{"nrhp_refnum":"72000118","name":"Bay Road","other_names":["Post Road","Road from Taunton to Boston"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"416-535 Bay Rd. (Foundry St. to the Norton town line)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Easton","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":42.010560500000054,"lon":-71.1203131358042,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-05-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-mile stretch of Bay Road in Easton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, listed as a historic district of about 140 acres running from Five Corners south to the Norton town line. It is part of the old road between Boston and Taunton.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district's importance lies in its historical continuity: this section has not changed in direction or physical character in over 250 years, while most of the thirty-six mile road has been greatly altered. Maps and deeds from as early as 1717 show it in its present location as a main route to Boston. It also preserves colonial houses, taverns, milestones and a cemetery.","narrative":"This two-mile section of Bay Road in Easton, Massachusetts, is the best-preserved part of an old route that ran from Boston to Taunton. The road began as an Indian path, later known as the Post Road and the King's Highway, and it served early inland settlers who needed to reach mills on the Neponset River and the town of Boston. While most of the thirty-six mile road has been greatly altered, this stretch has kept its direction and character for more than 250 years. Maps and deeds, some dating to 1717, place it where it runs today. Along it are colonial buildings such as the Keith House, the Benjamin Williams Tavern and the Thomas Manley House, plus nineteenth-century and later homes, two milestones dated 1773, and the John Williams Cemetery with stones from 1739. Stone walls, trees and open land give the road a rural, continuous appearance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial, with some Federal, Greek Revival, nineteenth-century and contemporary dwellings","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked good. The road is now a secondary road used mostly by local traffic, lined with dwellings, sheds and barns and no commercial structures.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.321753-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/7945/63794554/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/72000118.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000118/5c8ac90d13-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000118/5c8ac90d13-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_Road_at_Wheaton_Farm,_Easton_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bay_Road_at_Wheaton_Farm,_Easton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794554","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Road","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4874079"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/bay-road-72000118/"}