Main Street 122.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 ner Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date (month
/year): March, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 32C-009 Easthampton NTH.2296 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center Address: 122 Main
Street Historic Name: Charles H. Dickinson Building Uses: Present: Commercial Original: Commercial Date of Construction: ca. 1880 Source: National Register nomination Style/Form: Beaux
Arts Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: not visible Wall/Trim: marble/metal Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Storefront
altered multiple times, fenestration and siding altered on second floor, pre-1955; roof raised and cornice added, ca. 1900. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.024
acres Setting: This building faces north on Northampton’s principal commercial street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [122 Main Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.2296 ___ 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 Charles H. Dickinson building is a two-story building that is one bay wide. It has a flat roof
that is ornamented with an elaborate Beaux Arts style pressed metal cornice topped by a broken arched pediment above consoles supporting a heavy cornice with dentil rows and modillion
blocks. This upper section of the building was an addition made after ca. 1890 to raise it from its low two-story height. The first story of the building has a single metal and glass
storefront of recent date. The second story is faced in a glossy beige marble with darker brown marble panels at each side of a large, fixed light window in the fashion of blinds. This
surface is a later addition to the building. Above the window and below the cornice is a sign band without the marble siding, which appears to be brownstone masonry. 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.
This building is part of a block of buildings on the south side of Main Street that was known in the 1860s and beyond as “Merchants Row”. In 1860 the merchants present included an artists’
supply store and a photography store – both of which commercial uses can still be found here. In 1873 the block was filled in with the exception of one lot near its western end and by
1884 buildings occupied all the lots. Charles H. Dickinson was listed in the 1870 census as in the millanery [sic.] business, a business that was usually owned by women. In the 1880
census he was listed as a merchant on Main Street here at 122 and he shared the building with his son Charles, Jr. who was a physician. Charles, his wife Martha and their son also shared
their home on Philips Place in Northampton. The map of 1895 identifies this building as being owned by Dickinson but from the directories it is apparent that he owned it prior to 1895.
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.