Northfield Main Street Historic District

Northfield's Main Street runs two miles along a gentle rise above the Connecticut River, following the line of the original Town Street laid out in the late seventeenth century. About 135 structures, mostly houses, sit on deep lots with generous setbacks, maples and elms, and views of fields and hills behind. Eighteenth-century frame houses stand beside Federal and Greek Revival homes, a brick Federal house, a Shingle Style residence and a granite Richardsonian Romanesque library built in 1897. Much of the early nineteenth-century character comes from the Stearns family. Calvin and Samuel Stearns arrived in 1799 and, with Calvin's sons and local carpenters, built many houses along the street. Their account and day books survive and document specific buildings and craftsmen. The street also served as the town's center through repeated settlement and abandonment during the colonial period, and it is linked to Moody's seminary and conferences. Prehistoric archaeological potential adds to its importance.