King Street 1.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 32A-135 Easthampton NTH.856 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 1 King Street Historic Name: First
National Bank Uses: Present: Jewelry Store Original: Bank and apartment Date of Construction: 1928 Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, Jan. 7, 1928 Style/Form: Art Deco Architect/Builder:
J. Williams Beals & Sons, builders Exterior Material: Foundation: granite Wall/Trim: limestone, marble, bronze Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations
(with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.11 acres Setting: This property occupies a corner lot at the intersection of downtown Northampton’s two busiest
streets.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [1 KING STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.856 ___ 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. The First National Bank is Northampton’s finest example of the Art Deco style. It is a two-story,
smooth-surfaced, limestone building with a flat roof ornamented with a low parapet segment centered on both west and south elevations. The principal façade is the west, composed of a
center, two-story arched entry flanked by two bays of windows at each side. The south elevation is equally symmetrical with a shallow center pavilion of three bays flanked by one window
at each side. The building is ornamented in Art Deco fashion with its bays separated by two-story, reeded and fluted panels that are the equivalent of pilasters with separate, geometric
floral panels acting as pilaster capitals, and its door surround and window lintels made up of geometric floral patterns in low relief. A Moderne-style eagle in relief wraps the angle
of the building’s three corners at the attic level. Incised panels and low relief act in the building to catch the raking light of its corner location while marble at the entry surround
and bronze window grilles enrich the surfaces with color and texture. 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 1975: “The Bank, built in 1928 by J. Williams Beal and Sons, faces the
Hampshire County Courthouse across King Street. The junction of King, Pleasant, and Main Streets has long served as a focal point of public activity. The Pioneer Bank was the site of
the first post office in 1792. In 1818, the oldest continuous county fair in the United States took place at the junction of Main and King Streets and on up to the Old Church. Cattle
were exhibited in the streets. The old town hall, formerly at the east corner of the Courthouse lot, held large displays of local manufactured products.” 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.