{"nrhp_refnum":"94000813","name":"Arcade, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"134 Circuit Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oak Bluffs","county":"Dukes County","state":"MA","lat":41.45611724100007,"lon":-70.55832824499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-08-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story wood-frame Victorian Gothic commercial and residential building at 134 Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Dukes County, Massachusetts, built in 1871 and designed by Samuel Pratt for the Oak Bluff Land & Wharf Company.","why_significant":"It was the first major building put up by the Land & Wharf Company and the earliest building in what became Oak Bluffs' commercial center, so it is tied to the town's growth as a summer resort. It is also one of only two surviving major works by architect and inventor Samuel Pratt. It is an excellent, largely intact example of Victorian Gothic design.","narrative":"Standing on the west side of Circuit Avenue in the center of Oak Bluffs, the Arcade is a three-story wood-frame building with a three-tier porch, carved vergeboards and balustrades, and an open passage running through the middle from the street to the rear of the lot. It was built in 1871 for the Oak Bluff Land & Wharf Company, which used it as its office while directing development of the new seaside resort next to the Methodist camp meeting grounds. Boston architect and inventor Samuel Pratt designed it. Pratt also designed Union Chapel and many Oak Bluffs cottages, and the Arcade is one of only two of his major works still standing. The building was the first in what became the town's commercial center and remains its most prominent structure. A certified rehabilitation in 1981 restored the storefronts and staircase and converted the upper floors to apartments. Today it houses shops, a restaurant and housing.","period_of_significance":"1871-1944","architect_builder":"Pratt, Samuel","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently used for specialty stores, a restaurant and apartments; rehabilitated in 1981.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.518537-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/94/7945/63794594/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/94000813.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000813/9d1de31243-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000813/9d1de31243-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Michaelsavoy","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Arcade2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michaelsavoy</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:The_Arcade2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794594","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arcade_(Oak_Bluffs,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7714148"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/dukes-county/arcade-the-94000813/"}