{"nrhp_refnum":"12001093","name":"Brashear, John A., House and Factory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1954 Perrysville Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.46492743400006,"lon":-80.01276551099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-12-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The John A. Brashear House and Factory is a pair of contributing buildings on a residential terrace in the Perry Hilltop area of Pittsburgh's North Side, Allegheny County, with a small wash house between them. The house, a three-story frame Second Empire style residence, and the two-story brick factory behind it were both built in 1886.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property is significant for its association with John A. Brashear, a scientist who made telescope lenses, diffraction gratings and optical instruments here. It also argues the factory reflects the industrial activity of Pittsburgh and Brashear's role in local business and education.","narrative":"Built in 1886 on a terrace above Perrysville Avenue in Pittsburgh's Perry Hilltop area, the John A. Brashear House is a three-story frame house in the Second Empire style, with a mansard roof and a porch added around 1910. Directly behind it at the top of the hill stands a two-story brick factory of the same year, where Brashear ground lenses and made optical instruments. William Thaw donated the land, and regional industrialists helped finance both buildings. Brashear, a scientist known for diffraction gratings and photographic doublets, lived in the house from 1886 until his death in 1920. The factory continued producing optical equipment until about 1954, including bomb sights during World War II. The nomination argues the property is important for its link to Brashear's scientific work, his manufacturing and his role in local education, and for its remaining architectural fabric despite later alterations.","period_of_significance":"1886-1954","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Second Empire","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Some parts of the house were damaged in a 1992 fire and the house has been converted to apartments; the factory has boarded-up windows and the wash house is in advanced deterioration.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.43839-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/12001093.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001093/f9b70a6c63-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001093/f9b70a6c63-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_A._Brashear_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_A._Brashear_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997818","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_A._Brashear_House_and_Factory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15229643"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/brashear-john-a-house-and-factory-12001093/"}