{"nrhp_refnum":"73001584","name":"Dobbin House","other_names":["Diorama of Gettysburg, Inc. Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"89 Steinwehr Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gettysburg","county":"Adams County","state":"PA","lat":39.82229798000003,"lon":-77.23287669299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½ story stone house south of Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania, built in 1776 by the Rev. Alexander Dobbin on a 300-acre tract he purchased in 1775. It combines a seven-bay main block with a kitchen-spring house wing that was raised to full height around 1810.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the few remaining eighteenth-century buildings in Gettysburg and one of its oldest standing structures. It is tied to Dobbin's classical academy, which operated from 1788 to 1810 and was one of the earliest of its kind west of the Susquehanna River, and to his roles in the early educational, religious and political life of the community.","narrative":"Built in 1776 by the Reverend Alexander Dobbin, a missionary from the Reformed Presbytery of Ireland, this two-and-a-half-story stone house stands on a 300-acre tract he bought south of Gettysburg in 1775. The seven-bay main block has two brick chimneys, six-over-nine sash windows on the first floor and a box cornice along its length. A one-and-a-half-story kitchen and spring house at the south end was raised to full height around 1810 and placed under the continuous gable roof. Dobbin used the house as his residence and as a classical academy that operated from 1788 to 1810, one of the earliest schools of its kind west of the Susquehanna River. It also served as a theological seminary and occasionally as a church. Dobbin helped lay out parts of Gettysburg and served for a time as a county commissioner. The house was used as a hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg. Its exterior remains largely original, though the interior was substantially altered in the 1940s when it became a museum.","period_of_significance":"1776","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The interior was altered in the 1940s when it was turned into a museum; it was used as a hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:31.067697-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001584/12c769dc2b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001584/12c769dc2b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dobbin_Gettysburg_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dobbin_Gettysburg_2.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"75000155","name":"Gettysburg Battlefield Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/gettysburg-battlefield-historic-district-75000155/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995653","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbin_House_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5286533"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/adams-county/dobbin-house-73001584/"}