University Club seeks historic designation

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

Built in 1728, the Boltwood-Stockbridge House is the oldest in Amherst. (Stan Sherer photo)

he members of the University Club recently approved a plan to explore having the structure placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

     The Boltwood-Stockbridge House, which comprises the southern half of the facility, was built in 1728 by Hadley farmer Samuel Boltwood and is the oldest house in Amherst. The wood-frame structure was one of the five houses included on the original property of Massachusetts Agricultural College.

     The Homestead section of the club was built in 1731 and was originally located near the present site of the Lederle Graduate Research Center. The Homestead was dedicated in 1929 as a "domestic science practice house" where female students could polish their homemaking skills.

     University Club president Joseph S. Larson said the Boltwood-Stockbridge House also served as a makeshift prison for Tory sympathizers during the Revolution.
Later, he said, the house was the residence for MAC presidents Levi Stockbridge and Henry Flagg French. French's son, noted sculptor Daniel Chester French, lived there as a child.

     For a time, the house was used by a college farm employee. After falling into disrepair, the house was renovated during the Depression with Civilian Works Administration money. In 1934, it opened as the Faculty Club.

     Larson said securing National Register status for the club will require backing from the Amherst Historical Commission before the application moves on to the state and federal levels.

     Nearly 75,000 properties in the U.S. are listed on the National Register. Sites are selected for their association with historic events or persons; artistic or architectural values or their potential to yield important historic information.

     In other business, University Club members approved reduced membership rates for retired faculty and staff and changed the bylaws to allow the facility to be used for University business.