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Old King's Highway Historic District

Barnstable, MassachusettsHistoric districts in Barnstable County, MassachusettsHistoric districts on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsNRHP infobox with nocatNational Register of Historic Places in Barnstable, Massachusetts
Roads on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsUse mdy dates from August 2023
1854 Barnstable Village Schoolhouse, Barnstable MA
1854 Barnstable Village Schoolhouse, Barnstable MA

The Old King's Highway Historic District encompasses what was historically the principal east–west thoroughfare through Barnstable, Massachusetts. It encompasses Barnstable's entire length of what is now designated Massachusetts Route 6A and called Main Street, between the town lines of Sandwich and Yarmouth. It includes more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), and includes all of the buildings whose properties front on the road, nearly 500 in all. The area includes the main population centers of Barnstable from its founding in the late 1630s until the mid-19th century, when the southern parts of the community became more significant in economic prominence. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.The oldest buildings in the district are the Allyn House (2730 Main Street), built in the late 1600s, and the Old Jail, built c. 1690. The Old Jail is the oldest wooden jail in the United States, and is now part of a museum complex including the Old Customshouse. Both the jail and the customshouse are also separately listed on the National Register.The 1763 county courthouse, at 3046 Rt. 6A, was the scene of an historic mass protest on Sept. 27, 1774, against British efforts to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party the previous year. The protesters demanded that county officials refuse to obey the Massachusetts Government Act, passed by the British Parliament in May 1774, which stripped the colony of its long-held rights of self-government. County officials agreed, and Royal control of the county was effectively ended. The building was converted to a church in 1842. Because of the shift of Barnstable's economy to more maritime concerns based in villages along its southern coast beginning in the early 19th century, the villages along the King's Highway gradually declined in economic importance, with an resultant decline in construction. As a result, the district has a large number of Federal and Greek Revival properties. Barnstable Village, stretched out along the highway, remained the civic administrative center of the county, even though town offices were eventually moved to Hyannis. The Barnstable County Courthouse, built in 1831, is one of the landmarks of the area's importance in county administration.

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Old King's Highway Historic District
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N 41.706666666667 ° E -70.338888888889 °
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02668 , Barnstable (Barnstable)
Massachusetts, United States
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1854 Barnstable Village Schoolhouse, Barnstable MA
1854 Barnstable Village Schoolhouse, Barnstable MA
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Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse
Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse

Barnstable's Olde Colonial Courthouse, at 3046 Main St. (Rt. 6A) in Barnstable, MA, was constructed c.1763, to replace Barnstable County's first courthouse nearby. Barnstable County comprises all of Cape Cod, MA The courthouse was a wood-frame structure in the Georgian style typical of small government buildings of the era, roughly 30' by 40', facing the roadway, with a brick and stone foundation, round-top windows, cupola belfry and a small, enclosed entry porch. The building housed only the courtroom. Juries deliberated in a nearby tavern.Court records were kept in a separate wood-frame building to the east, the County House, which burned to the ground in 1827, with the loss of nearly all accumulated court records.Col. James Otis was presiding judge here from 1764 until 1776. Otis was the father of James Otis Jr., an early opponent of British policy. John Adams argued at least one case in this courthouse, on May 16, 1767.The courthouse was the site of a mass protest on Sept. 27, 1774, after Britain abrogated Massachusetts Bay's 1691 charter — one of a series of Coercive Acts intended to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party the previous year. As a result of the protest, all Barnstable county officials agreed to ignore Parliament's new rules, effectively freeing Cape Cod of British control.The protest was similar to actions mounted at county courthouses across Massachusetts the summer and autumn of 1774. By the end of that year, all of Massachusetts was free of British control except for Boston, where British forces were stationed. The Royal Governor, Gen. Thomas Gage, was unable to retake control of the colony for lack of an adequate military presence. His major effort the next spring to secure military stores in Concord, MA, resulted in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the first engagement in what became the Revolutionary War.The Barnstable building is one of only two remaining Massachusetts colonial-era courthouses where those 1774 protests were mounted. The county dedicated a new courthouse in 1834, consolidating all court functions in a large, granite structure closer to the present center of Barnstable Village.The old courthouse was remodeled in 1842 to serve as a home for the newly formed Third Barnstable Baptist Church. After the church was disbanded in 1972, the building was purchased by Tales of Cape Cod, a nonprofit volunteer group committed to preserving the Cape's history.The building is a contributing property of both the federal and Barnstable town Old King's Highway Historic District.

Barnstable County Jail and House of Correction

The Barnstable County Jail and House of Correction is the former county jail for Barnstable County. It was opened in the 1930s as a replacement for the second Barnstable Jail, which was constructed in 1821, itself a replacement for the Old Jail, the oldest wooden jail in America. During the 1990s the prison became overcrowded as Cape Cod's population increased during the housing boom. Construction began on a modern facility and in October, 2004 the last prisoners were transferred to the new Barnstable County Correctional Facility. Between 2004 and 2010 the structure remained largely empty with the exception of its center section, which housed offices of the Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program. This section of the building is currently in use by the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment and the Southeast Regional offices of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. In 2010 the renovation of the West wing of the jail began, having been largely abandoned for six years. It currently houses the Barnstable County Information Technology Department, the Barnstable County Community Septic Management Loan Program, and a conference room. The facility is also the current home of the Barnstable County Cataldo Archives.Construction on the new Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment Water Quality Lab began in late 2011 in the former gymnasium. The gymnasium, which was originally constructed in 1976, most recently played host to the Jail's chapel. The Water Quality Lab was located in the basement of the Barnstable County Courthouse before its relocation.