{"nrhp_refnum":"74001779","name":"Widow Piper's Tavern","other_names":["Old Courthouse","Shippensburg Civic Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW corner of King and Queen Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Shippensburg","county":"Cumberland County","state":"PA","lat":40.05447372100008,"lon":-77.51298746199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-01-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story irregular stone building with a one-story kitchen wing at the southwest corner of King and Queen Streets in Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. It was erected about 1735 and is known as the Old Courthouse or Widow Piper's Tavern.","why_significant":"The building is described as probably the oldest stone building in Shippensburg and is important for its use as a public meeting place. The document states that the first Court of General Sessions for newly incorporated Cumberland County was reputedly held here in 1750 and 1751, and that the house served as a tavern and gathering place for travelers and local residents.","narrative":"Built about 1735 of stone at the crossroads of King and Queen Streets in Shippensburg, this two-and-one-half story building with a one-story kitchen wing is probably the oldest stone building in the town. Its position at the center of the early settlement, near an old Indian path that later formed part of the Forbes Road, made it a natural gathering point. Lucinda Piper, known locally as the Widow Piper, owned the building before 1750, when it operated as a tavern. In 1750 and 1751 the Court of General Sessions for newly formed Cumberland County met here, until the court moved to Carlisle in 1751. Travelers stayed upstairs, while drivers slept on pallets near the fireplace. Later the house became a private residence. In the 1930s a group of private citizens donated it to the Civic Club of Shippensburg, which restored and furnished it. The building is significant for its early stone construction and for its role as a public meeting place in the county's first years.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1735","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Restored and furnished by the Civic Club of Shippensburg; now a tourist attraction and meeting place for the Civic Club.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.931588-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001779.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001779/d44fd5c6b9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001779/d44fd5c6b9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WIDOW_PIPER%E2%80%99S_TAVERN_SHIPPENSBURG,_CUMBERLAND_COUNTY.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD</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:WIDOW_PIPER%E2%80%99S_TAVERN_SHIPPENSBURG,_CUMBERLAND_COUNTY.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84003346","name":"Shippensburg Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/shippensburg-historic-district-84003346/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998147","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow_Piper%27s_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7998803"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/cumberland-county/widow-pipers-tavern-74001779/"}