{"nrhp_refnum":"74001738","name":"Evergreen Hamlet","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Evergreen Hamlet Rd., Ross Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.47982297000004,"lon":-79.92618400999999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Evergreen Hamlet is a historic district of four houses on a wooded hill in Ross Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, built in 1851-1852 as part of a planned community of suburban dwellings. The houses are the Hill-McCallam-Davies House, the Shinn-Beall House, the Sellers-Grove House, and the Hampton-Gillespie-Arensberg-Kelly House.","why_significant":"The community was founded in 1851 by a group of Pittsburgh citizens seeking the advantages of both city and country living. Its founding charter reflects communal idealism of the period. The four houses are regarded as excellent examples of mid-19th-century upper-middle-class suburban architecture, combining Greek, Gothic, and Italianate features, and they remain in excellent condition.","narrative":"Four houses on a wooded hill in Ross Township, Allegheny County, were built in 1851-1852 as part of Evergreen Hamlet, a planned community of suburban dwellings. The community was founded in 1851 by a group of Pittsburgh citizens, including the lawyer William Shinn and the dry goods merchant Wade Hampton, who sought the comforts of country life within reach of the city. The 85-acre tract was surveyed by the firm Hastings and Preiser, and the houses were built largely by J.W. Kerr. The founders' charter set out rules for communal living and a shared schoolhouse, and the settlement was dissolved in 1866, after only four houses had been built. Each house reflects mid-Victorian eclecticism, combining Greek Revival doorways, Gothic Revival windows and bargeboards, and Italianate brackets. The houses are notable for their jigsaw-patterned verandas and their survival in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":"1851-1852","architect_builder":"J.W. Kerr (builder, stated as probable or possible for several houses); Hastings and Preiser (surveyors)","architectural_style":"Mid-Victorian eclecticism with Greek Revival, Gothic Revival and Italianate features","criteria":[],"status_note":"The four houses are described as all in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.924757-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001738.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001738/6d9b0ddddb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001738/6d9b0ddddb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EvergreenHamlet.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EvergreenHamlet.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"07000888","name":"Highland Park Residential Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/highland-park-residential-historic-district-07000888/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997760","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen_Hamlet","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5417202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/evergreen-hamlet-74001738/"}