{"nrhp_refnum":"74001750","name":"Espy House","other_names":["David Espy House","Gen. Arthur St. Clair Office"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"123 Pitt St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bedford","county":"Bedford County","state":"PA","lat":40.01928172000004,"lon":-78.50292299389722,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-11-19","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1983-07-28","areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story fieldstone house in Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, built in 1770-71 with a late 19th century frame addition at the rear.","why_significant":"The house served as the office of Arthur St. Clair, the first prothonotary of the newly created Bedford County, and it is the only extant structure associated with him. It also served as President George Washington's headquarters from October 19 to 21, 1794, during the march against the Whiskey Rebellion.","narrative":"Built in 1770-71 of thick fieldstone under a slate gable roof, the Espy House in Bedford is a two-and-one-half story building with one end chimney and a long two-story frame addition added in the late 19th century. Its first room, later fitted with a metal ceiling, housed the office of Arthur St. Clair, the first prothonotary and register of the newly created Bedford County, from 1771 to 1772. St. Clair was a major-general of the Continental Army and later the first governor of the Northwest Territory, and the house is the only surviving structure linked to him. From October 19 to 21, 1794, the building served as the headquarters of President George Washington, who led about 6,000 militiamen through Bedford to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Apart from a store window inserted in the first story, the exterior has changed little since construction, and the wide-board floors, plaster walls and many original doors and hardware survive.","period_of_significance":"1770-1773, 1794","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Now used as a bakery shop on the first floor; upper floors are a residence not open to visitors.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.358202-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001750.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001750/0e3677dfc4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001750/0e3677dfc4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Canadian2006","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Espy_House_Bedford_Pennsylvania.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Canadian2006</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:Espy_House_Bedford_Pennsylvania.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994594","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espy_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5399195"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/bedford-county/espy-house-74001750/"}