Park Street 10.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):
April, 2011 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 23A-17 Easthampton NTH.164 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 10 Park Street Historic Name:
Amos Eldridge House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1857-1860 Source: Registry of Deeds and Map Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: vinyl, wood shingles Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Barn Major Alterations (with dates): Rear ell
and side porch added, ca. 1910. Vinyl siding added and window sash replaced, ca. 2009. Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.769 acres Setting: This is an east-facing
building on a residential and tree-shaded street.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [10 PARK STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.164 _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. This is a two-and-a-half story, Italianate style house with a bracket-supported, front-gable roof
with wide eaves. It has a wide frieze beneath the eaves and wide cornerboards. Siding is vinyl. The house is three bays wide and its east façade has a wraparound porch that crosses to
the south elevation. The porch has a low hipped roof that rests on turned posts and its stairs are marked by a roof pediment that has a wood shingled tympanum. The porch eaves are decorated
with scroll-cut brackets. There is an ell on the west elevation that has a one-story enclosed porch on its south side. The porch is Colonial Revival in style. The main block of the house
has a two-story angled bay on its south elevation to give added volume and light to the interior. 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: “In 1857, Amos Eldridge purchased a little
more than an acre of land from Samuel Hill for $200. As Mr. Eldridge was a carpenter, he probably built this house himself. He resided here through most of the 19th century. The house
is shown in a ‘View of Florence and Residence’ dated about 1865 and reprinted in Sheffield’s book.” 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. Registry of Deeds: Bk. 173-P. 393
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [10 PARK STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.164 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. The potential district has integrity of workmanship,
design, feeling, association, and materials.