Rehoboth Village Historic District
Why it's listed
Rehoboth Village is a compact cluster of buildings along Bay State Road and Locust Street at the geographic center of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Settlers came around 1700 for the water power of a fall line in the Palmer River, and gristmills, sawmills and later cotton mills operated there for roughly two hundred years. The village also held the town's first post office, a succession of general stores, and the Goff Memorial Hall, the home of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society and later its library. Buildings range from a mid-18th-century three-quarter house to Federal and Greek Revival houses, Queen Anne dwellings, and the brick Tudor Revival hall of 1915 designed by William R. Walker and Son of Providence. Winding roads, mature plantings, a mill pond and surrounding fields preserve the setting. The district was recognized for its architectural character and its close ties to the community's economic, social and civic development.
Significance in brief: The village grew up around a fall line on the Palmer River that powered mills for about two hundred years. It served as the nearest thing to a town center, with a post office, stores, church and the Goff Memorial Hall. Its buildings form a visually unified record of Rehoboth's development, and the nomination applies criteria A, B and C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83000707, listed June 6, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Bay State Rd. and Locust Ave., Rehoboth |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | June 6, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83000707 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | William R. Walker and Son (Goff Memorial Hall, 1915) |
| Architectural style | Varied: Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Tudor Revival, plus vernacular buildings |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Commerce, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The Congregational Church Parish House has housed the Blanding Library since 1951; the village is described as having changed little since the 19th century. |
| Acreage | 12 |
| Coordinates | 41.84128, -71.25047 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83000707.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7309848
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.