Riverside Drive 321-331.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 30A-033-038 Easthampton NTH.423 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Bay State Address: 321-331 Riverside Drive
Historic Name: Cutlery Worker’s Housing-The Block Uses: Present: Six-family housing Original: Six-family housing Date of Construction: c. 1840 Source: visual evidence Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder: Exterior Material: Foundation: granite Wall/Trim: brick/granite/shingles Roof: asphalt Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: Cumulatively, over one acre. Setting: This rowhouse sits on a high lot overlooking the river and facing south.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [321-331 RIVERSIDE DRIVE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.423 _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 fine example of high quality worker’s housing from the early 19th century. It is a row
of six units, two-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof. Each house is three bays wide and the row is two bays deep. The end walls rise as stepped parapet walls and contain
two chimneys each. There are two additional chimneys on the roof. The building has the simplicity of the Federal style with straight granite lintels and sills for the windows with 6/6
sash and for the entries. The cornice beneath the eaves is corbelled. There is an added one story screened porch on the west end of the building. 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
1975: “This block of worker’s housing, now privately owned, was long the property of the factory concern across the road. Last owned by the Northampton Cutlery, the brick block may have
been constructed by the Northampton Paper Mills in the period of 1835-1848. A map of property belonging to the Bay State Hardware Company in 1867 indicates the brick block overlooking
the Mill River and a company established boardinghouse was mentioned in the Gazette as early as 1841, although another building may have served the purpose. The practice of providing
mill workers with conveniently located lodgings was an integral part of the factory system. Some industrialists found this to be an excellent means of controlling the laborers—factory
operatives were in some instances overcharged for the services they received. Some moralists felt it necessary to bring the laborer under the paternal wing of the industrialist for whom
he worked; other reformers regarded the system of factory housing as an evil which contributed to the plight of the working class.” 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, Hampshire County, 286.306, 283.317, 276.103, 240.190, 180.422, 174.312-318, 164.370, 155.115, 140.7, 130.109, 129.281
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [321-331 RIVERSIDE DRIVE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.423 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 Paper Mill Village Historic District for the industry that occupied the site on the
Mill River from 1789 – 1889 and included a water power system, whose canal remains, as well as a boarding house for its workers at 111-117 Milton Street, the Mill superintendent’s house
at 122 Federal Street and The Block at 321-331 Riverside. Several properties not yet inventoried would contribute to the potential district as well. Subsequent history of the properties
would develop further industrial uses and residences for those associated with the cutlery industry after 1889. The remains of a canal are important as part of a water power system that
began in the late 18th century. Architecturally the buildings in this potential historic district represent Federal and Greek Revival and the common forms constructed for boarding houses,
superintendents’ houses, single-family workers’ house and a paper mill.