{"nrhp_refnum":"72001514","name":"Centre Hill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Center Hill Lane","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg (Independent City)","county":"Petersburg","state":"VA","lat":37.23072468100003,"lon":-77.40130394899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-12-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Centre Hill is a two-story brick Greek Revival mansion on a hill above the Appomattox River in downtown Petersburg, Virginia, built in 1823 for Robert Bolling, with an east wing added about 1850.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a distinguished Petersburg landmark for its architecture and fine interiors, and for its long association with the Bolling and Davis families. It also has connections with two U.S. presidents: Abraham Lincoln visited General Hartsuff there in 1865, and William Howard Taft stayed as a guest in 1909. It has served as a local history and military museum.","narrative":"Centre Hill is a brick mansion on a hill overlooking the Appomattox River in Petersburg, Virginia. Robert Bolling, a member of a prominent local family, had it built in 1823 in a transitional Greek Revival style. The five-bay main block is laid in Flemish bond and has verandahs with Ionic columns and a large cupola. An east wing was added around 1850, and much of the elaborate first-floor interior decoration dates from about the same time. During the siege of Petersburg the house served as headquarters for Major General G. L. Hartsuff, and Abraham Lincoln visited him there in 1865. The Bolling family kept the house until 1901, when Charles Hall Davis bought it. President William Howard Taft was a guest there in 1909. Edgar S. Bowling bought the property in 1937 and gave it to the United States for use as a museum, which opened in 1950. Today it still serves as a local history and military museum, and it remains an important example of grand Petersburg architecture despite later changes.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Transitional Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition described as good; occupied and in use as a local history and military museum, with some alterations over time.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.081496-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/6825/41682500/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001514.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001514/fffb3a2088-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001514/fffb3a2088-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Taber Andrew Bain from Richmond, VA, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centre_Hill_Mansion_(1819812427).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Taber Andrew Bain from Richmond, VA, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centre_Hill_Mansion_(1819812427).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"80004314","name":"Petersburg Old Town Historic District (Additional Documentation)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/petersburg-old-town-historic-district-additional-documentation-80004314/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682500","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Hill_Museum","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5062269"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/petersburg/centre-hill-72001514/"}