{"nrhp_refnum":"74001799","name":"Sodom Schoolhouse","other_names":["Eight-cornered Schoolhouse","Chillisquaque Schoolhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E of Montandon on PA 45","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montandon","county":"Northumberland County","state":"PA","lat":40.96591586900007,"lon":-76.82703490699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-02-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story octagonal limestone schoolhouse on Pa. Route 45 about 1.5 miles east of Montandon in West Chillisquaque Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. It is also known as the Chillisquaque Schoolhouse.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is one of several octagonal schoolhouses in Pennsylvania and the only one of this design in the north central region of the state. Its eight-sided plan is attributed to Scotch-Irish influence in the area. It is presented as a reminder of early rural education in the upper Susquehanna Valley.","narrative":"Sodom Schoolhouse is a single-story octagonal limestone building on Pennsylvania Route 45 in West Chillisquaque Township, Northumberland County. Its eight-sided plan, with a central roof chimney and a window in seven of the walls, let the room gain maximum sunlight. Several construction dates have been proposed, and the most generally accepted is 1835, based on county survey records. The school served a three-mile radius and enrolled 40 to 60 students in a four-month winter term. Teachers experimented with methods, such as setting geography lessons to music. The building also served as a Methodist church until 1858 and as a polling place in the later nineteenth century. It is regarded as an unusual survivor of early Pennsylvania architecture and a clear record of the Scotch-Irish influence in the region. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission took ownership in 1968 after restoration.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Octagonal; the document describes it as an old Scotch type","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored between 1935 and 1961 and owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission from 1968","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.629646-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/74001799.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001799/69df9c0861-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001799/69df9c0861-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sodom_School_PA_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sodom_School_PA_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996595","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_Schoolhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15278357"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/northumberland-county/sodom-schoolhouse-74001799/"}