{"nrhp_refnum":"99000187","name":"Gay Head-Aquinnah Town Center Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"South Rd. and Church St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aquinnah","county":"Dukes County","state":"MA","lat":41.34234150000006,"lon":-70.81175180396627,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-02-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Politics/Government","Education","Native American","Exploration/Settlement","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly T-shaped district of about seven acres at South Road and Church Street in Aquinnah (Gay Head), on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. It holds six contributing buildings and two World War I monuments dating from about 1844 to 1929.","why_significant":"The district is described as the compact civic, educational and religious center of Gay Head, formed when the community shifted from Old South Road to the newer South Road. Three of its buildings were moved there during the historic period, a move the form treats as a significant event in the town's evolution. It also records the town's service in World War I and has high archaeological potential.","narrative":"Gay Head, now Aquinnah, sits at the western tip of Martha's Vineyard, and its town center is a small cluster of modest shingled buildings at South Road and Church Street. The district covers about seven acres and includes a one-room school (ca. 1844, moved 1878) now used as the public library, a Baptist church (1850) and parsonage (1856) both moved in 1907, a former post office from the 1920s, and a Craftsman-style Town Hall/Community Center built in 1929. Two World War I monuments stand in front of the town hall, one honoring the town for sending more men to the war in proportion to its population than any other New England town. After South Road was laid out in 1870, families and institutions left the older Old South Road, and this group became the new center of community life. A newer town office and fire station are non-contributing. Archaeological potential is considered high.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival; Bungalow/Craftsman; no style","criteria":[],"status_note":"The Post Office/Residence is currently unoccupied. The School houses the public library, the Town Hall/Community Center is in use, and the Church is the only extant church in Gay Head.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.510175-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7946/63794610/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/99000187.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000187/91b156c976-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000187/91b156c976-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gay_Head_Community_Baptist_Church,_Aquinnah_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gay_Head_Community_Baptist_Church,_Aquinnah_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794610","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Head%E2%80%93Aquinnah_Town_Center_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5528591"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/dukes-county/gay-head-aquinnah-town-center-historic-district-99000187/"}