{"nrhp_refnum":"87000313","name":"Baxter, Capt. Sylvester, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"156 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barnstable","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.65540102600005,"lon":-70.27705509499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-03-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2-1/2 story Italian Villa (Italianate) house at 156 Main Street in Hyannis, Barnstable, Massachusetts, built in 1855 by an unknown architect, with rental cottages as outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is considered the most fully developed example of the Italianate style in Barnstable, a town with many good examples. It was also the home of Captain Sylvester Baxter, a sea captain who served as state senator and port official. It meets criteria B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1855 at 156 Main Street in Hyannis, this square-plan Italianate house rises two and a half stories to a gable roof broken by a facade gable and a central belvedere. Its stucco-like mastic surface was meant to look like stone, and brackets in the gables and stilted segmental arches over the windows provide trim. It is regarded as the most fully developed Italianate example in Barnstable, a town known for many such buildings. The facade has lost its front porch, flanking oriel windows and a second-story oriel above the central entry, but the house remains a handsome example of the style. It was the home of Captain Sylvester Baxter (1800-1861), a deep water captain and younger brother of Captain Alexander Baxter, sometimes called the father of Hyannis. Sylvester served as first Worshipful Master of the Fraternal Lodge of Masons after its 1851 reorganization, was elected state senator in 1854, and later became Deputy Inspector and Collector of the Port of Hyannis. The house now operates as an inn.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italian Villa / Italianate","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is an inn; condition is described as fair to good. Original porch, flanking oriels and a second-story central oriel have been lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.225002-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/7892/63789216/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000313.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000313/25f5e67c6e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000313/25f5e67c6e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Thomas Kelley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capt._Sylvester_Baxter_House,_Barnstable,_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas Kelley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capt._Sylvester_Baxter_House,_Barnstable,_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789216","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capt._Sylvester_Baxter_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5036475"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/baxter-capt-sylvester-house-87000313/"}