SEPTEMBER 2011
ERASTUS HOPKINS HOUSE
urban design proposal, City of Northampton, MA
We are proposing to save the Historic homestead of Erastus Hopkins, state representative, President of the Conneticut River Rail Road and a key station master in the underground railroad in the 19th century. It is the only documented UGRR structure in Western Massachusetts in the Civil War over slavery. The re-location of the Erastus Hopkins House will ensure its preservation and the education of future generations worldwide, as it attracts tourism to downtown while simultaneously enhancing several historic preservation efforts. Fortunately the owners of the building are helping it to be saved with one possible site becoming an improvement to an existing building that has at least a reasonable possibility to work out for everyone all in our city.