Loading...
Main Street 50-58.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-141 Easthampton NTH.2061 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Northampton Center Address: 50-58 Main Street Historic Name: Sherwin Block Uses: Present: Commercial space and 9 apartments Original: Commercial and office space Date of Construction: 1915 Source: Hampshire Gazette Style/Form: Classical Revival Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: concrete Wall/Trim: brick/metal Roof: not visible Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Storefronts repeatedly altered. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.138 acres Setting: This building occupies a corner lot with its façade on Main Street in Northampton Center. INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [50 Main Street] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 NTH.2271 ___ 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 Sherwin Block is a Classical Revival style building of three stories beneath a flat roof. The yellow brick building is six bays wide on Main Street and eight bays deep on Pleasant Street and its bays are defined by brick piers that rise through the second and third stories from limestone bases to limestone capitals. The piers support a molded metal cornice with “Sherwin Block” in raised letters centered on the frieze. Each bay on the second floor has a three-part window of three lights beneath a metal transom. At the third story the bays have paired windows of 1/1 sash separated by small brick piers with flat capitals. Each pair of windows has a solid transom that appears to be a stucco material. Spandrels between the second and third stories are laid in double panels. The brick within the panels is laid at a 45 degree angle to create a herringbone pattern. On the first story there are two storefronts that were constructed within the last thirty years. They have metal frameworks with glass beneath a wooden sign panel. 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 brick blocks lining the main street of Northampton between Pleasant Street and Strong Avenue are the earliest brick commercial structures in Northampton. In 1865, the block known as the Union Block was built at the corner of Main and Pleasant Streets. This block collapsed in 1914 and was replaced by the 1915 Sherwin Block.” 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.