{"nrhp_refnum":"74002034","name":"Plymouth Antiquarian House","other_names":["Hedge House","Hammatt House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"126 Water St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Plymouth","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":41.960403205000034,"lon":-70.66722008999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-12-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Federal-style house museum at 126 Water Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts, built in 1809 for merchant William Hammatt. It has an elongated octagonal main block and a three-story ell, and overlooks Plymouth Harbor.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a fine, well-preserved example of a Federal elongated octagon. It was also the home of two prominent Plymouth families, the Hammatts and the Hedges. The house reflects the elegance and prosperity of Plymouth's maritime heyday.","narrative":"Overlooking Plymouth Harbor from a slight rise on Water Street, this Federal-style house was built in 1809 for William Hammatt, a Plymouth merchant and ship owner. Its two-story main block forms an elongated octagon under a truncated hip roof, with a three-story ell at the rear and a dentiled Ionic porch on the facade. Inside, an octagonal hall is flanked by an octagonal parlor and keeping room. The ell was enlarged in 1830, and little has changed structurally since. Hammatt's business suffered after the War of 1812, and he later moved to Maine. In 1830 Thomas Hedge, another merchant with shares in whaling ships and a candle factory, bought the house, and his family lived there for nearly a century. The Plymouth Antiquarian Society acquired it in 1920 and moved it beside its original site to prevent demolition. It now serves as a house museum furnished with period pieces, some of them Hedge heirlooms.","period_of_significance":"1809 and 1830 (19th century)","architect_builder":"William Hammatt (built the house in 1809)","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition; moved in 1920 to a spot adjacent to its original site to avoid demolition; now operated as a house museum furnished with period Plymouth pieces.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.977259-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/7965/63796516/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/74002034.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002034/c26a501ea5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002034/c26a501ea5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Historical Perspective","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hedge-Hammatt_House,_Plymouth,_MA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Historical Perspective</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hedge-Hammatt_House,_Plymouth,_MA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796516","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Antiquarian_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715821"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/plymouth-antiquarian-house-74002034/"}