New Haven and Northampton Canal Greenway-Rail Trail retaining wall Form F.pdfFollow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. 4/11
FORM F − STRUCTURE
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
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Recorded by: Christopher Donta
Organization: SWCA
Date (month / year): March 2022
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Town/City: Northampton
Place (neighborhood or village):
Address or Location: West of New South Street
Name: Northampton Railroad Retaining Wall
Ownership: Public Private
Type of Structure (check one):
___ boat or ship ___ canal
___ carousel ___ dam ___ fort ___ gate ___ kiln ___ lighthouse
___ pound ___ powderhouse
___ street ___ tower ___ tunnel _X_ wall ___ windmill
___other (specify)
Date of Construction: 1850s
Source: Karr 1995
Architect, Engineer or Designer:
Materials: Stone blocks, mainly granite
Alterations (with dates): Concrete filling and concrete
support at the base of the wall (dates unknown)
Condition: Deteriorating
Moved: no yes Date:
Acreage:
Setting: Along an abandoned railroad bed, now rail trail, adjacent to the north side of the historic Mill River channel,
now abandoned. Below a parking garage and north of a tree-lined residential neighborhood of houses and
apartments.
Easthampton31D-245
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
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DESIGN ASSESSMENT
Describe important design features and evaluate in terms of other structures within the community.
A stone retaining wall supporting an earthen embankment on the north side of the former railroad bed (Figures 1 and 2) The wall was constructed ca. 1854 (see below) using large cut stone blocks, dry laid and fitted, at an angle sloping back to the north to contain the natural earthen rise on its north side. The retaining wall is 205 feet in length and reaches a maximum height of approximately 18 feet. The wall is constructed of a combination of large irregularly shaped stone blocks and smaller tabular pieces fitted into cracks and voids between the larger elements (Figure 3). Both the eastern and western ends of the wall are sloped downward to follow what was presumably the natural contours of the hill. The wall is partially covered in plant growth, mostly vines.
As of 2022, substantial gaps are present throughout the wall. This includes one gap approximately 2 feet by 4 feet in size at the base of the wall. Presumably, pieces of the wall have fallen out of place either through outward soil pressure from the embankment; natural activity such as earth movement, water seepage, flooding, plant root action, and winds; or vibration from use of the adjacent railroad during its ca. 120 years of activity. Several attempts to consolidate the wall are evident. Concrete has been used in places to fill gaps in the wall and secure loose pieces of stone (Figure 4). In the western half of the wall, a
number of poured concrete forms were set onto the base of the wall, covering the lower approximately four feet of the wall (Figure 5). A ca. 40 foot length of 8 foot tall chain link fence was installed along the north side of the rail trail as protection from falling stone from approximately 75-115 feet east of the western end of the wall.
The wall is in deteriorating condition. Pieces of the wall have fallen out and concrete has been used to fill some gaps and support the base of the wall. The large areas of concrete at the base of the wall are partially covered in graffiti.
A second retaining wall is located on the south side of the rail trail, on what would have been the north side of the Mill River. The river has been diverted away from this area, so only a dry river channel is now present. Presumably that retaining wall was also built in the 1850s to shore up the railroad bed, but that is only a supposition.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVEExplain the history of the structure and how it relates to the development of the community.
What is now the New Haven and Northampton Canal Greenway west of New South Street was originally constructed as the Hampshire and Hampden Railroad from 1852-1855, beginning operation in 1856 (Karr 1995). The rail line was part of a network that ran from New Haven, Connecticut to Northampton, and from there continuing north to Greenfield, with a spur running east across the Connecticut River. From the location of the retaining wall, the line ran to the southwest, north of South Street and south of West Street/Chapel Street/Rocky Hill Road towards Easthampton. To the east, the line ran under South Street and Pleasant Street, before curving sharply to the north and running between King Street and Market Street.
The railroad was apparently cut into a natural rise on the north side of the Mill River and the retaining wall was created due to the steep angle of the cut in this section, in order to prevent erosion onto the tracks. Thus, the rail bed lies between this hillside on its north and the Mill River channel to its south (Figure 6). In 1941, the Mill River was diverted away from its natural path after a disastrous flood in 1936 and the hurricane of 1938, resulting in the abandonment of the river channel on the south side of the tracks.
The Hampshire and Northampton Railroad was combined with other lines to form the New Haven and Northampton Railroad in 1862. That railroad line operated in various forms and under several different names until 1969, when it was abandoned north of
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
Easthampton (Karr 1995). The Easthampton portion of the railroad continued in use until 1992. Soon thereafter, the idea of converting the abandoned rail line to a paved trail began to take form. The abandoned tracks were removed in the Easthampton
portion in 1999 and the Easthampton trail construction and paving was completed in 2004. The rail trail extension to Northampton was completed in 2010.
Portions of this rail line followed the abandoned New Haven and Northampton Canal (1835), and thus was sometimes referred
to as the Canal Railroad, but in this particular area, it did not. In this location, the canal line ran nearly perpendicular to the retaining wall just to its east, almost due north/south across the Mill River via an aqueduct paralleling New South Street to its
west, approximately where Fort Hill Terrace is now (Walter 2006) (Figure 7).
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Karr, Ronald Dale 1995 The Rail Lines of Southern New England: A Handbook of Railroad History. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, Massachusetts.
Walling, Henry Francis 1860 Map of the County of Hampshire, Massachusetts. H.C & C.T. Smith & Co., New York.
Walter, Carl E. 2006 Map of the Hampshire & Hampden Canal. Carl E. Walter, Northampton, Massachusetts.
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 3
Figure 1. Stone retaining wall, view east, with Mill River drainage channel to right.
Figure 2. Stone retaining wall, view west, Mill River channel to left.
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 4
Figure 3. Typical wall construction with meter stick.
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 5
Figure 4. Detail showing concrete filling in gaps.
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 6
Figure 5. Concrete forms supporting the base of the wall, view to northeast
Figure 6. Railroad line shown on a map of Northampton (Walling 1860).
Northampton
INVENTORY FORM F CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 7
Figure 7. Relationship of railroad and canal locations (Walter 2006). Canal route shown as gray line (inferred) and blue line (visible)..
Northampton