Pine Street 114.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 Please see attached map. Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning
Commission Date (month /year): March, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 23A-148 Easthampton NTH.207 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence Address:
114 Pine Street Historic Name: Robert C. Dorsey House Uses: Present: single-family house Original: single-family house Date of Construction: 1869-1873 Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage Major Alterations
(with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.938 acres Setting: This house house is set on a terrace so that its south lot slopes down. It is on a wide street
of similarly dated houses and is tree-shaded.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [114 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.207 __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 one of Florence’s better-detailed Italianate style houses and has been well-preserved.
It is a two-and-a-half story, front-gabled house with a two-and-a-half story ell on the rear with a one-story enclosed entry on its east elevation. The main block of the house has a
three bay façade with two full-height windows that open on to the full width porch. The porch is supported by colonettes with scroll-cut brackets. The colonettes are tripled at the corners.
Wide eaves overhangs on the house are supported on paired Italianate brackets. A five-sided bay window is located on the east side of the house. 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. This was the
house of Charles Robert Dorsey, one of two sons of fugitive slave Basil Dorsey and his first wife who was a free Black woman. When his father made his escape to western Massachusetts,
Charles Robert and his brother John came with their mother to re-form their family in Charlemont. Their mother, whose name may have been Louisa, died after giving birth to a daughter.
It was then that Basil brought his family to Florence to work as a teamster. In order to keep Basil safe, townspeople bought his freedom and he was able to raise his family and have
them educated. Charles Charles Robert Dorsey, who was considered a free Black, became a stone mason and contractor and was married to a New York woman Emma in 1867. They lived in Florence
in this house by 1884 and Charles Robert became financially successful. The Dorseys were here through 1895 and by 1900 they were on West 28th Street in Manhattan with a boarder, and
Charles Robert was working as a bridge builder. It is reported that he was so entrepreneurial that he bought a freight steamer for shipping his building materials. He died in New York.
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: Book 327 Page 432; Book 262 Page 238; Book 226 Page 202. Northampton
Directory: 1873-74; 1885-86; 1890-1891. Hill, A.G. “Florence the ["Mecca" crossed out] Sanctuary of the Colored Race” unpublished ms., on http:BasilDorsey.blogspot.com
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [114 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.207
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [114 PINE STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 3 NTH.207 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. The Dorsey House would contribute to a multiple resource listing on the National Register of Historic Places of properties
associated with Abolition and the Underground Railroad in Northampton. In these Northampton locations, documented activities in support of the Underground Railroad transporting fugitive
slaves to Canada took place. Here lived Charles Robert Dorsey, son of fugitive slave Basil Dorsey, whose freedom was bought by other Florence citizens and who raised his family in Florence.
Charles Robert Dorsey represents the first generation post-slavery in New England and his accomplishments both in and beyond Florence are an important part of its history. The Dorsey
House is a fine example of the Italianate style.