Park Avenue 23.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 31B-313 Easthampton NTH.638 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 17 Park Avenue Historic Name: Asahel
and Wealthy Abell Workshop Uses: Present: Two-family residence Original: Workshop, attributed Date of Construction: 1854-1860 Source: Maps Style/Form: Colonial Revival Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: brick, concrete Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles Roof: asphalt, metal Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Shed Major Alterations (with dates): Dormer added,
portico added, garage doors converted to windows, roof re-built, patio and patio doors added, ca. 2000. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.08 acres Setting: This
building is located on a dead end street and is surrounded by a picket fence.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [23 PARK AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.638 ___ 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 Abell Workshop at 17 Park Avenue is a two-and-a-half story, clapboard and shingle-sided building
with a full third story created by a hipped roof dormer on its roof ridge. The building has a side-gable roof and at the southwest corner of its south façade is a one-and-a-half story
ell for an L-shaped plan. The main block of the building is six bays wide and has recently undergone undergone rehabilitation as a two-family residence with new fenestration, the third
story dormer, reconstructed roof, and new portico added to its south façade. From a utilitarian outbuilding/tenement, the building has been converted to a two-family residence in Colonial
Revival style. Its widened eaves make short returns in the gable ends while a beltcourse connecting them creates pediments that are shingle-sided on both the main block and the south
ell. A double leaf garage/carriage barn entry on the east end of the south façade has been replaced by a triple window composition while sash has been converted to vinyl 6/6. A Colonial
Revival style, front-gabled portico with a barrel vault shelters the main entry to the building on the south façade. It is supported on two pairs of posts and has respondent pilasters
at each side of the entry. Slightly off-center on the roof is a third story space that is made up of a hipped roof dormer. It has a triple window composition on its south façade. The
east side of the roof of the south ell extends beyond the plane of the ell to create a porch supported on posts. 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: “Asahel S. Abell, a local
carpenter, acquired ¾ of an acre of Lyman’s Lane (later Park Street, now Trumbull Road) in 1839, and constructed his residence (now 15 Park Avenue) soon thereafter. The 1854 map shows
his residence fronting on Park Street, but no building in the rear. The 1860 map shows a structure behind his residence, and the 1873 atlas gives the building outline, which corresponds
to this house. Mr. Abell lost title to his property in an 1866 County Supreme Court action, but continued residing in his house until his death c. 1880. After his widow’s death in the
early 1890’s, Porter Underwood, the owner of the property, had the Abell’s house moved to the rear of the lot, east of this house. He then sold the Park Street frontage for two building
lots. The original building was probably used for tenements, though the garage doors are unusual.” According to the state census of 1855, Asahel was a sash and blind maker and in 1865
he was listed as a carpenter, and in other federal censuses he listed his occupation variously as mechanic and joiner. Given his related occupations that all required work space, it
is likely that this building was originally a workshop on his property. 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. Massachusetts State Censuses of 1855 and 1865. 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. Registry of Deeds: Bk. 256-P. 72, 234-389, 86-22