Main Street 114.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 32C-011-01 Easthampton NTH.2423 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center Address: 114 Main Street
Historic Name: M. M. Francis Building Uses: Present: Commercial Original: Commercial Date of Construction: ca. 1860 and ca. 1890 Source: atlas of 1873, photographs c. 1890 Style/Form:
Italianate to Queen Anne Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: not visible Wall/Trim: granite, brick Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations
(with dates): Second story fenestration altered, ca. 2000. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.024 acres Setting: This is one of two small narrow buildings on the
block. It is north-facing.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [114 Main Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.2423 ___ 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 two-story brick commercial building under a flat roof. It was originally two bays wide,
but its second story fenestration has been altered so that the two former separate windows have been merged into a single window composition of two fixed lights below hoppers under a
steel lintel. The first story has a single storefront with an adjacent entry that serves both the commercial space and the upstairs access. What is architecturally significant about
this building is the brickwork that ornaments its façade – an alteration that was made around the turn-of-the-century. The low two-story building was embellished and its roof raised
to provide for this elaborate cornice. Above the second story are two brick panels of corbelled brick in a checkerboard pattern. The cornice of the building has corbelled bricks in a
sawtooth pattern above two panels with recessed quatrefoils separated by paneled consoles. This brickwork is Queen Anne in style, often called Panel Brick when it is in masonry. While
other commercial buildings in downtown Northampton have similar elements, none has been composed with quite this fine brickwork in a small space. 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. The commercial
buildings of downtown Northampton in this block were known collectively as Merchant’s Row and according to the directory on the 1860 map held in common a few of the commercial endeavors
that are still found there today, namely artists supplies and photography store. Merchants Row appears largely to have been owned in 1860 by W. H. Storrs. It is known that some buildings
came and went on the lots but by 1895 it would appear that this building was in place and in the ownership of M. M. Francis, although an M. M. Francis does not appear in the censuses
in the surrounding decades. It was a low, two-story building that subsequently was raised. 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.