Gay Head-Aquinnah Town Center Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Why it's listed
This boundary increase extends the Gay Head/Aquinnah Town Center Historic District on Martha's Vineyard with two groups of buildings along South Road, Totem Pole Way and Jeffers Way. The additions include 17 contributing and 3 noncontributing buildings, mostly one to one-and-a-half-story, shingled wood-frame houses with Craftsman, Victorian Eclectic or no particular style. Among them is the Linus Jeffers House at 4 Jeffers Way, built before 1893, which housed a post office, a grocery and town offices until the Town Hall opened in 1929. The Adriaan Vanderhoop House at 46 South Road and the house at 57 South Road are modest vernacular dwellings from the late 19th century. The Totem Pole Inn, from the 1920s, sits on a two-and-a-half-acre parcel with an innkeeper's residence, four Craftsman cottages and a garage. Together these properties reflect how the town center grew around its civic buildings and Wampanoag families such as the Jeffers and Vanderhoops.
Significance in brief: The added properties share the modest massing, shingled wood-frame construction and restrained Craftsman, Victorian Eclectic or no-style details of the existing 1999 district. They include late 19th-century homes tied to local families and civic life, such as the Linus Jeffers House, which served as post office, grocery and town office before the 1929 Town Hall. The early 20th-century Totem Pole Inn complex adds a group of Craftsman-style cottages.
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 01001060, listed October 1, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | South Rd., Totem Pole Way and Jeffers Way, Aquinnah |
|---|---|
| County | Dukes County |
| Listed | October 1, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01001060 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian; Late 19th and early 20th century American Movements: Craftsman; No Style |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Community Planning and Development, Native American |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current functions include single dwellings and vacant (not in use). Condition ranges from good to poor; the Totem Pole Inn garage is in poor condition. Some houses are seasonal residences. |
| Acreage | 25 |
| Coordinates | 41.34168, -70.81379 (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 01001060.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5528591
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.