The Federal-style house at 317 South Pleasant Street in Amherst was built in 1820. On December 7, 1827, when the house was owned by Rev. Stephen S. Nelson, it was here that the first meeting of the Amherst branch of the First Baptist Church in New Salem was held (Rev. Nelson served as moderator of the meeting). After later becoming a branch of the Baptist Church in Northampton, it became the First Baptist Church in Amherst in 1832. From 1831-1931 the house was owned by the Snell family. Ebeneezer Snell was a mathematics professor at Amherst College who kept the earliest continuous weather records in the world. This was continued by his daughter and by the College today. The widow’s walk on the roof of the house was added in 1854.