{"nrhp_refnum":"98001383","name":"Old Indian Meeting House","other_names":["Old Indian Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"410 Meetinghouse Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mashpee","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.62438728250004,"lon":-70.47859882606073,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-12-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education","Native American","Politics/Government","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story wood-frame Native American meeting house at 410 Meetinghouse Road, Mashpee, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, used by the Mashpee Wampanoags since the mid-1700s. The roughly 7-acre property also has a burial ground and a relocated 1831 schoolhouse.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the meeting house is a rare surviving Native American meeting house in Massachusetts. It is tied to the Wampanoag community's struggle for self-government and to the development of the Town of Mashpee. It also has architectural value as a building with Greek Revival details over an earlier frame and interior.","narrative":"Set on a wooded, triangular 7-acre site near Route 28 on Cape Cod, this wood-frame meeting house has served the Mashpee Wampanoags since the mid-1700s. Oral tradition holds that the building dates to 1684 and was moved to its present site, while written records suggest it may have been built in 1758. The one-and-a-half-story structure has Greek Revival details, likely added in the mid-1850s, and keeps its original pews, post-and-girt framing and a small interior gallery. The grounds hold a burial ground begun in the 1780s and the South Mashpee School, built in 1831 and moved here in 1975. The property is significant as one of the few remaining Indian meeting houses in Massachusetts. Its history reflects the tribe's long effort to govern its own land despite colonial and state guardianship laws, and it was the setting for town meetings until 1888 as well as church gatherings.","period_of_significance":"1684-1948","architect_builder":"Hinckley, Deacon John","architectural_style":"Colonial; Greek Revival (also listed: Italianate, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Craftsman)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Partly still in religious use and partly a museum; the meeting house and land around it remain owned by the Wampanoag tribe, and the burial ground by the Town of Mashpee.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.126401-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/7940/63794047/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/98001383.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001383/4778f86c2f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001383/4778f86c2f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Swampyank at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Indian_Meeting_House_Church_in_Mashpee_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Swampyank at English Wikipedia</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:Old_Indian_Meeting_House_Church_in_Mashpee_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794047","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Indian_Meeting_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084268"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/old-indian-meeting-house-98001383/"}