{"nrhp_refnum":"87000255","name":"West Barnstable Village-Meetinghouse Way Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Meetinghouse Way from County Rd. to Meetinghouse","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barnstable","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.70248550000008,"lon":-70.37824131901152,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A village historic district along Meetinghouse Way in West Barnstable, Barnstable, Massachusetts, covering about 175 acres with 26 main buildings, outbuildings and several sites, dating from 1717 to about 1920.","why_significant":"As the second part of Barnstable to be settled, West Barnstable Village kept its prosperity and community focus through several centuries of change. Political, religious, institutional and economic activity drew prominent local families and immigrant groups, and the district's architecture reflects this. The West Parish Meetinghouse of 1717 is its most significant building.","narrative":"Meetinghouse Way in West Barnstable forms a dispersed linear village of old homesteads mixed with later civic and commercial buildings. The district covers about 175 acres and includes 26 main buildings, outbuildings and several sites dated between 1717 and about 1920. Its anchor is the West Parish Meetinghouse, built in 1717-1719 when residents separated from the original parish at Lothrop's Hill; it was remodelled in the 1850s and restored between 1953 and 1956. Most houses are Federal-era farmhouses built by families such as the Crockers, Parkers and Bodfishes. The Cape Cod Branch Railroad arrived in 1854 and brought a station, school, post office, stores and workshops. Later brick, chair, hat, leather and pottery making, and cranberry cultivation, drew Finnish and Portuguese immigrants. Buildings such as the 1905-1907 Makepeace office and the 1910 concrete railroad depot show this commercial growth. Together they give a continuous picture of village life over several centuries.","period_of_significance":"1717-1920","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival/Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Arts & Crafts/Mission","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"General condition is described as poor to excellent; present uses are residential, institutional and commercial. The 1769 town poor house was demolished in the 1960s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.925315-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/7892/63789214/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000255.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000255/d7c9d3fc80-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000255/d7c9d3fc80-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:West_Barnstable_Train_Station,_West_Barnstable_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:West_Barnstable_Train_Station,_West_Barnstable_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789214","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Barnstable_Village%E2%80%93Meetinghouse_Way_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7984396"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/west-barnstable-village-meetinghouse-way-historic-district-87000255/"}