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 Dickey's Octagonal Barbershop, Rives, Tennessee

Churches, chapels, mosques, 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) The Circassian Benevolent Association (CBA, The Circassian Mosque) Wayne, New Jersey Calvary Temple Assembly of God (Evansville, Indiana) The Cathedral (Evansville, Indiana)

Farm buildings including barns

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 Fort Edgecomb, Maine

Government buildings Navajo Nation Council Chamber, a National Historic Landmark, Window Rock, Arizona Octagon Building (Santa Cruz, California)

Halls Franklin County G. A. R. Soldiers' Memorial Hall, Hampton, Iowa Octagon Hall Museum, Franklin, Kentucky - built by Andrew Jackson Caldwell (NRHP) Chautauqua Auditorium, Waxahachie, Texas

High rises Tower Life Building, San Antonio, Texas Octagon Towers Condominium, Miami Beach, Florida

Hospitals and insane asylums The Octagon (Roosevelt Island, New York)

Hotels Brightwood Beach Cottage, Litchfield, Minnesota Octagon Hotel, Oyster Bay, New York

Houses

Jails

Daviess County Rotary Jail and Sheriff's Residence, Gallatin, Missouri

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)

Lighthouses Eldred Rock Light, Alaska Cape Henry Light, Virginia Point Judith Light, Rhode Island Portland Observatory, Maine Blackwell Island Lighthouse, New York Harbour Town Light, South Carolina

Markets

City Market (Petersburg, Virginia)

Park and fair buildings Floral Hall, Lexington, Kentucky Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building, Meridian, Mississippi Butte–Lawrence County Fairgrounds, Nisland, South Dakota

Post offices Old Post Office (Liberty, Maine)

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 LandmarkThe Mount Washington Octagon 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,Cowles Hall 2010 renovation info, including photo of octagonal central structure 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. at The Octagon Building (1890), Lily Dale, New York - originally used for dance and art classes and lectures

Stores Andrew Gildersleeve Octagonal Building, Mattituck, New York, combination residence and store

See also List of octagonal buildings and structures Octagon barn (disambiguation) Octagon Building (disambiguation) Octagon House (disambiguation) Octagonal Schoolhouse (disambiguation)

References