{"nrhp_refnum":"77001156","name":"Bently Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Allegheny College campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Meadville","county":"Crawford County","state":"PA","lat":41.64865525700003,"lon":-80.14717794999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Bently Hall is the first building of Allegheny College, located on a hillside overlooking French Creek on the college campus in Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. Construction began in 1820.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is architecturally significant as a good local interpretation of Colonial and Greek Revival styles, historically significant as the center of Allegheny College, an early institution of higher learning in the region, and culturally significant because it originally housed one of the finest library collections in the nation. Its connection to the Meadville community is also cited.","narrative":"Built beginning in 1820 on a hillside above French Creek on the Allegheny College campus in Meadville, Bentley Hall was designed by Reverend Timothy Alden, the college founder and first president. The building is brick, with a central three-story section about 60 feet wide flanked by two two-story wings 30 feet wide. Four Greek Doric columns front each wing, and a copper-topped cupola rises from the center. The college was founded in 1815 and the building was named for William Bentley, a Harvard graduate and pastor whose library was inherited by the college after his death. The building originally held classrooms, a library, the president's offices and quarters, and student dormitories. Its library collection drew scholars from afar, and the building is regarded as the center of the college. It is now used mainly for administrative offices.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Reverend Timothy Alden","architectural_style":"Colonial and Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Administrative offices occupy the building today; the form describes its condition as excellent with little exterior alteration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.647965-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/77001156.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001156/e4a81216a0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001156/e4a81216a0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Joshtys","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bentley_Hall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Joshtys</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bentley_Hall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996444","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4890472"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/crawford-county/bently-hall-77001156/"}