{"nrhp_refnum":"08000073","name":"Presbyterian Orphans Home","other_names":["Presbyterian Homes &amp","Family Services, Inc.","Virginia DHR File# 118-5240"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"150 Linden Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynchburg (Independent City)","county":"Lynchburg","state":"VA","lat":37.44846937500006,"lon":-79.19544280655046,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-06-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 166-acre orphanage campus at 150 Linden Avenue in Lynchburg, Virginia, begun in 1911 on the 'cottage plan' with Georgian Revival brick buildings designed by Lewis & Burnham, plus farm buildings, ponds and pastures.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the campus as a rare Virginia example of the cottage-plan orphanage, in which children lived in small cottage groups under a cottage mother to resemble a family. Its horseshoe layout of Georgian Revival buildings around a central green is cited as a planned institutional design. The truncated text does not state the formal criteria.","narrative":"Presbyterian Orphans Home is a 166-acre campus on Linden Avenue in Lynchburg, Virginia, begun in 1911. Its core is a horseshoe of two-and-a-half-story brick Georgian Revival buildings with slate roofs, arranged around a green of about two acres. The large Administration Building anchors the group, and Scruggs, Shelton, Terry, Caskie, Paxton and Noble cottages follow a shared design drawn by the architects Lewis & Burnham. A Greek Revival gymnasium from 1939, a brick power plant, farmhouses and agricultural outbuildings complete the grounds, which also include ponds, pastures and two streams. The property is significant as an example of the cottage plan of orphanage design. Its board adopted the approach in 1905, housing children in small clusters under a cottage mother to imitate family life instead of the large dormitories of older institutions. The nomination describes the plan as uncommon in Virginia at the time. The campus remains in active use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Lewis & Burnham (architects); Pendleton Clark (1931 addition to Terry Cottage)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Vernacular (early 20th century)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Campus remains in active use, with historic dormitories now serving as dormitories and offices.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.361501-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/6817/41681797/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/08000073.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000073/a37fee7f90-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000073/a37fee7f90-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Presbyterian_Orphans_Home_Admin_Bldg_Aug_10.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Presbyterian_Orphans_Home_Admin_Bldg_Aug_10.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681797","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterian_Orphans_Home","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7240795"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/lynchburg/presbyterian-orphans-home-08000073/"}