{"nrhp_refnum":"72001125","name":"Tuscarora Academy","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"8 mi. S of Mifflintown at jct. of SR 34005 and 34028","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mifflintown","county":"Juniata County","state":"PA","lat":40.49748228200008,"lon":-77.48792378899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former academy building in Academia, Juniata County, Pennsylvania. The building that remains was originally a one and a half story church built in 1816, and a two-story dormitory addition was made in 1849.","why_significant":"Tuscarora Academy, founded in 1839, is described as the first secondary school in Juniata County and a monument to educational pioneering in rural Pennsylvania. Its curriculum moved from Greek and Latin classics to practical subjects, it later admitted women, and it operated until 1912, when it became a public high school.","narrative":"Academia, in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, is home to a former academy building whose core dates to 1816, when it was built as a one-and-a-half-story church. A two-story dormitory addition followed in 1849, and the structure today is a two-story fieldstone building with a plain interior: a single large lecture room on the first floor and twelve dormitory rooms above. Metal dial rods support the upper floor so the lower room stays free of posts. The academy was founded in 1839 by Rev. McKnight Williamson, pastor of the Lower Tuscarora Presbyterian Church, initially to prepare young men for theology and teaching, with funds from John Patterson, the state General Assembly, and local donors. It is regarded as the first secondary school in Juniata County and a monument to educational pioneering in rural Pennsylvania. Its curriculum moved from Greek and Latin classics to practical subjects such as bookkeeping, English and history. It admitted women and operated until 1912, when it became a public high school.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is good and the building is altered; it remains on its original site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.799482-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/72001125.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001125/d6c11ebdeb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001125/d6c11ebdeb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TUSCARORA_ACADEMY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://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:TUSCARORA_ACADEMY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994445","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuscarora_Academy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7856690"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/juniata-county/tuscarora-academy-72001125/"}