{"nrhp_refnum":"87000273","name":"Baxter, Capt. Rodney J., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"South and Pearl Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barnstable","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.650185185000055,"lon":-70.28439746199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-03-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story octagonal house with 18-inch concrete walls, built in 1850 at South and Pearl Streets in Hyannis, Barnstable, Massachusetts, with a matching octagonal carriage house.","why_significant":"It was the home of Captain Rodney Baxter, a noted sea captain known for record Atlantic passages and for carrying food to Ireland during the famine of 1847. It is also argued to be one of the finest examples of octagon-style architecture in Massachusetts, inspired by Orson S. Fowler's pattern book and retaining its original octagonal carriage house.","narrative":"Built in 1850 in central Hyannis, this two-story octagonal house has 18-inch thick concrete walls and a bracketed wooden cornice. A wooden verandah with spindle-turned posts and a decorative iron balustrade wraps the exterior, and most bays have paired two-over-two windows with shutters. Inside, two large square rooms sit at the center of each floor, flanked by smaller rectangular rooms, with leftover triangular spaces used as closets. The plan follows one illustrated by Orson S. Fowler in his book on octagon houses. A matching stuccoed octagonal carriage house with a cupola stands to the east. The house was home to Captain Rodney Baxter, who carried food to Ireland during the 1847 famine, made a record nineteen-day run from New York to Marseilles aboard the Flying Scud, and later ran packets between New York and New Orleans. The house is considered an intact example of a rare style and one of the finest in the state.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"After Orson S. Fowler (design source)","architectural_style":"Octagon","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Residential use, condition good, no major alterations and not moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.237351-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/7891/63789109/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000273.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000273/ff93f34072-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000273/ff93f34072-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BarnstableMA_CaptainRodneyJBaxterHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BarnstableMA_CaptainRodneyJBaxterHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789109","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capt._Rodney_J._Baxter_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5036469"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/baxter-capt-rodney-j-house-87000273/"}