New England Architecture, an exhibit of photography by Aaron Helfand, will be on display at Historic Northampton Museum from November through March. The exhibit will highlight the variety of historic architectural styles characteristic of New England.

This exhibit features images of historic buildings from cities and towns across New England, including Bennington, Deerfield, Nantucket, Providence and Portsmouth.  Through a series of artistically composed images, it provides a tour not only of different geographic locations, but different periods of architectural history, displaying regional examples of Post-Medieval, Georgian, Federal, Greek and Gothic Revival styles.  Detailed captions explain the architectural significance of each photograph.

Helfand is a Northampton native and a recent graduate of Williams College and the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, where he studied classical and traditional architecture and urban design.  Last year, he participated in the Notre Dame urban design charrette in Northampton.  He currently works as a designer with Judge, Skelton & Smith, Architects, in Boston, specializing in residential designs that are informed by local traditions.  This is his second photographic exhibit; his first, "Photographs of Italy," was on display at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital this past August.

Opening Reception, New England Architecture
Sunday, November 8, 2009, 2 - 4 PM

 
New England Architecture:
Photographs by Aaron Helfand
November 8, 2009 - March 28, 2010

Major CPA Preservation Project Launched

Historic Northampton received a major grant from the Northampton Community Preservation Committee to restore and preserve the historic properties in the Parsons, Shepherd and Damon Historic District as designated in the National Register of Historic Properties.

The $105,000 award will fund the exterior restoration of Historic Northampton's three historic houses.  Restoration will include replacement of damaged clapboards, exterior painting and roof replacement on the eighteenth-century Nathaniel Parsons House.  This September, work began on the circa 1796 Pomeroy-Shepherd House (shown above).

All work will be guided by an extensive historic site and building archeology survey compiled by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England).

Virtual Tour of The Nathaniel Parsons House

Historic Northampton's website now features a virtual tour of The Nathaniel Parsons House located at 58 Bridge Street.

The earliest section of the Nathaniel Parsons House was built circa 1719 with construction continuing on for a year or two.  Over the next two centuries, the house was expanded and remodeled in several stages according to the tastes and circumstances of its successive owners.  The house was donated to the Northampton Historical Society in 1941 by Anna Catherine Bliss.

In 1992, the structure was extensively examined by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), now known as Historic New England.  SPNEA conservators examined and documented the exterior structure and surviving interior decorative finishes.  The virtual tour features highlights of the study's findings.  The SPNEA report, Report on Building Archeology at the Nathaniel Parsons House, is now online in the Online Research section.  The website also features: 1. a transcription of the 1738 probate inventory of Nathaniel Parsons, 2. research resources, 3. links to the Parsons Family Association websites and 4. a link to the website, The Goody Parsons Witchcraft Case: A Journey to 17th Century Northampton, developed by Historic Northampton and the Center for Computer Based Instructional Technology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

 

Research the history of your house

Historic Northampton's online reference portal offers access to frequently requested research resources which may hold clues to the history of your house.

The Howes Brothers Collection features 737 photographs of houses located in Northampton, Florence and Leeds.  The Howes Brothers - George, Walter and Alvah Howes - were itinerant photographers who traveled door to door taking photographs of families posed in front of their house from 1886-1902, during a time when few people owned cameras.  The surviving photographs are identified by street address.

Search for your house on nineteenth-century maps and atlases.  The Maps section of the online research button includes atlases dating to 1873, 1884 and 1895.

The Historic House Inventory features the Northampton Historical Commission survey of approximately 1000 historic properties in Northampton conducted in the mid-1970s - early 1980s by teams of trained volunteers.

Historic Nothampton's online research materials can be accessed with an annual membership subscription in the Friends of Historic Northampton.

Historic Northampton

A Place Called Paradise: The Making of Northampton, Massachusetts

"The Paintability of Nature": Rediscovering Charles C. Burleigh, Jr. (1848-1882)

New England Architecture: Photographs by Aaron Helfand (opening November 8, 2009)

Opening Reception:
New England Architecture
Sunday, November 8, 2009
2 - 4 PM

 

Museum Hours:

Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 5

Sunday 12 noon - 5
Closed Mondays and Holidays

Admission:
Individuals: $3
Families: $6
Members: free admission

 

Visit Historic
Northampton's Website

www.historic-northampton.org