{"nrhp_refnum":"70000438","name":"Bonner House","other_names":["See Also:Bath Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Front St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bath","county":"Beaufort County","state":"NC","lat":35.47238366100004,"lon":-76.81327630899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-02-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame house with a one-story east wing on Front Street in Bath, Beaufort County, North Carolina, probably built between 1830 and 1840 for Joseph Bonner.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as an excellent example of early nineteenth century Carolina architecture, with Adam-style mantels and a side-hall plan. The lot is also noted for its early owner John Lawson, the surveyor and historian who helped found Bath.","narrative":"Bonner House is a two-story frame dwelling on Front Street in Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina. It has molded weatherboarding, a brick pier foundation, gable roofs covered with shakes, and shed porches on the front and rear. A one-story wing extends to the east. Inside, a side-hall plan includes a large parlor, a quarter-turn stair with wave-pattern brackets, and Adam-style mantels with elliptical sunbursts, pierced geometric patterns and dentils. Wood graining decorates the baseboards, doors and upstairs newel post. Deed records suggest the lot was vacant by 1830, when Joseph Bonner bought it, and he was recorded as a resident by 1840, so the house was probably built in those years. The Bonner family kept it until the 1950s, when it was acquired for inclusion in Historic Bath. The property was listed for its architecture. The lot also has an earlier connection to John Lawson, the surveyor and explorer who helped found the town and was killed in 1711.","period_of_significance":"c. 1830-1840","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early nineteenth century Carolina architecture with Adam-style mantels","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition, unaltered, on its original site, and used as a museum; the form checks the status as unoccupied. It is owned by the State Department of Archives and History as part of Historic Bath.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.486537-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/7189/47718999/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/70000438.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000438/e36bdbd296-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000438/e36bdbd296-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tradewinds","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonner_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Tradewinds</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bonner_House.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"70000437","name":"Bath Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/bath-historic-district-70000437/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718999","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonner_House_(Bath,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4942188"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/beaufort-county/bonner-house-70000438/"}