{"nrhp_refnum":"66000665","name":"Searights Tollhouse, National Road","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Uniontown off U.S. 40","address_restricted":false,"city":"Uniontown","county":"Fayette County","state":"PA","lat":39.94725204900004,"lon":-79.794066085997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1964-01-29","areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Communications"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story octagonal brick toll house on the National Road west of Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, erected in 1835 and restored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the toll house reflects the National Road's role in westward communication and Pennsylvania's management of the road after the federal government turned its state section over to the state. Its tolls helped pay for road maintenance, and the building is associated with the road's transportation history from the 1830s to about 1885.","narrative":"West of Uniontown, a two-story octagonal brick tower built in 1835 marks a surviving toll house on the National Road. The tower rises about 20 feet, carries a toll board on the road side, is wrapped by a porch on the first floor, and is topped by a small tower. From inside, the toll keeper could watch traffic in both directions, and an iron gate once swung across the road to stop vehicles. Two one-story wings with gabled roofs, each holding a single room with a fireplace, extend from the east and south sides, and a small rear room was added later. Pennsylvania received its section of the road from the federal government and planned six toll houses, two of which survive, to fund maintenance. The state collected tolls for about fifty years, and the building deteriorated after the road declined by the 1870s. The state restored it, and it is now open to visitors as a museum with no original furnishings.","period_of_significance":"1835-1885","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Restored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and open to the public as a museum with free admission.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.83212-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/66000665_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000665/8867b6d328-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000665/8867b6d328-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Searights_Tollhouse,_western_front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Searights_Tollhouse,_western_front.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994417","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searights_Tollhouse,_National_Road","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7441755"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/fayette-county/searights-tollhouse-national-road-66000665/"}