{"nrhp_refnum":"06001061","name":"Derry Session House and Enclosure","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"248 E. Derry Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hershey","county":"Dauphin County","state":"PA","lat":40.29372496700006,"lon":-76.64518183499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Conservation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c1732 single-pen log session house on the grounds of the Derry Presbyterian Church in the village of Hershey, Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, enclosed in a 1929 glass and steel structure.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the enclosure is an unusual early example of efforts to preserve a historic building, undertaken by Milton Hershey in 1929. It is described as one of only a few known structures of this type. The session house also served as a church meeting place, academy, and post office in the nineteenth century.","narrative":"Built in about 1732 on the grounds of the Derry Presbyterian Church in Derry Township, Dauphin County, the session house is a one-story log structure roughly eighteen by thirteen feet, with vertical corner posts and a board cladding. It served as a meeting place for the church session, a pastor's study, and a school, and it was briefly a United States post office in 1858. In 1929 Milton Hershey had it enclosed in a glass and steel structure designed by local architect and engineer D. Paul Witmer, with a reinforced concrete foundation, Palladian windows in the gables, and a slate roof. The enclosure was built to preserve the building from further decay and to let passersby see it. It is regarded as an uncommon approach to preservation, since most efforts of the period restored buildings in place or moved them to a museum setting. The enclosure was refurbished in 1999, when its glazing and frames were renewed and lighting was added.","period_of_significance":"c1732, 1929","architect_builder":"Witmer, D. Paul","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Late Gothic Revival; Other: No style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The session house and enclosure are described as in good condition and retaining integrity, with minor restorations; the enclosure was refurbished in 1999.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.548445-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/06001061.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001061/53fe805f16-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001061/53fe805f16-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Derry_Mission_DauphCo_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Derry_Mission_DauphCo_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995869","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derry_Session_House_and_Enclosure","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5263209"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/dauphin-county/derry-session-house-and-enclosure-06001061/"}