{"nrhp_refnum":"72001158","name":"Head House Square","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Both sides of the 400 block of S. 2nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.94247226400006,"lon":-75.14569956099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-06-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of late eighteenth and nineteenth century commercial-residential buildings around the Head House and New Market on Second Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The houses are typically two and a half to three and a half stories of brick, with shops on the first floor and living space above.","why_significant":"The district has served as a market area for the city since the eighteenth century, and its buildings have always combined residential and commercial use. The John Ross House at 401 S. Second Street is described as a notable example of a Philadelphia town house and is said to be among the largest in the city. The area's restoration in the 1960s preserved its historic character as an integrated neighborhood.","narrative":"Head House Square in Philadelphia is a cluster of brick buildings dating from the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most are two and a half to three and a half stories, with shops on the ground floor and living quarters above, reflecting a long tradition of combined residential and commercial use around the market area on Second Street. The largest building is the John Ross House at 401 S. Second Street, a three and a half story brick town house with double chimneys and a curtain wall. It was refaced in the early nineteenth century with pressed brick, with architect John Haviland overseeing the work when the house was converted into legal offices. The house is said to have been furnished lavishly and visited at least once by George Washington. Other businesses in the area have included bakeries, dry goods shops, glass and china stores, and a druggist. Restoration in 1965 and 1966 recovered nineteenth century storefronts on many buildings, and the district remains a mixed commercial and residential neighborhood.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Haviland (architect, for the early nineteenth century renovation of the John Ross House)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 1965-1966; Head House and New Market restored in 1957-1958; Ross house restoration not yet complete.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.801953-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/72001158.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001158/b4bea6ecf7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001158/b4bea6ecf7-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Headhouse_Philly_am.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Headhouse_Philly_am.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000065","name":"Society Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/society-hill-historic-district-71000065/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997176","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_House_Square","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15223420"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/head-house-square-72001158/"}