At 705 Washington Street you face the Barnwell-Gough House, also called Old Barnwell House, built in 1789. This house was built in 1789, and its long life is remembered in records that even call it the Elizabeth Barnwell Gough House. In 1972 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and today it contributes to the larger Beaufort Historic District, a National Historic Landmark District.
Stand here and imagine the slow accumulation of years engraved in brick and timber: a late-18th-century home that has been photographed and documented for posterity — the Historic American Buildings Survey files for this property include 22 photos, 15 data pages, and 3 photo caption pages. These are the kinds of traces historians follow when they want to know how a house like this sat on the street, how it met the light, and how it shaped the block. You are looking at a single house that ties together personal names, preservation listings, and documentary pages, right here on Washington Street.
From this one house on Washington Street, the Beaufort Historic District stretches out block after block.