Main Street 153-159.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 31D-144 Easthampton NTH.779 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 153-159 Main Street Historic Name:
Todd Block Uses: Present: commercial Original: commercial/residential Date of Construction: 1870 Source: Hampshire Gazette Style/Form: altered Italianate Architect/Builder: J.M. Miner,
architect, Cleveland Exterior Material: Foundation: not visible Wall/Trim: brick/brownstone Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Storefronts
altered; fenestration altered ca. 1890-1900 Condition: good/fair Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.054 acres Setting: This building is south-facing in Northampton downtown.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [153-159MAIN STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.779 ___ 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 Todd Block is a three-story brick building that is seven bays wide under a flat roof and an
elaborate cornice. On the first story the building has three storefronts and an off-center entrance separated by rusticated brownstone piers that support a brownstone lintel that has
a narrow molded cornice. The westernmost of the stores has a side entry and a single glass display window but the center and easternmost stores have recessed center entry storefronts
with glass display windows. They are separated by the piers and the entry to the upper stories. This entry is Craftsman in style dating, no doubt, after the alterations of 1890-1900
that were made to the building’s façade. Within a rusticated architrave surround is a transom with arched lights above the main door that is made of matchboards in which is an ogive-shaped
window. The door is sheltered by a pent roof that is tile-covered and supported on wrought iron consoles. The fenestration of the second and third stories was altered ca. 1900 as ten
bays were reconfigured to seven bays, alternating single windows with 1/1 sash, with three-part window compositions. On the second floor the single windows have partial label lintels
of brownstone and footed brownstone sills while the composition windows have a narrow brick lintel. At the third floor all the windows have segmentally arched brownstone lintels with
keystones and footed brownstone sills. In the spandrels between second and third stories beneath the composition windows are recessed stucco panels. The windows of both second and third
stories have leaded glass transoms and the glass of the outer sections of the composition windows are also leaded glass. The cornice of the building dates from its 1870 construction
date and is a good example of the brickwork that characterized the Italianate style buildings of that decade in downtown Northampton with corbelling of the bricks into moldings, panels,
and pendants. 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 Todd Block of 1870 replaced an earlier brick building with wooden cornice following the fire of July 1870. The fire destroyed several
commercial blocks as well as the Warner House Hotel. The Fitch Hotel (later the Draper) and the commercial blocks built on the north side of Main Street following the fire were the work
of J.M. Miner, a Cleveland native who was located for a time in Northampton.” 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.