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Photograph of John Cabot House
Photograph by Daderot at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Cabot, Capt. John, House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The John Cabot House is a historic house at 117 Cabot Street in downtown Beverly, Massachusetts. Built in 1781 by a prominent local businessman and ship owner, it was the town's first brick mansion house.”

Wikipedia article John Cabot House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 1975 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 117 Cabot St., Beverly, 01915
  • When was it listed? 1975-04-16
  • Category. building
  • Township. Beverly city
  • National Register reference number. 75000246 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

55 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 55 fires within 5 miles of Cabot, Capt. John, House between 2006 and 2020, burning about 226 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony17
Smoking9
Equipment and vehicle use8
Debris and open burning7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Fireworks1
Natural1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Arson/incendiarism1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
4 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
27 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPEABODY
8 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
4 August 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 8,041 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 8,041 specimens collected within 10 miles of Cabot, Capt. John, House between 1800 and 1975: 3,064 Plantae, 2,249 Animalia, 1,318 Fungi, 755 Chromista, 466 Unrecorded, 124 Bacteria, 65 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A H HIGGINSON, A. A. Eaton, A. B. Hervey and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Diphyscium foliosum, not of this specimenDiphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr1822ALCOTT
A photograph of the species Arcyria oerstedii, not of this specimenArcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 18751826F. A. Gilbert
A photograph of the species Lecanora tartarea, not of this specimenLecanora tartarea (L.) Ach.1839E. TuckermanManchester
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia yasudae, not of this specimenOchrolechia yasudae Vainio1839Tuckerman, E.[USA] Manchester, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Euphorbia polygonifolia, not of this specimenEuphorbia polygonifolia L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Iva frutescens, not of this specimenIva frutescens L.1840Oakesad Ipswich
A photograph of the species Potentilla anserina, not of this specimenPotentilla anserina L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Sisymbrium officinale, not of this specimenSisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.1840OakesIpswich
A photograph of the species Desmarestia viridis, not of this specimenDesmarestia viridis (O.F.Müll.) J.V.Lamour.1841C. E. PeaseMarblehead
A photograph of the species Splachnum ampullaceum, not of this specimenSplachnum ampullaceum Hedw.1843A. Gray; W. S. SullivantManchester

All 8,041 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Cabot, Capt. John, House: 5 plants, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Zirconium, Thorium, Tungsten. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
(Facility) Travers Labs Refinery--Beverly, Ma.Mercury, Silver, Gold, REEPlant
Hale Engineering Co--Danvers, Ma.TungstenPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Danvers, Ma.ThoriumPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPlant
Ventron Corp--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPast Producer
Swampscott PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this property

15 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Beverly, the town this property stands in, in 15 storm reports between 1993 and 2020: 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 1994Thunderstorm WindBeverly$5,000,000Local police reported numerous trees blown down. At the Beverly Airport, a wind gust to an estimated 70 to 75 mph occurred during a severe thunderstorm, flipping over several light aircraft and damaging a total of 14 aircraft. Five were damaged beyond repair.
October 2011Flash FloodBeverly$1,000,000The Federal Street railroad underpass and portions of Park Street flooded, resulting in several cars getting stuck in the floodwaters. At least eight inches of water flooded the Cummings Center, flooding all first floor businesses (about 200). The Department of Public Works garage flooded, damaging police cars and other city vehicles. Approximately 100 houses were affected by flooding.
August 2013LightningNorth Beverly$15,000WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston reported that lightning struck a house on Clifton Avenue, setting the garage on fire.
August 2004Thunderstorm WindBeverly$10,000no account filed
June 2003Thunderstorm WindBeverly$10,000no account filed
July 2020FloodBeverly$1,000In Beverly, River Street was flooded with two cars trapped. Cabot Street from Milton Street to Church Street was flooded and impassable.
September 2020FloodBeverly$1,000In Beverly, a car was stuck in street flooding on Pleasant Street.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindBeverly$1,000At 542 PM EST, a tree was reported down near Endicott College in Beverly.
July 2008HailBeverly-Penny size hail was accompanied by damaging winds.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindBeverly-Trees down on Cabot Street.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindBeverly-Several trees downed. Lightning struck several homes. Damage by fire occurred to one house on Gregg Street after lightning hit a telephone cable entering the house.
July 2004HailBeverly-no account filed
June 2003HailBeverly-no account filed
June 2000Heavy RainBeverly-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBeverly-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

2,766 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

Description of the property

The Cabot House, c, 1781, is located on the edge of Beverly's uptown business district facing the main road, Cabot Street, and is bounded by Central Street and Franklin Place. The fenced and landscaped backyard blends with other period homes in the area. This elegant Federal mansion, five bays wide, is built of brick which was made a few blocks away. It has a hip roof with interior chimneys. The house foundation and entrance steps are granite. The main frame of the house is made of hand hewn 13" x 15" pegged oak members; the 4" x 6" studding is tenoned into the main frame at 12" inter- vals, and the bracing is morticed and tenoned into the major uprights. There is also a solid brick wall running through the middle of the cellar parallel with the front of the building.

The building is essentially unaltered on the exterior. In 1802, the present two story wooden ell was added to the back of the building. The ell has a gabled roof and is two bays deep, three bays wide. The elegant roof entablature consists of Greek fretwork topped by large dentils. The front entrance portico is supported by two Ionic columns and has Greek fretwork and dentils running along the porch cornice. The eight-panelled door is flanked by fluted pilasters and topped by a transom and has full-length sidelights which illuminate the classic hall and stairway of the main entrance. "All of the facade windows and the windows of the other elevations are topped by skewback brick lintels.

The interior, which has remained intact, has a conventional floor plan consisting of a central hall with double staircase and four rooms per floor.

Read the complete 2,766-word case file.

Statement of significance

/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE On the east side of Cabot Street, surrounded by houses of the same period, stands the? magnificent home of Captain John Cabot, one of Beverly's most successful merchants. The 1781 house is architecturally significant not only because it is one of the few remaining mansions of this period which has not been greatly altered, but because it was the first brick mansion built in Beverly. All of the elegant exterior wood and brick work have been preserved, and the interior has been cited by numerous architects who have visited it as one which deserves national recognition and protection. Historically, the house is significant because Captain John Cabot and his brothers were involved in state politics.

house pos e1get cann tecaus John represented the town in the General Court in 1792 and in 1796 was nominated as a candidate for representative to Congress but der clined the honor. Captain Cabot started on a commercial career in Salem, in partnership with his father, after he graduated from Harvard College in 1763, His father died four years later and the following year (1768) Captain John, his mother and his siblings moved to Beverly. John Cabot lived in the house in Beverly built by his mother in 1773 (on the corner of Cabot and Central Streets) until her death in 1781, At that time Captain Cabot built the Cabot House, across the street from his mother's house, In 1802 he sold the house he had built, but leased the southern half for seven years. He moved to Boston c.

1809 and died there in 1821, Cabot was a prominent merchant in Beverly and for many years was in partnership with his brother, Andrew Cabot.

Read the complete 2,766-word case file.

The whole case file for this property - 2,766 words, 11 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 75000246, 11 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Odd Fellows' Hall0.1 miles1978
US Post Office--Beverly Main0.2 miles1986
Hale, Reverend John, House0.3 miles1974
Hose House No. 20.3 miles1986
Hale, Reverend John, House0.3 miles1974
Beverly Grammar School0.5 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 75000246 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 350 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.