Dickinson Historic District

On a hill just east of Amherst's center, this district gathers large mid-19th-century houses along Main Street, Lessey Street and neighboring lanes. Italianate is the leading style, though Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Stick Style and Georgian Revival buildings also appear. At its center is the c. 1813 brick Dickinson House, the oldest in the district, beside the 1856 Italian Villa built for William Austin Dickinson. The district also includes a church, an early railroad depot, a bank block, fraternity houses and a small park. The district is notable for architecture, with many buildings designed or altered by William Fenno Pratt, a leading mid-19th-century architect in western Massachusetts. It is also tied to the Dickinson family and their role in American letters, and to local figures who helped found Amherst College and the Massachusetts Agricultural College, or who led local industry, commerce and railroads. The Amherst Depot is among the oldest surviving railroad stations in the state.