Home Economy Economic Activity Allin House in Barrington named to National Register of Historic Places

Allin House in Barrington named to National Register of Historic Places

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PBN Staff

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02/19/2025

P1040699 — THE ALLIN HOUSE on Lincoln Avenue in Barrington has been federally recognized for its connections to black history and years leading up to the American Revolution. / COURTESY RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION AND HERITAGE COMMISSION

BARRINGTON – One of the town’s oldest houses has been federally recognized for its connections to Black history. The Allin House on Lincoln Avenue, one of six surviving 18th-century houses in Barrington that have a documented association with enslaved people of African heritage, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official

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BARRINGTON – One of the town’s oldest houses has been federally recognized for its connections to Black history. The Allin House on Lincoln Avenue, one of six surviving 18th-century houses in Barrington that have a documented association with enslaved people of African heritage, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, the official list of places and objects of significance in American history, architecture and culture. General Thomas Allin – a fourth-generation Barrington resident descended from a wealthy and powerful family – built a home on his half of the 300-acre family farm. A recent study of the property found that in addition to Allin, his wife, Amy, and their 12 children born over three decades, the property also housed several indentured and enslaved individuals from its construction in 1769 until about 1800. “The nomination of the Allin House to the National Register is an important step toward a greater awareness of the history of enslavement in Barrington and beyond – a history that is often unacknowledged and poorly understood,” said Joanna Doherty, Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission deputy director. The 1774 census of Barrington, part of the first colony-wide census of Rhode Island, shows that Allin and his brother and mother collectively enslaved 11 people of color – five of whom were documented as part of Allin’s household – representing about 19% of the enslaved population of Barrington at that time. According to census documents, three Black men and two Black women, all older than 16, lived in the Allin house in 1774 but little additional information about their identities survives. In colonial Rhode Island, enslaved African- and Indigenous-heritage men, women and children typically lived in the homes of white families who enslaved them. In seaport towns such as Barrington, enslaved people also worked in the maritime trades, in addition to providing domestic labor. For most of his life, Allin was the wealthiest man in Barrington and controlled the largest and most valuable land in town. The house – identified in the National Register application as late-Georgian and early-Federal style architecture as it stands today is well-preserved and remains fairly faithful to its original appearance. The home’s current owner, Nathaniel L. Taylor, who conducted much of the research himself, and research consultant Kathryn J. Cavanaugh prepared the Allin House for its historic nomination.