Three Mile Bay Historic District
Why it's listed
Along the curving Depot Street in Three Mile Bay, a hamlet in the town of Lyme, stand six buildings built between 1840 and 1908 for public and semi-public use. They include a Greek Revival Baptist church of 1840, its 1844 parsonage rebuilt in 1908, a carriage barn, a grange hall of about 1874, and a four-room Italianate schoolhouse of 1878 with its coal shed and privy. Depot Street was laid out around 1852 to link the harbor with a railroad depot, and it became the center of civic life. The district matters for architecture and community history. In 1874 the church added a Sunday School wing following the Akron plan, along with a Gothic-style steeple, while the grange hall and the school brought new building types to Lyme during a period of farm prosperity. The wood-frame buildings, set on limestone foundations, stand larger than the surrounding cottages and remain well preserved.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be architecturally significant as a well-preserved group of nineteenth-century public and semi-public buildings reflecting national trends and styles in a rural North Country hamlet. The 1870s buildings, including the Akron-plan church wing, the grange hall and the four-room school, introduced new building types to Lyme. The buildings are also historically significant for their central role in the civic life of Three Mile Bay.
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 90001327, listed September 6, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Jct. of Church and Depot Sts., Three Mile Bay, Chaumont |
|---|---|
| County | Jefferson County |
| Listed | September 6, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90001327 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1840-1908 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival vernacular; Italianate palazzo style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Some buildings have alterations: the grange hall has boarded ground-floor windows, and the school's first-floor classroom was converted to residential use in the 1980s. |
| Acreage | 3 |
| Coordinates | 44.08231, -76.19767 (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 90001327.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7797631
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.