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Z - U d Form 10-300 (July 1969) PH000 5916 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HB Nº 2. 3. 5.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) STATE: Massachusetts COUNTY: Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 1 9 1972 DATE NAME COMMON: Monument Square- Eagle Street Historic District AND/ OR HISTORIC: LOCATION STREET AND NUMBER: Congressional District 1 CITY OR TOWN: North Adams STATE Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY (Check One) District Site Building Structure CODE 025 COUNTY: Berkshire DE 003 OWNERSHIP STATUS Object Public Private Both Public Acquisition: - In Process Being Considered Occupied Unoccupied - Preservation work in progress ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC Yes: Restricted L Unrestricted No PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Agricultural Government Commercial Industrial Educational Military Entertainment Museum Park Private Residence Religious Scientific Transportation - Other (Specity) - Comments OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNER'S NAME: multiple STREET AND NUMBER: CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Berkshire County Registry of Deeds STREET AND NUMBER: 65 Park Street CITY OR TOWN: Adams STATE CODE Massachusetts 025 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY: Inventory of the Historic Sssets of the Commonwealth DATE OF SURVEY: 1972 - Federal *] State [ County DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET AND NUMBER: Office of the Secretary, State House, CITY OR TOWN: STATE: C Local Boston Mass- CODE 025 Mass - Berkshire STATE: COUNTY: ENTRY NUMBER FOR NPS USE ONLY / < RLL1, DESCRIPTION OU -O CONDLHON 20 (Check One) Excellent - Good X Fair Deteriorated L Ruins - Unexposed (Check One) (Check One) * - Altered - Unaltered - Moved X Original Site DESCRIBE THEPRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE 91SNorth Adams and Adams were one town, North and South Village, until they officially separated in 1878.
North Adams became a city in 1895. The dates we have for buildings in the historic district come from the few rather sketchy histories of North Adams. City records were of little or no use. Build- ing permits only go back as far as 1905, assessors records to 1.872, city and county atlases back to 1876. The deeds and mortgages, though older, contained no helpful information on building dates. determine from the atlases that, with the possible exception of one, all the structures on the east and west side of Eagle Street were built before 1876. The first historic district of North Adams centers on and around Monument Square at the east end of Main Street.
( The buildings included are the present First Baptist Church on the north side of the square, the First Congregational Church opposite it, the Unitarian Universalist Church directly behind (south of) the Congregational Church on Summer Street, and the North Adams Public Library (formerly the Blackinton Mansion) on the east side of the square- The district then extends northward to include structures on the east and west sides of Eagle Street from Center Street south to Main and the original Baptist Church (the O1d Meeting House) behind the present Baptist Church on the west side of North Church Street. Monument Square is located at the junction of Main Street, North Church Street, East Main Street and Church Street at the east end of Main Street.
The intersection became Monument Square after the Civil War when the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society erected a soldiers' monument there in the eighteen seventies. Today the square is bounded to the north by the First Baptist Church, on the northeast by the Methodist Church, on the east by the North Adams Public Library (Blackinton Man- sion) and by the First Congregational Church on the south side. The downtown business district on Main Street lies to the west of the square and slightly below it. The First Baptist Church on Monument Square is located at the base of the elongated triangle formed by Eagle Street, North Church Street and Main Street. The present Baptist Church, built in 1879, is the last of a number of churches to occupy that site. A meeting house, constructed in 1782, was was moved to the site from nearby in 1795.
There it stood until 1829 when it was moved to its present site on North Church Street to make room for a small brick Baptist Church. In 1848, having outgrown this structure, the Baptists razed this second building and built a larger brick church in its place. A new front was put on the church in 1871 that included the present tower and spire. On May 5, 1879 a fire destroyed all but the north facade and towers of the church- The Baptists immediately rebuilt the church and added a chapel.
Years later a small tower on the southwest corner of the chapel was removed, but that appears to be the only difference between the standard Gothic church of the 1870's and the First Baptist Z 0, [Form-10-300g 2969y/2 TTL NATIONAL REGIS TE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SRATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER DATE (Continuation Sheet) JUN 1 9 1972 Vom ber all entries) 7. (cønt"d) NORTH ADAMS, Monument Square - Eagle St. Historic District (2) Church today- Turning the corner in front of the Baptist Church and going down North Church Street the first building on the left is Old Meeting House (1782). It sits between the rear of the Baptist Church and the rear of No. 26 Eagle Street.
Since it was moved there in 1829 it has been used as a residential and commercial structure. It presently houses four families. In recent years stucco and imitation half timbers have been applied to the original clapboard siding of this thirty by thirty-eight foot structure. Facing the Baptist Church, across Monument Square, is the First Congregational Church built 1863-64. The main body of this Lombard Romanesque church is rectangular, red brick and covered by a pitched roof. The assymetrical facade is dominated by a tall square tower attached to the northeast corner of the church. It is topped by an equally tall spire. A rose window is set in the wall above the Main Street entrance. The architect was Charles E. Parker of Boston. Directly behind (south of) the First Congregational Church, on Summer Street, is the Unitarian Universalist Church.
The structure, completed in 1893, is constructed of a brownish-yellow and yellowish-red polychrome brick. Both Richardsonian and Classical in style the low, pitched roof masses of the building are dominated by the large square tower near the center of the north facade- H. Neil Wilson of Pittsfield was the architect. Finally, on the east side of Monument Square, the North Adams Public Library (Blackinton Mansion) stands. Begun as a residence in 1869, it was ready for occupancy by Sanford Blackin- ton and his family in 1872. A combination of the Italianate and Second Empire (Mansard) styles, this three storey mansion has a large, square five storey tower attached to its north facade. The main mass of the building is a combination of two storeys of brown brick and a full storey mansard roof of dark brown wood. The roof of the house and tower are bracketed.
The windows on the first and second floor have plain or segmental lintels, except for two in the northwest and southwest corners of the house. Single storey side porches of wood once occupied those spaces but, like the wrought iron fence that once surrounded the yard, The east side of Eagle Street consists of a group of three storey: nineteenth century commercial structures of frame con- struction. The Tower and Porter Building (30-34 Eagle), the exception in the group, is four storeys high and constructed of red brick. 1 The 'latiron Building located at the corner oi tagle anc vorth Church streets is shaped like an elongated trianglel The structure was actually built in two sections.
The taller, southerly portion was erected in 1830; the lower, narrower northern 10 - Form 10:300a 2968/2 NATIONAL REGISI=: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ENATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBE DATE 18 12 (Continuation Sheet) JUN 19 1972 Number all entries) 13 7. (cont'd) Max NORTH ADAMS - Monument Square-Eagle St. Historic District section was added in 1852. A slightly hipped, bracketed roof covers the original büilding. The later addition is covered by a flat, identically bracketed roof. Five small shops on the first floor of the building front on Eagle Street. Because of the topography of the area one cannot see the rear of these shops from North Church Street.
At its street level North Church Street is ten feet (one storey) higher than Eagle Street so the rear of the shop area is below street level on North Church. Standing on this side of the building one sees only the top two floors of the three storey stucture, apartments and entrances. Until the early 1940's there was a street level entrance to the second and third floor apartments on Eagle Street, between the barber shop and the Chinese laundry, in the space now occupied by Mama Gir- genti's Pizza. The entire building is a little over one hundred feet long on both the Eagle Street and the North Church Street facades, nine feet wide at the narrow northern point and 46 feet wide at its south end. The Tower and Porter Building, the next in the group, was built in 1886.
Separated from the Flatiron Building by a narrow alley-way it continues the triangular shape of the block bounded by Eagle, North Church and Main Streets. Its south end is 68 feet long compared to its 49 foot north end. The east and west facades of this four storey, brick building are about 60 feet long- The Tower and Porter Building has two first floor shops on the Eagle Street side. On North Church Street only the apartments of the top three floors are visible. Its flat roof is bracketed on the east and west facades. Granite sills appear below windows on the North Church facade while both granite sills and lintels are used on the more decorative Eagle Street facade. A clapboard Greek Revival Building (wood), next in sequence, is separated from the Tower and Porter Building by another small alley.
This 22 foot by 50 foot structure is an excellent example of the folk phase of the Greek Revival style popular from 1830- 1850- Like all the other buildings on Eagle Street it has shops on the first floor, apartments above. From North Church Street only the apartments of the 2nd and 3rd storeys can be seen. The building is set back somewhat from North Church Street, breaking the triangular shape created by the Flatiron and Tower and Porter buildings. A ilat roofed, rectangular (36'x44') clapboard building and a smaller (10'x30') two storev building are the next in line or Eagle Street. In the larger building there are first floor shops below; the upper storeys (now covered with asphalt shingles) contain apartments. On North Church Street the facade of the larger building has been covered with stucco.
The smaller two storey structure next to it does not show from North Church Street, but on the Eagle Street face a single shop occupies the first floor. The second floor is covered by vertical planking. LC / 19 Fptm 10-300a 10 (Juty t9QPE/) 2 1972 NATIONAL UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ENATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire REGISTER FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER DATE (Continuation Sheet) E(Nutibn all ontries) JUN 1 9 1972 (cont'd) NORTH ADAMS - Monument Square-Eagle St. Historic District Next is the Decker Building at 22 Eagle Street. First oc- cupied by a tin-smith in 1832, Isaac Decker took it over a few years later and ran a plumbing supply house there until the firm of Tower and Porter bought him out in 1880.
Six years later Tower and Porter built their new brick building, previously described, at 30-34 Eagle Street. The narrow clapboard siding of the Decker Building resembles that of the Flatiron Building and on the second and third floors of the Eagle Street facade there are wooden pediments above the windows. Like the Greek Revival building, it is covered by a pitched roof. Today an appliance company uses the first floor of the Decker Building as its sales area, the upper two floors for storage. As in the building before it, this 46'x36' structure has no frontage on North Church Street. Eagle and North Church have diverged too far at this point to make an extension through the block feasible. There are three shops on the first floor of the last building on Eagle Street's east side. Second and third floor apartments are entered through street level entrances on Eagle Street.
The outside of this frame structure is now covered with asphalt shingle. This building is at least 125 years old according to long time area residents, and nineteenth century photographs indicate that it had narrow clapboard siding and fenestration closely resembling that of the Decker and Flatiron buildings. The same photos also show open wooden porches or awnings over the first floor shops of all the frame structures on Eagle Street. The fourteen buildings on the west side of Eagle Street average two storeys in height and can be divided into a north group, a middle group and a south group; each group separated from the next by an alley. There are two red brick buildings in the north group, opposite the Tower and Porter Building, two in the middle group and none in the south group. Each group has one pitched roof building.
The majority of structures are of frame construction with flat roofs. During the nineteenth century the buildings in the south group were all clapboard. Today they are covered with various other materials from stucco to asphalt shingle. The old Rice's Drugstore (first drugstore in the city) on the corner of Main and Eagle had a pitched roof originally. Presently it has a flat roof and a stucco exterior. The next two buildings, 5-11 Eagle Street, once had a common false front that made the two storey buildings appear to be three storeys high. That front has been removed and the two buildings in question now have totally unrelated, two storey facades. The middle group includes two brick structures. The first a narrow, three storey red brick building opposite the Decker Building. Bracketed stone sills and semi-circular lintels appear on the Eagle Street facade.
The flat roof is also bracketed on this side. A two storey, pitched roof building of yellowish brown Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Berkshire FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER JUN 1 9 19/2 DATE (Number all entries) 7. (cont'd) NORTH ADAMS - Monument Square-Eagle St. Historic District brick stands detached at the northern end of the middle group, across from the Greek Revival building. The first two buildings in the northern group are constructed oi red brick. The first, a three storey, flat rooted structure (50'x50') has gold aluminum siding covering its entire east facade.
The whole building is used today by a furniture company- Next in line is a small two storey brick building and a two "storey, clapboard structure with a pitched roof. The last building in this group, across from the Flatiron Building, is a large, two storey building with a flat, bracketed roof.
U7I118 9 RECEiVED JUN 2 /1972 NATIONAL REGISTER TEIz z - SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) Pre-Columbian| 15th Century 16th Century 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century - 20th Century 'SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal Education Prehistoric Engineering Historic Industry Agriculture Invention Architecture Landscape Art Architecture Commerce Literature Communications Military Conservation Music Political Religion/Phi- losophy | Science Sculpture Social/Human- itarian Theater Transportation Urban Planning 7 Other (Specify) 0, STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE