{"nrhp_refnum":"82004450","name":"McKay, Donald, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"78-80 White St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.38050431700003,"lon":-71.03675070599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story-plus-attic Greek Revival frame dwelling at 78-80 White Street in East Boston, Massachusetts, built in 1844 as the home of shipbuilder Donald McKay. The builder or architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Donald McKay, a nineteenth century shipbuilder who influenced international maritime design and engineering and drove the growth of East Boston. It is also a fine and unusual example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture, notable for its thirteen-column side porch.","narrative":"Built in 1844 at 78-80 White Street in East Boston, this gable-fronted frame house was the home of Donald McKay, who lived there with his family until 1877. McKay, born in Canada, opened a shipyard in East Boston in 1843 and designed packet vessels before turning to clipper ships in 1850. He built thirty clippers there, including the Flying Cloud of 1851, famed for a 89-day passage from New York to San Francisco. His yard drew skilled craftsmen and laborers and reshaped the neighborhood. The house is a vernacular Greek Revival design, with a broad gable end facing the street, symmetrical openings and moulded window and door enframements. Its most distinctive feature is a flat-roofed side porch with thirteen square columns, said to honor the thirteen colonies. Later changes include an Italianate bay, dormers, a rear addition, an enclosed porch and asphalt shingle siding. A nineteenth century barn stands on the rear part of the lot, and a granite retaining wall fronts the property.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1844)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival (vernacular), with a later Italianate bay","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in private residential use, in good condition but altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.412642-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7969/63796933/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004450.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004450/c4682889b6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004450/c4682889b6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donald_McKay_House,_East_Boston_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Donald_McKay_House,_East_Boston_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"98000149","name":"Eagle Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/eagle-hill-historic-district-98000149/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796933","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_McKay_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5294844"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/mckay-donald-house-82004450/"}