Middle Street 21.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, 2011 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 23A-274 Easthampton NTH.232 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 21 Middle Street Historic
Name: William Law House Uses: Present: Three-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1860’s Source: Map and Directory Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Windows and front door replaced, ca. 2005 Portico
added, ca. 1940 Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.343 acres Setting: This is a south-facing house on a
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [21MIDDLE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.232 __x_ 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 Law House is one of the best-preserved of the houses on Middle Street. It is two-and-a-half
stories in height under a front-gable roof and has a wing on the west and a two-and-a-half story ell on the north. The main block of the house is three bays wide and its windows have
Italianate molded lintels. The roof has wide eaves that make returns in the gables in Italianate fashion, fashion, but the house is not otherwise ornamented. A pedimented, Colonial Revival
style portico on columns was added to the entry and windows have been replaced with vinyl sash with 6/6 muntin configuration that would repeat the original configuration. With its slate
roof and well-proportioned elevations, this house is a good example of the high standards of construction and design in Florence in the 1860s. 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
1980: “Middle Street, formerly known as Center Street, and originally called ‘Concrete House Street’ was laid out in 1860. This was the year before the Florence Sewing Machine Company
was formed and located on Chestnut Street between Main Street and the new laid out street. The new street opened up land for residential development near this growing industrial site.
This house first appears on the 1873 atlas as the property of William Law, a machinist employed by the Sewing Machine Co. Mr. Law may have lived here as early as the late 1860’s, as
he is listed in the 1868 directory as working for the Sewing Machine Co.” 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.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [21MIDDLE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.232 National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district Contributing to a potential
historic district Potential historic district Criteria: A B C D Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________ The criteria
that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. This property would contribute to a Florence Center Historic District. The potential historic district of Florence Center
is significant as the commercial, residential, institutional center of the village that developed from 1657 when it was set off as Northampton’s “Inner Commons” as agricultural land
and 1681 when the first sawmill was erected at a falls on the Mill River. The agricultural and industrial village developed through the 18th and 19th centuries around industry on the
Mill River, agriculture on the alluvial flood plain and the Strong Tavern and later Cottage Hotel at the intersection of Main and Maple Streets. It is significant for the silk industry
that flourished through the Civil war as an alternative to slave-picked cotton and for the establishment of the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, a utopian community
that existed 1843-1847. Association members after its close continued in Florence their principles of equality by running the Underground Railroad through the village and harboring fugitive
slaves. It is significant as the home of Sojourner Truth. 19th century industry in the Center included the Florence Sewing Machine Company, which built its own housing. Architecturally
the Center is significant for the range of Gothic Revival, Italianate, Stick Style, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style homes, for its commercial blocks and library
in the Revival styles of the late 19th century. Gothic Revival and Italianate style churches are architect-designed in high style versions. On Middle Street many of the houses are further
distinguished as being among the earliest workers’ housing made of concrete in Northampton. The potential district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.