Who We Are
The Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc. (DHPT)
To preserve Dartmouth’s heritage from the foundation up, DHPT, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, was founded in 2007. We help preserve Dartmouth’s rich history and educate the public about the importance of their town’s heritage. This small grassroots organization is governed by an unpaid board of directors with the help of volunteers.
With priority efforts given to the stewardship of the leased town-owned 1762 Akin House in Dartmouth, we provide leadership and/or support of local preservation and restoration initiatives; we promote and deliver education programs; we cultivate partnerships with groups of similar objectives to benefit our community.
Filmed in 2001
Filmed in 2004
Filmed in 2004
Filmed in 2005
Historic Preservation Can Start with an Old Abandoned House but When You Step Back through History, You Discover that This Is “The Little House with a Big Story to Tell!”
A prominent structure in a busy neighborhood, it’s one of those classic old New England houses that captures the notice of passers-by curious to learn about its origins and inhabitants, perhaps eliciting surprise that it’s still there. This is the 1762 Akin House in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
Anne W. “Pete” Baker (1929-2011), early house preservation consultant with research historian, Margaret “Peggi” Medeiros, discuss the next steps for the Akin House in the above 2005 photo.
What We Do
Historic Preservation
In collaboration with Pete Baker, Peggi Medeiros conducted extensive deed research and reviewed primary and secondary source materials to substantiate the historic significance of the Akin House and the noteworthy contributions of its inhabitants, early settlers of old Dartmouth.
Pete, author of Collecting Old Houses, who coined the phrase “the little house with a big story to tell,” conducted a detailed examination of the house working with local architect, Greg Jones. She reported that this house is “an excellent example of the classic Cape Cod building type and as a cultural resource is representative of a local building tradition tied to the 17th and 18th century farming community of South Dartmouth. As such the house stands in marked contrast to the area’s existing 19th [and 20th century] houses."
Pete was fond of saying that “the house will tell you what it needs.” She was right!
When saved, our house lacked over 60 percent of its original features, but with a faithful restoration, conducted in phases over 20 years, DHPT kept the integrity and historicity of the building.
Repurposed as a “study house,” the structure presents a unique opportunity to explain the philosophy and practicalities of our, or any, preservation and restoration process. DHPT is equipped to serve the community by sharing historic preservation traditions and practices applicable to other challenging preservation projects.
A complete record, including photographs and plans, is available.
Education & Advocacy
As a property featuring an 18th century house, there is power in using the site as a living history classroom to maximize the educational experience for our visitors.
DHPT is uniquely positioned to supplement local history storytelling with its extensive collection of early objects and archaeological artifacts, photographs of the stages of conservation and restoration, historical narratives, and other rare research products.
Through the Akin family ancestral stories and living history programs, we aspire to promote a curiosity and life-long interest in local history and to commemorate the achievements of those settlers who built old Dartmouth and fought in the Revolution.
DHPT welcomes all––individuals, organizations, and schools––in joining us to be advocates for historic preservation. Partnerships enable us to champion initiatives more effectively and to instill a passion for preserving our historic resources and stories where we find them.
In this 21st century, when we integrate the past with the present, a better future for historic preservation and what’s possible is inevitable.
Discover the Center
The Akin House Cultural Heritage Center
At the dawn of the 21st century, preservation-minded activists imagined transforming an abandoned centuries-old cape style farmstead into a living history museum and “study house.” This vision viewed by some as far-fetched became a project with ambitious goals. Thanks to generous funding and hard work, this permanently protected town-owned property was reborn as the 1762 Akin House Cultural Heritage Center and Educational Facility.
Why a “study house?” What better way for DHPT to instill a passion for the preservation of historic structures than with the Akin House as the model? Saving and preserving an old house is not so intimidating when visitors learn about our multi-year, multi-phased approach and see the results. The 262-year-old Akin House, showcasing its original architectural elements, exemplifies 18th-century building practices. Through restored enhancements and repairs faithful to preservation standards, it stands as a tangible example of living history at its finest.
DHPT’s interactive events promote community engagement through discovery, curiosity, and interest in local history to feature programs that celebrate humanity from pre-contact to colonial periods to the modern age.
Discover the Story
Listed on the State Register of Historic Places and deemed eligible for listing on the National Register, the Akin House is one of the oldest extant houses in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Built in 1762 by housewright Job Mosher (1737-1804) for his wife Amie Akin (1738-1804) and later purchased by Elihu Akin (1720-1794) her uncle in 1769, the Akin House pre-dates the American Revolution. This architecturally significant house alone, a Georgian cape style of post and beam construction, gives the house architectural importance. However, the house also has historical significance. The Akins were one of Dartmouth’s founding families who were instrumental in the town's development. It remained in the Akin family for 242 years.
The Akin House is one of a few houses that survived the September 1778 invasion of the British resulting in the destruction of Dartmouth which included (New) Bedford Village and Fairhaven during the American Revolution. As a direct result of the raid, except for a Georgian style manse on Elm Street owned by Elihu’s older brother, Ebenezer Akin (1716-1770), the Akin family lost everything on Dartmouth’s Apponagansett River. Elihu’s house on Potter’s Hill (our house), on the corner of Dartmouth and Rockland Streets, survived the British and Elihu moved his wife and children there.
HERITAGE TOURISM SPARKS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The National Trust for Historic Preservation defines heritage tourism as “traveling to experience the places, artifacts, and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present.”
Social media and other forms of communications on 21st century devices can be a less than satisfying experience for true history lovers. Photographs, anecdotal stories and scholarly research, old maps, and other records including art works, are poor substitutes to an authentic visitor experience. People are willing to travel to far flung places, and increasingly more so these days. The public from wherever they hail want to “feel” places as witnesses to history.
Inherent to the mission of all preservation and living history groups is the promotion of heritage tourism with programs that provide unique opportunities to engage the public, near and far, to time-travel into the past.
Incorporated in 1664, Dartmouth is a coastal community with a rich history and a proud historic legacy going back thousands of years. Above and below ground, cultural resources informed by research–from pre-contact periods with thriving Indigenous peoples to colonial and post-colonial settlements–provide rich content for storytelling.
The town’s special character, natural resources, coastline, built and stone structures, attract visitors who are enriched by the experience. In turn, the community is gifted with ambassadors for preservation and protection who share a historic legacy that is passed on to future generations.
The Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust (DHPT) is well-positioned to operate in a heritage tourism space.
As the stewards of the Cultural Heritage Center and Education Facility, DHPT offers verifiable detail about Dartmouth’s early inhabitants and progeny to bring this historic house into sharp focus. By so doing, this organization shines a spotlight on the town and region’s history.
Why is the Akin House different from other house museums? The 1762 Akin House is a rare representation of an extant Georgian Cape farmstead with a center-chimney post and beam construction.
Built two years into the reign of King George III, its status today as a “study house” and witness site to the American Revolution is a unique heritage landmark for Dartmouth.
As immigrants from Scotland, the new world offered opportunity and a new destiny. The Akin clan’s entrepreneurial spirit showed a fierce determination to move away from a dependent relationship with the British Crown, regardless of horrific political upheaval. Along with other founding families, the Akins switched their allegiance from the King to the “Common Cause,” an independency largely for economic freedom and self-realization, and ultimately in pursuit of self-government.
Shipbuilding and the Revolution brought about privateering to fund the war and allegedly the Akin brothers, James (1706-1804) and Elihu (1720-1794), were in that fight and in it to win it.
Dartmouth settlers eventually created a flourishing economy with diverse industries including farming and fishing, tanneries and taverns, mills of every type, marine manufacturing and artisanal businesses, shipbuilding and coastal trading. The British Raid of September 1778 on the Apponagansett River would soon change their fortunes.
And as Joseph Bagley, Chief Archaeologist of the City of Boston, so often states, “it’s not about the stuff, it’s the story.” DHPT is true to its motto, “The Little House with a Big Story to Tell.”
Take a Tour
Tap or click on the locations below to learn more
Partners
DHPT honors the contributions made to local history by Robert E. Harding (1935-2023) who speaks so eloquently in this video about another CPA project, the Russell's Mills Village 1871 Schoolhouse, for the Dartmouth Historical & Arts Society (DHAS) which is a valued DHPT partner.
