The Almshouse Farm at Machipongo is a complex of five buildings dating from the early 19th to the early 20th century. The 17-acre Northampton County site was used continuously as an almshouse farm between 1803 and 1952. The oldest structure is the “Quarter Kitchen,” built in 1804, with a wood-frame section added in 1844. A simple vernacular Greek Revival two-story building was constructed about 1840 as the almshouse, with eight rooms on the first floor and 13 “guestrooms” on the second floor. In 1910, a single-story frame building with 10 guestrooms was built to serve as a poorhouse for African Americans. There are also two historic sheds on the Almshouse Farm at Machipongo property. While most almshouses were closed throughout the state by the 1920s, Northampton County’s remained open until 1952. The property currently operates as the Barrier Islands Center museum and is open to the public.