List of octagonal buildings and structures in the United States explained
Octagonal buildings and structures are characterized by an octagonal plan form, whether a perfect geometric octagon or a regular eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides. Octagon-shaped buildings date from at least 300 B.C. when the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece, was constructed. Octagonal houses were popularized in the United States in the mid-19th century by Orson Squire Fowler and many other octagonal buildings and structures soon followed.
Octagonal buildings and structures in the United States, not including octagonal houses (which are covered at List of octagon houses) include the following. Many of these are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Barber shops
Churches, chapels, synagogues, etc.
- Alberts Chapel, Sand Ridge, West Virginia
- Falcon Tabernacle, Falcon, North Carolina
- First Congregational Church, U.C.C., Naponee, Nebraska
- Follen Church Society-Unitarian Universalist, Lexington, Massachusetts
- Holy Ghost Catholic Church, Kula, Hawaii
- McBee Methodist Church, Conestee, South Carolina
- Mercy Chapel at Mill Run, Selbysport, Maryland
- Seney–Stovall Chapel, Athens, Georgia
- Conference Point Chapel Williams Bay, Wisconsin
- Seventh Church of Christ, Scientist (Seattle, Washington), an irregular octagon
- St. Clare's Church (Staten Island, New York), an irregular octagon
- The Temple (Old Orchard Beach, Maine)
- Third Church of Christ, Scientist (Washington, D.C.) (demolished)
- Union Chapel (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts)
- Cottage Grove Museum (Cottage Grove, Oregon) (formerly St. Mary's Catholic Church)
Farm buildings including barns
See main article: Round barn.
- Fobes Octagon Barn, Lanesboro, Iowa
- Kinney Octagon Barn, Burr Oak, Iowa
- Octagon Barn (Jamaica, Iowa)
- Bird Octagonal Mule Barn, Shelby County, Kentucky
- Octagonal Poultry House, Cold Spring, New Jersey
- Roberts Octagon Barn, Sharon Center, Iowa
- Secrest Octagon Barn, Downey, Iowa
- Tim Thering Octagon Barn (Plain, Wisconsin)
Forts
Government buildings
Halls
High rises
Hospitals and insane asylums
Hotels
Houses
See main article: List of octagon houses.
Jails
Libraries
- Andover Public Library (Andover, Maine)
- Atlanta Public Library, Atlanta, Illinois
- Goodnow Library, Sudbury, Massachusetts
- Waring Library, on the former campus of Porter Military Academy, Charleston, South Carolina
- Red Hook Public Library, (Red Hook, New York)
- Ram Dass Library, Omega Institute (Rhinebeck, New York)
Markets
Park and fair buildings
Post offices
Schools and colleges
- Birmingham Friends Meetinghouse and Octagonal School (1819), Birmingham Township, Pennsylvania
- Mount Washington Octagon (c.1855), Baltimore, Maryland, built for the Mt. Washington Female Academy, later used home of Mount St. Agnes College, a Baltimore City Landmark[1]
- The "Bee Hive", a former schoolhouse built by Quakers in 1859 in Skaneateles, New York
- Charter Oak Schoolhouse (1873), Schuline, Illinois
- Diamond Rock Schoolhouse (1818), Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
- District No. 13 School (1898), Ortonville, Minnesota, NRHP-listed in Big Stone County
- District No. 92 School (1906), Jackson, Minnesota, NRHP-listed in Jackson County
- Florence Corners School, Florence, Ohio
- Cowles Hall, Elmira College,[2] Elmira, New York
- Hood Octagonal School, Newtown Township (Delaware Co.), Pennsylvania
- Modern Times School, Brentwood, New York
- Malmborg School, Bozeman, Montana
- Octagonal Schoolhouse (Cowgill's Corner, Delaware)
- Octagonal Schoolhouse (Essex, New York)
- Octagon Stone Schoolhouse, South Canaan, Pennsylvania
- Sheldon Jackson School, Sitka, Alaska
- Sodom Schoolhouse, Montandon, Pennsylvania
- Wrightstown Octagonal Schoolhouse, Wrightstown, Pennsylvania
- Fairview Schoolhouse (1835), Knowlton Township, New Jersey
- Former schoolhouse, later home of Egg Harbor Historical Society, 533 London Ave., Egg Harbor City, New Jersey.[3] at 39.5365°N -74.6428°W
Stores
See also
Notes and References
- https://chap.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/Mt.%20Washington%20Octagon%20Landmark%20Designation%20Report.pdf The Mount Washington Octagon
- http://www.enr.com/articles/11757-restoration-revives-elmira-college-s-historic-cowles-hall Cowles Hall 2010 renovation info, including photo of octagonal central structure
- News: Local Octagon Houses . Gem of the Mountains (newsletter of Boonton Historical Society & Museum) . Jennifer . Coultas . Winter 2016 . October 4, 2022.