{"nrhp_refnum":"75000243","name":"Carney, Sgt. William H., House","other_names":["Martha Briggs Educational Club"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"128 Mill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.63750160300003,"lon":-70.93248148899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A clapboarded 2½-story house at 128 Mill Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, built around 1850 on a high granite basement, with a rear service ell. It later became the headquarters of the Martha Briggs Educational Club.","why_significant":"It was the home of Sergeant William H. Carney, a Civil War hero and the first Black recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He earned the medal at the assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina, on July 18, 1863, while serving with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Carney bought the house in 1870 and lived there while working as a letter carrier.","narrative":"This modest clapboarded house at 128 Mill Street in New Bedford was built around 1850, during a period of growth driven by the whaling industry. It has a gabled front, a three-bay facade, a high granite basement and a rear service ell. Its Victorian bracketed entrance hood is a later addition, and restoration plans call for a Greek Revival doorway and six-over-six windows. The house is best known as the home of Sergeant William H. Carney, who bought it in 1870 after returning from California. Carney was the first Black recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He served with the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and was wounded at Fort Wagner, South Carolina, in July 1863, where he seized the fallen flag and carried it forward. He worked as a letter carrier in New Bedford for thirty-one years. His family kept the house until 1938, when it became the headquarters of the Martha Briggs Educational Club.","period_of_significance":"1870-1901","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival with later Italianate elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Martha Briggs Educational Club and used as a club building; condition rated fair, with restoration planned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.981658-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/7945/63794572/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000243.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000243/44264d8985-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000243/44264d8985-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sgt._William_H._Carney_House,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Sgt._William_H._Carney_House,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794572","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._William_H._Carney_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7459789"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/carney-sgt-william-h-house-75000243/"}