National Historic Landmark · house · Bath, North Carolina

Palmer-Marsh House

Historic house in North Carolina. Built 1744. Added to the National Register in 1970, and a National Historic Landmark.

Open to visit National Historic Landmark Built 1744 Listed 1970

Photos via Wikimedia Commons

What it is

The Palmer-Marsh House is a historic house museum and National Historic Landmark on Main Street south of Carteret Street in Bath, North Carolina. Built in 1751, it is one of the oldest residences in North Carolina, and is a well-preserved example of a large colonial town house. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970. It is now a North Carolina state historic site, and is open for tours.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

Property type	Building
Address	Main St., S of NC 92, Bath, NC
County	Beaufort County
Listed	Feb 26, 1970
Listed for	Architecture
Level of significance	National
Reference number	70000439
Built	1744 · more from the 1740s
Type of place	house
Designations	National Historic Landmark, National Register of Historic Places contributing property
Contributing resources	1 building, 1 site

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Address	Main St., S of NC 92, Bath, NC
Coordinates	35.4768° N, 76.8138° W · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unit	Cape Lookout National Seashore · 52 miles · on Park Atlas
Federal campgrounds nearby	Flanners Beach Campground 35 miles

This one you can go inside. Hours and admission change with the season; the website above has the current schedule.

At a glance

State: North Carolina
County: Beaufort County
Listed: 1970
Type: Building
Landmark: Yes
Built: 1744

Cell signal

Verizon: 4G LTE
AT&T: 5G (fast)
T-Mobile: 5G

Outdoor coverage as modeled by carriers in FCC filings as of 2025-12-31. This product uses FCC APIs and/or Data but is not endorsed or certified by the FCC.

Official links

Sister site

Park Atlas

Every unit of the National Park System, with its fees, hours, alerts and campgrounds.

Open Park Atlas →

This record is built from National Park Service sources, re-read every Saturday, and Wikidata, re-read on the first Saturday of each month. Register Atlas is independent and is not affiliated with any agency, and a listing does not mean a place is open to visitors. How the data is built →

Explore

Drawings & photographs

Palmer-Marsh House, Main Street, Bath, Beaufort County, NC

3. EXTERIOR, SOUTHWEST FRONT

4. EXTERIOR, SOUTHWEST FRONT AND NORTHWEST END

5. EXTERIOR, SOUTHWEST FRONT, TAKEN FROM AN ANGLE

6. EXTERIOR, SOUTHEAST SIDE SHOWING LARGE CHIMNEY

7. EXTERIOR, NORTHEAST REAR VIEW

Measured drawings and photographs from the Library of Congress. Public domain. All 6 records ↗

Map

Nearby in Beaufort County

All listings in Beaufort County →

Historic district · 0.1 km

Bath Historic District

Historic districtListed 1970

Building · 0.3 km

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

Local history books for Beaufort County

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Beaufort County, North Carolina
Louis Van Camp, 2000
Find at Bookshop.org

Guidebooks to historic places in North Carolina

Tar Heel History On Foot Great Walks Through 400 Years Of North Carolinas Fascinating Past
Lynn Setzer, 2013
Find at Bookshop.org
Touring the western North Carolina backroads
Carolyn Sakowski, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org
Touring the Carolinas' Civil War sites
Clint Johnson, 2011
Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

When was Palmer-Marsh House listed on the National Register?

Feb 26, 1970. It is also a National Historic Landmark, the higher of the two designations.

Source: National Park Service

When was Palmer-Marsh House built?

1744.

Source: Wikidata

Can I visit Palmer-Marsh House?

Yes. Palmer-Marsh House is recorded as open to the public.

Source: Wikidata

Where is Palmer-Marsh House?

Main St., S of NC 92, Bath, Beaufort County, North Carolina. The nearest national park unit is Cape Lookout National Seashore, 52 miles away.

Source: Cape Lookout National Seashore

What does the Palmer-Marsh House listing include?

The listing counts 2 contributing resources. Those are 1 building and 1 site. A contributing resource is a part of the listed property that carries its historic significance.

Source: National Park Service

Are there historic photographs or drawings of Palmer-Marsh House?

Yes. The Historic American Buildings Survey at the Library of Congress has drawings or photographs of it.

Source: Library of Congress

Where is the nomination form for Palmer-Marsh House?

The National Archives holds the nomination form, the document that made the case for listing.

Source: National Archives

Are there campgrounds near Palmer-Marsh House?

One federal campground is within reach, Flanners Beach Campground, 35 miles away.

Source: Campsite Atlas

Is there cell service at Palmer-Marsh House?

FCC coverage maps show Verizon 4G LTE, AT&T 5G, and T-Mobile 5G at the listed point. Coverage indoors and behind old masonry is another matter.

Source: FCC Broadband Map

Sources

Location, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Listing dates come from the National Register office's spreadsheet where it carries the listing. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 70000439. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The nomination form and photographs ↗ at NPGallery are the original nomination as filed with the National Park Service, and the form is often the best description of the place. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA. Drawings and photographs are Historic American Buildings Survey records at the Library of Congress, public domain.