{"nrhp_refnum":"86001899","name":"Old Shipbuilder's Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Both sides of Washington St. from Powder Point Ave. to N of South Duxbury","address_restricted":false,"city":"Duxbury","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.036448000000036,"lon":-70.6713099155208,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Community Planning and Development","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A linear historic district along Washington Street in Duxbury Village, Duxbury, Massachusetts, flanking Duxbury Bay and running from Powder Point Avenue south to just north of South Duxbury. It is dominated by wood-frame houses built ca. 1780-1840.","why_significant":"The district holds one of the finest and best preserved collections of Federal-period buildings, especially residences, in Massachusetts. These houses were built by sea captains and shipbuilders during Duxbury's brief shipbuilding prosperity. Decline after about 1840 halted new construction and left the buildings largely intact.","narrative":"Along Washington Street in Duxbury Village, beside Duxbury Bay, a two-mile district preserves one of the best collections of Federal-period architecture in Massachusetts. More than forty Federal-style houses were built here between about 1790 and 1830 for shipbuilders and sea captains, alongside earlier gambrel-roofed cottages and later Greek Revival homes, churches, a bank and a store. Highlights include the Second Nathaniel Winsor House of 1807, a three-story brick-ended mansion, and a row of shipbuilders' houses on Powder Point Avenue. Duxbury's shipyards peaked around 1840, then major builders moved to Boston and the town's economy declined sharply. Little new construction followed, so the houses survived largely unchanged. Summer residents arriving after the 1871 railroad added some Shingle Style and Colonial Revival dwellings. The district is significant as a visible record of the town's short maritime boom, and it also has high potential for archaeological remains of shipyards and homesites.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal, with Georgian, Greek Revival, Colonial Revival, Shingle and Queen Anne examples","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, with houses well maintained and well preserved; 42 mid-20th century intrusions noted. Properties are occupied and in residential, commercial, religious and other uses.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.136844-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/7964/63796481/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001899.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001899/7d7bd29194-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001899/7d7bd29194-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sweetser%27s_General_Store,_Duxbury_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:Sweetser%27s_General_Store,_Duxbury_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796481","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Shipbuilder%27s_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084970"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/old-shipbuilders-historic-district-86001899/"}