ERVING — Assisted by Brian Knight Research of Manchester, Vermont, the Historical Commission is starting a project to document 140 historical properties and create a cultural resources report that would include land on Routes 63 and 2, as well as the Erving-side.

The project is funded through a $40,000 grant, half of which comes from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Voters at the May 2023 Annual Town Meeting authorized a $20,000 match, and after a year of searching for a contractor, Brian Knight Research was tapped for the project due to the company’s experience surveying in Greenfield and Orange.

According to the Erving town website, the findings will be submitted to the town and the Massachusetts Historical Commission in the summer of 2025. As part of its report, Brian Knight Research will details important aspects of each building, including its construction date, construction type and materials used. Prior surveys done in Erving are already available on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website.

Erving Historical Commission Chair Sara Campbell explained the desire to have a survey done was inspired by the Montague portion of Millers Falls receiving a historic district designation in 2021. With Erving covering half of the village, Campbell said it made sense to take the opportunity to have Millers Falls covered under the grant.

“The logical question was, ‘Well, we’re half of that village,’ so when the funding came up from the state, we jumped on it because it’s always good to get some professional help,” Campbell said of the project.

To get the most out of the grant, Campbell said the goal is to look at the older housing stock, and reserve some of the newer historical locations for a future grant cycle.

“It’s looking like there was sort of two phases to Erving in terms of its development. There was a late 19th, early 20th century, and then maybe more mid-20th-century development,” Knight said. “We’re trying to break it up in such a manner where they wanted to seek additional funding for future projects that could focus on more of the mid-20th-century housing stock.”

So far, Knight said he’s been working with the Erving Historical Commission to identify 140 survey locations out of 220 possible sites across Erving, many of which are homes that were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Two major locations of interest include residential homes around the former International Paper Mill and the roads surrounding the Renovators Supply Co. complex at 1 River St.

Additionally, Knight will be looking at the Farley village, as well as locations along Route 2 heading in both directions. In both of these areas, Knight explained the goal is to capture the industrial and residential history of the town.

“We’re going to document the mills and the housing associated with them,” Knight said. “In most cases, the mills themselves built the houses.”

At this point in the project, Knight said he’s working on completing a “windshield survey,” which entails driving around Erving to get a lay of the land. From there, Knight will look at previous historical information available through the Assessors Office to identify previous home ownership. Additionally, Knight will look over historic maps and atlases to better chart the historic progression of the homes and buildings. As noted by the information posted to Erving’s website, Knight will take pictures of the buildings from the public way to further assist in the project’s progression.

For both Campbell and Knight, this project is an opportunity to contextualize the history of homes in Erving and Erving-side to their industrial history. Knight pointed out that when a town has an understanding and appreciation of its history, it can help make plans for the future.

“You have these tight-knit communities that have developed around an industry, and to know where your community came from, perhaps you can take elements of it and think about the future of the place,” Knight explained, “and how can you tie in the past while appreciating present and moving forward.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.