{"nrhp_refnum":"72001095","name":"Fountain House","other_names":["Girard Trust Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"State and Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Doylestown","county":"Bucks County","state":"PA","lat":40.310082074000036,"lon":-75.13047865799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fountain House is a large multi-section tavern and inn building in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, whose first stone section dates to about 1758. It was later used as a bank branch after restoration.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Fountain House has been the center of Doylestown life for over 200 years and is the oldest of the town's seven early taverns and the only one still standing. It served as the town's first post office in 1802 and as a way station on an early Philadelphia to Easton stagecoach line. Its restoration by Girard Trust Company is presented as a sign of business interest in historic preservation.","narrative":"Fountain House in Doylestown was begun around 1758 by William Doyle as a tavern, and it grew through several stone sections, with its third story added in 1830 and its present eight-bay front completed by 1849. Its later exterior changes include a mansard roof added by 1876 and Victorian porch work that was later removed. Through successive owners it operated as an inn for about 175 years, and it hosted dances and concerts in a large second-floor ballroom with a musicians' gallery. Its history includes a Tory owner whose property was seized and sold at public auction during the Revolutionary War, and the town's first post office in 1802. Henry Ford tried several times in the 1920s to buy its antique furnishings. The building was restored by Girard Trust Company in the early 1970s and now houses a bank branch, and it is regarded as the oldest surviving early tavern in Doylestown.","period_of_significance":"1758-1830","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Recently purchased and restored by Girard Trust Company for use as its Doylestown branch office.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.775985-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/72001095.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001095/8aa0a9f29f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001095/8aa0a9f29f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fountain_House_2010.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fountain_House_2010.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995286","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountain_House_(Doylestown,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7734967"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/bucks-county/fountain-house-72001095/"}