Park Street 4.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-18 Easthampton NTH.165 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address: 4 Park Street Historic Name:
Isaac Parsons House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1860 Source: Registry of Deeds: Bk. 188-P. 398 1859 Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder: Eugene C. Gardner, Architect, Springfield Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboard Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Carriage barn
Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: Good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 1.111 acres Setting: This house occupies a large corner lot that is shaded with numerous trees.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [4 PARK STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.165 _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 Parsons House together with its carriage barn is one of the best-preserved residences in Florence.
The house is two-stories in height under a truncated hipped roof. A cross-gable is centered on its east façade and the wide roof eaves of both the main roof and the cross-gable are supported
by paired Italianate brackets. The house is only three bays wide but proportions are large. large. On the first story of the east façade a center, segmentally arched entry has an architrave
surround and double leaf doors. Windows at each side of the entry are paired, as was typical of the Italianate style, and full-length. A wrap around porch crosses the east façade. It
has a pedimented entry that is supported on paired, Italianate chamfered posts on pedestals. At the second floor windows are paired and arched in the outer bays but the center bay contains
a large single arched window. Lintels over second story windows are molded and footed. The house has a two-story angled bay window on its south elevation. 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 1976: “In 1850, Curtis Parsons bought ¾ of an acre at a bend in ‘Oil Mill Road’ (now Park and Pine Streets) from Samuel Hill for $150. Mr. Parsons, in conjunction with H.K.
K. Macomber, ran the silk mill on the Mill River during the early 1850’s. In 1853, he sold his homestead to Isaac Parsons (relationship unknown) for $1300. Isaac ran a store on Nonotuck
Street and was appointed the village’s first postmaster in 1852, a position he held for 16 years. In the latter part of the 19th century, the house was owned by Henry F. Cutler, one
of the owners of the Cutler Plympton and Co. grocery and dry goods business on Maple Street in Florence. The present house was built during the late 1860’s from plans of E.C. Gardner.
Mr. Gardner was native of Florence, and began his architectural career here in the late 1860’s. Shortly thereafter he moved to Springfield, where he became a most prolific and renowned
architect and writer.” 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. 151-P. 105, 135-167
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [4 PARK STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.165 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.