a three-part composition window. Entry to the house is in the wing and its its surround is a stock Colonial Revival style. There is a jetty between first and
second floors and t second floor level on the east façade a centered window has a small fanlight window above it – both are replacements of similar original openings. This house and
its neighbor are representative of the Colonial Revival style of the 1920s as it was interpreted for contemporary family life. 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: ”Around the
turn of the century, three streets were laid out north of Main and Locust Streets in Florence: Plymouth, Fairfield and Summer Avenues. The streets extend northerly only a short distance
to the railroad tracks. These two houses [#26 and #30] are the northernmost on the western side of Fairfield Avenue, and are virtually identical. The 1915 Directory lists at #26 Edward
Murphy, foreman of the foundry at the Norwood Engineering Co. and proprietor of Northampton Iron Works, both in Florence, and at #30 Herbert Freeman, superintendent of the braiding department
at Nonotuck Silk Co., as living in these two houses.” By 1926 Mack and Anna Mercereau occupied the house. Mack was a carpenter and Anna worked at the College Shop in Northampton. By
1935 the house was owned by Arthur and Mary Cleary. Arthur was a salesman. The Clearys were gone by 1945 when Philip Bellunduno and Sophia Bellunduno were living here. Philip was in
the U.S. Army in that year and after he returned to Florence he and Sophia changed their last name to Bell and they are listed as P. R. and Sophia Bell. P.R. had formed a masonry company
that did stonework. All these couples who remained in the house about a decade reflect changes in society during the first half of the 20th century as in some couples the wife worked
outside the home, others remained within the household. World War II affected Florence residents but by the 1950s 1950s soldiers had returned to the community and established new businesses
and careers. 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.