Built 1849 Opened 1849 | NRHP Reference # 05000931 Added to NRHP 2 September 2005 | |
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Location Northampton, Massachusetts MPS Underground Railroad in Massachusetts MPS Architectural style Greek Revival architecture Similar Iron Horse Music Hall, Manhan Rail Trail, Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail, Wellfleet Drive‑In Theater, J A Skinner State Park | ||
The Dorsey-Jones House is a historic house at 191 Nonotuck Street in the Florence area of Northampton, Massachusetts that served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The 1.5 story house was built in 1849 for Basil Dorsey, an African American who escaped slavery in 1836 with abolitionist help. It follows a plan known as "upright and wing", a common building plan of the period that was often used for millworker housing. The lot on which it was built was purchased from the Bensonville Manufacturing Company, the silkmaking business of abolitionist George Benson. The Dorsey family lived in the house until 1852, when it moved to another Florence house. This house was purchased in 1854 by Mary Jones, the wife of Thomas H. Jones, another escaped slave and antislavery activist. An itinerant preacher, Jones was rarely present, and the family moved from Florence to Worcester in 1859.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.