{"nrhp_refnum":"70000439","name":"Palmer-Marsh House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St., S of NC 92","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bath","county":"Beaufort County","state":"NC","lat":35.47682892600005,"lon":-76.81382816999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-02-26","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1970-05-10","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame and clapboard colonial town house built about 1744 on the east side of Main Street in Bath, Beaufort County, North Carolina. It was designed for both residential and commercial use and is now a state-owned museum.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of North Carolina's oldest surviving houses and a well-preserved example of a substantial colonial town house. Its large first-floor room, used as a store, parlor and possibly a council room, and its massive brick double chimney are singled out. It was restored in 1960-62 and most of its fabric is original.","narrative":"Built around 1744 in the port town of Bath, this two-story frame and clapboard house served as both home and place of business. Its first owner, Michael Coutanch, was a French merchant who used the large western room as a store. Later that room became a parlor, and local tradition says it also hosted the colonial assembly. A massive English-bond double chimney, seventeen feet wide at its base, rises at the eastern end, and the basement kitchen has walls built from ships' ballast. Robert Palmer, a Scottish-born colonial official, acquired the house some twenty years after it was built. The Marsh family, shipowners and merchants, held it from 1802 to 1915 and updated it in the 19th century. A restoration in 1960-62 removed those changes, and most of the original fabric survives. The State of North Carolina has owned the house since 1963 and operates it as a museum, with reconstructed outbuildings and a family burial ground on the grounds.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"not known","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored in 1960-62, owned by the State of North Carolina since 1963 and open to the public throughout the year as a museum; condition listed as excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.613176-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/55/7187/47718755/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/70000439_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000439/a8de1257ed-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000439/a8de1257ed-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jack Boucher","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmer-Marsh_House,_Main_Street,_Bath_(Beaufort_County,_North_Carolina).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack Boucher</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmer-Marsh_House,_Main_Street,_Bath_(Beaufort_County,_North_Carolina).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/47718755","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer-Marsh_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4165364"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/beaufort-county/palmer-marsh-house-70000439/"}