The Amherst Central Business District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

encompassing the heart of downtown

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

. Centered on the northern section of the long town common, the area has been the civic and commercial heart of the town since the 18th century. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991, and slightly enlarged in 2011.

Description and history

Amherst was originally part of Hadley, settled in 1661, and was itself known to have colonial settlements by 1728. It was incorporated in 1768. Its earliest focal point of settlement was in what is now its commercial business district, at the junction of Main and Pleasant Streets. No buildings surviving from this early date; the oldest house in the area is the Strong House, built in 1774 by Simeon Strong. Only a few buildings predate 1838, when a major fire devastated the downtown area. As a consequence of that and later fires, the character of the commercial buildings in the district is largely that of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Initially an agricultural area, Amherst flourished with the rise of both

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

and the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now

UMass Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

) as major institutions. When first listed on the

in 1991, it consisted of a group of mostly brick commercial buildings, built between 1836 and 1930, centered on the junction of South Pleasant, North Pleasant, Amity, and Main Streets, and Boltwood Avenue. The notable non-commercial buildings in the district include the Strong House (separately listed in 1984), the Grace Episcopal Church, the First Baptist Church, and Amherst Town Hall. The district includes the northernmost third of the town common, including a fountain. The district was enlarged in 2011 to include the Lord Jeffery Inn at 30 Boltwood Avenue.

References

{{Clear Historic districts in Amherst, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Hampshire County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References