{"nrhp_refnum":"66000673","name":"Priestley, Joseph, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Priestley Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Northumberland","county":"Northumberland County","state":"PA","lat":40.890406788000064,"lon":-76.78968151523495,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-01-12","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story frame house with white clapboards on a stone foundation, on a rise above the North Branch of the Susquehanna River at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, built by chemist Joseph Priestley circa 1794 and now a museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant as the home of Joseph Priestley, whose work in pneumatic chemistry led to the discovery of oxygen and other gas research, and where he lived and worked from 1794 until his death in 1804. It also notes his emigration to America as reflecting the young nation's democratic spirit and its contribution to his scientific work.","narrative":"Built circa 1794 on a rise above the North Branch of the Susquehanna River at Northumberland, Pennsylvania, this two-and-a-half story frame house with white clapboards and a slate roof was the home of chemist Joseph Priestley from 1794 until his death in 1804. The center section measures 48 by 43 feet, with one-story wings on the north and south sides; one wing housed Priestley's laboratory. Priestley had emigrated after his liberal religious and political views provoked a mob attack on his Birmingham home in 1791. In Pennsylvania he continued his experiments, and his work on pneumatic chemistry, which included the discovery of oxygen and carbon monoxide, made him one of the leading scientists of his era. The house has been restored and is maintained as a museum, with rooms furnished for the 1794-1804 period and some of Priestley's scientific apparatus displayed in the laboratory and library.","period_of_significance":"1794-1804","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and maintained as a museum; the form marks it as altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.828591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/66000673_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000673/d9d7a02b11-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000673/d9d7a02b11-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"User:Ruhrfisch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Priestley_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Ruhrfisch</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Priestley_House.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"88002313","name":"Northumberland Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/northumberland-historic-district-88002313/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994251","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3185521"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/northumberland-county/priestley-joseph-house-66000673/"}