Much of Northampton's charm lies in its many attractive and architecturally distinctive buildings. Colonial-era buildings survive along the early roads of the city, including South Street, Elm Street, and Bridge Street. One of the most beautiful is a c. 1700 salt box (so-named for the distinctive sloping of the roof from two stories in front to one story in back), at 262 Bridge Street. At 58 Bridge Street, visitors may receive a special architectural tour of the c. 1730 Parsons House of Historic Northampton, a museum of local history. At 148 South Street, the c. 1760 Clapp House, now owned by the DAR, sits alongside two other 18th century homes. The Clapp House epitomizes Georgian design with its five-over- five symmetry and classically-inspired doorway. The Manse, ancestral home of the Stoddard family, stands at 54 Prospect Street. With its simple, early 18th century core, post- Revolutionary gambrel-roofed addition, and mid l9th century Gothic Revival porch, it is a lesson in American architectural history all by itself.

The first half of the l9th century is represented by fine examples of Greek Revival architecture, including the c. 1825 Capen House and 1827 Dewey House, both on the campus of Smith College, and the 1850 James House at 42 Gothic Street. These buildings feature the dramatic columned temple front which is characteristic of the style. The James House was designed by local architect William Fenno Pratt (1814 - 1900?), who also designed Northampton's unique City Hall in 1849, and much of the city's surviving Victorian architecture.

A number of fine examples of Pratt's Gothic Revival designs stand in Northampton's neighborhoods. Among them are the Seth Hunt House (1859) at 115 Bridge Street and the J. H. Lyman House (1861) at 112 Elm Street. Both of these houses characterize the verticality of the Gothic Revival style in their pointed gables and arched windows and doorways.

Many other beautiful Victorian homes line the streets of Northampton's neighborhoods, including examples in the Italianate, Queen Anne, and Shingle styles. Elm Street offers some particularly high style Victorian domestic architecture, as does Pomeroy Terrace near Bridge Street.

W. F. Pratt designed a number of Main Street's commercial buildings, including the former Northampton National Bank (1866) at #135, and the Wright Block (1871) at #245-249. Pratt was wonderfully versatile; he was as successful with these Renaissance Revival commercial blocks as he was with his domestic architecture. The sandstone Smith Charities building (1866) at #51, also built in a classical style, is yet another example of Pratt's work.

So much Victorian commercial architecture survives on Main Street that it looks much like it did 100 years ago; this area is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Within a few blocks of downtown are many more diverse and historic examples of public architecture. Romanesque Revival in the manner of H. H. Richardson (1838 - 1886) is the style of a number of Northampton buildings, most notably the Hampshire County Court House, built in 1885-87 in the center of town, and the Forbes Library (1895) on West Street. The important Boston architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns designed the gothic-inspired First Church of Christ (1878) at 129 Main Street, and also College Hall (1875) and Alumnae Gymnasium (1890) of Smith College. At the east end of Main Street, Memorial Hall was built in 1872-74 in the Second Empire style, as exemplified by its French-inspired curved roof. Next door, the Academy of Music (1891), the oldest municipally owned theater in the country, features an ornate classical facade.

The 20th century has brought valued additions to Northampton's architecture, including the First National Bank building at the corner of Main and King Streets. Built in the Art Deco style in 1928, it has recently been restored and adapted for reuse as a jewelry store. A stroll around the Smith College campus brings to view a number of other significant buildings from this century, including the Hillyer Hall of Fine Arts (1972) on Elm Street. Local neighborhoods boast many examples of 20th century domestic architecture, including the bungalow and Colonial Revival styles.

The limitations of this publication make it impossible to list more than a small fraction of Northampton's significant architecture, but in closing, a few more suggestions must be made. The Strong House at 32 Conz Street, built in 1829, is notable for its unusual round shape. Not far away from the round Strong House is the round Gas Works building of 1856 just off of Crafts Avenue. The village of Florence, at the west end of Northampton, has its own fine examples of l9th and 20th century architecture. New England's industrial history is seen in the old brick mill buildings along the Mill River, and the century-old neighborhoods of mill workers' homes.

From: Living in Northampton and Amherst; A Complete Guide: 1995 - 1996.
A Publication of Ruby Press