BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
AREA FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON,STREET; BOSTON, MA 02116 FORM NO. 249 Iown North Adams Address 39-53 Montana Street Historic Name The Boardman PHOTO: (3x3" or 3x5", black & white) staple to left side of form Photo number SKETCH MAP Show property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all buildings between inveatoried property and nearest intersection. Indicate north. Use: Present Original DESCRIPTION: Date apartments apartments 1899/1901 Source building permits Style_ Colonial Revival Architect Edwin Thayer Barlow Exterior wall fabric_stone, brick, aluminum siding Outbuildings none Major alterations (with dates)_ aluminum siding added over clapboard on second story only (mid_20tr century) -no Moved Date N/A Approx.
acreage_ less than one acre Setting This building occupies an entire Recorded by Betsy Friedberg Organization Mass. Historical Commission Date July 1985 North Adams Quadrangle UTM Reference: 18/655120/4728180 residential block facing North Adams State College to the east. On the west and north sides are late 19th century residential buildings. On the south side are modern apartments. (Staple additional sheets here) OCT 25 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the commmity.) The Boardman holds architectural significance as an unusual design by the city's most important resident architect, Edwin T. Barlow. The block-long butlding, essentally Colonial. Revival in style, is composed of nine rowhouses. At the time of its construction erts composed of ntie romnouses in North Adams.
The building was constructed with a first story of brick and granite facin and a second story sheathed in clapboard (the upper portion of the building is now covered with aluminum siding). A slate-covered gable roof caps the structure, purctuatedby four FORICALSiGNIFICANS andplatiP the rore oumers oacta (Explain slaceanlocal towers frame the building or state history and how the building relates to the development of the commumity.) (Continuation) The Boardman is the finest example of rowhousing constructed for the middle class in N. Ada It was built in 1899-1901 by developer and hardware merchant Walter Penniman and his wife, Susan Boardman Penniman. The area south of the town center on which the building stands was part of the F. R. Blackinton Estate until 1887, when it was first subdivided into building lots.
The Pennimans purchased the southern half of the lot on Montana Street in 1898 and obtained a building permit for four tenements one year later. The northern portion of the Boardman, consisting of five additional units, was not constructed until 1901. Each unit has its own porches on both the front and rear, as well as servants' quarters on the third floor. Most units also have front and back stairs, further indication of the social status of the building.. s intended occupants. Originally, there were commercial gardens behind the building (now a parking lot). The professions of some of the early tenants varied. Included were two teachers, a chemist, the supervisor of Barber Leather Company, the editor and owner of the North Adams Transcript, and a mason contractor. Mr. and Mrs. Penniman also lived here for a time.
When the Boardman was corstructed this was one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in North Adams, spurred in-part by the construction of the State Normal School on Church Street in 1896. The school (which has since become North Adams State College) (Continuation BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) Building permits, North Adams City Hall. Directory for the City of North Adams, 1903 Map of the City of North Adams, Mass., D. L. Miller, 1900 Atlas of Berkshire County, Mass., Barnes and Farnham, Pittsfield, 1904 Research on Edwin Thayer Barlow by Miss Ruth Browne, North Adams, Mass. 10M - 7/82 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commnity: North Adams Form No: 249 Property Name: The Boardman Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE, Continued Each residential unit is fronted by a porch of granite block with Tuscan columns supporting a shed roof. Entrances are recessed behind round-arched openings, also composed of granite blocks. Several of the entrances are flanked by oval windows. While architectural details on the second story are obscured by synthetic siding, the building's gables retain simple vergeboarding, and eaves are bracketed. The front gables project slightly from the main facade. The Boardman's designer, E. T. Barlow, was a native of Troy, New York, and graduated from Cornell School of Architecture in 1891. Between 1892 and 1895, he worked as a draftsman for H. Neil Wilson, an important Pittsfield, Mass., architect. During those years, Wilson designed several important buildings in North Adams.
This Yo t%sg2 ang 18g5 cei no doubt introduced Barlow to the city, which at that time lacked a distinguished resident designer. Barlow's first known design in North Adams is the Johnson School of 1895. Other arlow designs in this area include the Dowlin Block on Main Street (1902, in the lonument Square Historic District), the Mary Cady House on Cherry Street (1914, in the Church Street-Cady Hill Hlstoric District), the 0'Brien Building on Union Street (1896-1897) and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Williamstown (1896) as well as the since demolished Flaherty Block, which stood on the corner of Center and Lincoln Streets in North Adams (1896). At the same time, Barlow;worked in New York City with the firm of Carrere and Hastings on the design and construction of the New York Public Library (1895-1902).
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, Continued has recently expanded west to the east side of Montana Street, directly opposite the Boardman. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION The Boardman, awell-built Colonial Revival-style rowhouse, retains integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, and association. Designed by a well-known local architect to serve North Adams' turn-of-the-century middle class, the building fulfils Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. Staple to Inventory form at bottom NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior NationalPark Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form OMB NO.
1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 er NPS uea onh pcaived 9/12/63 date entered Continuation sheet Item number Page /1 2 Multiple Resource Area Thematie Group dnr-11 Name State North Adams MRA Berkshire Co., MASSACHUSETTS Nomination/Type of Review Conu Date/Signature acuptiupsi 1. Monument Square Historic District (B.I) Suàsbeachlere KevIew Keeper Entered in tlia Church Street-Caddy National Regiater Hill Historic District (B.I) 3. Blackinton Historic District Entered in tha National Register 4. Freeman's Grove Historic District Entered 1a tbe National Register Attest fukeeper eurßayen asao5 Attest fKeeper Aueas Byentükter Attest tReeper Suluer Byun JiVkstr 5. Attest /Keeper Normal School Historic District Entered in tlie National Register AebmnBgen /ederti 6. Armstrong House Attest Reeper Entared 1a bäe Natienal Register LeloueBpunwlztor Attest 7. Arnold Print Works 8. Boardman (The) 9.
Browne, Charles, House Subsbentdlre KovterKeeper Attest Entered 1a tha National Register (Keeper Attest Buce ha PDngel 102585 AlinAjan1012185 Entered in the National Register AulmuaBgan 101+5h5 10. Crowley House Entered in the National Register Attest fKeeper Selurßagun 10/25/85 Attest WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET 85003403 eonsoitinpie boie9 Boardman (The) (North Adams MRA) Bershire County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: Reviewer's comments: - sample Jrequest SEP 1/2 1985 Working No. - Fed. Reg.
Date:c Date Due: 10 10/85 Enbered In tAction: ACCEPT National Register - RETURN -REJECT- Federal Agency: - 10/2 1/8 10 appeal L NR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline- Date see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: _technical corrections cited below .substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one L unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one Loriginal site - moved date. 8.
Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name_ UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13.
Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Signed - Date - Phone: - Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet The Boardman 39-53 Montana St. North Adams, Mass. Detail, east elevation. Photo by R.Reed, 1983. Negative at NAHC ONE WAY NO RIGHT TURN The Boardman 39-53 Montana St. North Adams, Mass. Northeast view. Photo by R.Reed, 1983. Neaative at NAHC The Boardman 39-53 Montana Street North Adams, Mass. North Adams MRA Sketch Map 212 66 66 4356 76 66° 66 S TR 732 34 66 87! 732 3 36 8712 60 17424 35 36.22-0 29.78 30-4 30 132 BORROMaN The Boardman 39-53 Montana Street North Adams MRA North Adams Assessors' Map, ca. 1915 1=401 6 los 35+ 30-A