{"nrhp_refnum":"66000670","name":"Fulton, Robert, Birthplace","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"8 mi. S of Quarryville on U.S. 222","address_restricted":false,"city":"Quarryville","county":"Lancaster County","state":"PA","lat":39.80535145950006,"lon":-76.15928444338637,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1964-01-29","areas_of_significance":["Art","Transportation","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story stone farmhouse in Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on Route 222, known as the Robert Fulton Birthplace. The house was built before 1756 and was rebuilt from rubble after a fire in 1822.","why_significant":"The house is the birthplace of Robert Fulton (1765-1815), who is described as an artist, civil engineer and inventor. The nomination credits him with designing the Clermont, the first commercially successful American steamboat, and with inventions including a dredging machine, a double-inclined plane for canals, torpedoes and diving boats.","narrative":"Built before 1756 as a stone farmhouse near Quarryville in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the house was destroyed by fire in 1822 and rebuilt from its rubble. It remained a private residence for about 147 years, gaining frame additions that were later removed. In 1969 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the property and restored it to its appearance around 1765, leaving the stone unpainted and retaining modern lighting and heating. Robert Fulton was born here on November 14, 1765, and his family moved to Lancaster within a year. The house is associated with Fulton's career as an artist, canal engineer and inventor, best remembered for the Clermont, which made its first trip on the Hudson River in August 1807. Fulton also developed a submarine, the Nautilus, in France in 1800. The property is listed for its connection to his life and work in science and transportation.","period_of_significance":"1765-1815","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1969 to a 1765 appearance and owned and maintained by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.017461-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/66000670_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000670/957d0b6bfa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000670/957d0b6bfa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"User dougtone at Flickr","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Fulton_Birthplace.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User dougtone at Flickr</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Fulton_Birthplace.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994399","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fulton_Birthplace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7344578"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lancaster-county/fulton-robert-birthplace-66000670/"}