Hawley Street 10_Church.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: Jayne Bernhard-Armington Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date
(month /year): June, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 32A-171 Easthampton NTH.869 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 10 Hawley Street Historic
Name: St. John Cantius Catholic Church Uses: Present: Vacant Original: Church Date of Construction: 1912 Source: integral cornerstone Style/Form: late Medieval Italian Revival Architect/Builder:
John W. Donohue, architect Exterior Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: brick and limestone Roof: slate, asphalt and copper Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with
dates): Condition: Good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 1.85 acres Setting: This church occupies a corner lot that is raised above the street level and set off by a low concrete
embankment.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [10 HAWLEY STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.869 _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. St. John Cantius Catholic Church is modeled on the late medieval churches of Italy, namely those
around Siena and Verona. It is a brick basilica plan church with a corner campanile. Decoratively laid brick is in two shades of beige offset by limestone trim and a red slate roof.
The west façade of the church has a center entry beneath a barrel vaulted porch that rests on large square piers and respondent pilasters. At each side of the porch is a row of four
shallow recessed bays in whose openings are double arches supported by a center ornamented colonettes. Their cumulative effect is that of a narrow arcade. Above the center entry is a
wheel window with richly molded circumference, molded spokes and center oculus filled with a cross. Three shallow limestone niches are located above the wheel window. In the gable of
this façade the raking eaves line is ornamented with a limestone arch motif, characteristic of medieval Italy. The façade is flanked by two tall, paneled buttresses. At the southwest
corner of the basilica is the campanile. It is five stories in height and its fifth story is an open belfry with limestone columns. The basilica is eight bays long. On the north elevation
there is are secondary entries in the first and last bays and a round protruding chapel in the fifth bay that is duplicated on the south elevation. This is one of architect John Donahue’s
well-designed churches. 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: “The Poles were late comers to Northampton, not arriving in any significant numbers until the 1890’s. Most of the
early immigrants were males who were brought in as contract laborers for the farms where they were much in demand as being good, hard workers. Once a little money as saved, the wives
and children were sent for and they helped work in the fields until a piece of land could be bought. The Poles were the only significant foreign-born group to increase in population
in Northampton after 1900, and they came so quickly that by 1915, they were second only to the Irish in numbers. They remained attached to the land, and estimates have been made that
by 1940, over 80% of the farms in Northampton were owned by Poles. Soon after the turn of the century, attempts were made to provide for the Poles’ religious needs. The Blodgett House
on Prospect Street was bought in 1904 and transformed into a church. This was obviously only a temporary measure, and by 1908, the location had been chosen for a new church. Work was
begun in 1911 and the church was dedicated in 1913. John William Donohue was a prominent Springfield architect of the first third of the 20th century. A specialist in ecclesiastical
design, he served as the official architect for the Roman Catholic diocese of western Massachusetts for 25 years. Churches, schools, hospitals, convents, and rectories form the majority
of his output. In Northampton, he also drew the plans for St. Michael’s School, Sacred Heart Church and Annunciation School. The rectory was constructed for $12,000 in 1916, most likely
from plans of Mr. Donohue, and a parish hall was built within the last decade.” The parish closed on January 3rd, 2010 as part of consolidation plan that merged the parishes of Blessed
Sacrament Church, St. Mary’s of the Assumption, and Sacred Heart Church into a new parish known as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish whose headquarters are at the former Sacred Heart Church
on King Street. As of Spring 2011, the Church remains vacant. 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.
Northampton Street Directories 1919-1940 U.S. Federal Censuses 1900-1930 Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [10 HAWLEY STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.869 Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860.