The Oldest Houses in Adams
800 resources stand on the state's historic inventory here: 650 of them buildings, with 70 recorded as demolished and excluded below. The assessors' rolls corroborate the age: about 11 parcels in town carry pre-1800 construction dates.
The Oldest on the Inventory
- 1735Shove, Henry J. House · 11 West Rd · Colonial
- 1735Shove, H. J. Revolutionary War Gunshop · 11 West Rd
- 1770Ayrhill Farm · 171 Bucklin Rd · Colonial; Greek Revival
- 1772Lapham, Benjamin House · 91-91 1/2 Friend St · Colonial
- 1772Jenks House · Orchard St
- 1775Hale House · 100 Orchard St · Georgian
- 1775Jenks, Daniel Homestead · 112 West Rd
- 1778Brown, Eleazer House · 135 Orchard St · Georgian
- 1780Hathaway House · 62 Notch Rd
- 1780Wilbur, Jeremiah Homestead · 139 West Rd · Federal; Victorian Eclectic
- 1781Quaker Meeting House · Maple St · ColonialPreservation restriction
- 1793Unnamed in the inventory · 59 Lime St · Colonial
Dates are the surveyor's attribution, often approximate. Names are the inventory's own historic designations. These are private homes unless a museum says otherwise, admire from the road.
What Adams Is Built In
- Victorian Eclectic103
- Queen Anne91
- Greek Revival44
- Italianate33
- Colonial Revival30
- Row House; Victorian Eclectic19
- No style; Row House15
- Classical Revival7
Inventoried buildings by recorded style, the survey's lens, not a census of every roof in town.
What Listing Actually Means Here
151 of the town's inventoried resources are on the National Register, an honour that, for a private owner, restricts almost nothing. No local historic district binds owners here. 2 carry recorded preservation restrictions that run with the deed. The inventory maps 23 historic areas in town: McKinley Square; Summer Street Historic District; Renfrew Mill #2….
Old Houses Nearby
The nearest towns, and the age of their housing stock.
From the Desk
RE413 News: what to check before you buy an old house here. Built from the same public record as the figures on this page.
Sources
- Massachusetts Historical Commission inventory; assessors' parcel rolls for the age corroboration. Checked 2026-08-05.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.