{"nrhp_refnum":"77001161","name":"Williams, John, House","other_names":["Williams Mansion House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"0.5 mi. S of Williams Grove","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williams Grove","county":"Cumberland County","state":"PA","lat":40.14791181100003,"lon":-77.03009069399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-07-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone Georgian-style house built on the south bank of Yellow Breeches Creek at Williams Grove, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, dated circumstantially to ca. 1799-1802 and attributed to John Williams. It is a two-and-a-half story randomly laid limestone structure with a central hall plan.","why_significant":"The house is significant for its architecture, with Georgian floor plan and interior woodwork that the nomination dates to two building campaigns, and for its association with the Williams family enterprise of farms, mills, a quarry and a lime kiln. The nomination also links the Williams family land to the later railroad settlement and the Grange farm machinery exposition held on the site from 1874.","narrative":"Built of randomly laid local limestone around 1799 to 1802, the John Williams House stands on the south bank of Yellow Breeches Creek in Williams Grove, Cumberland County. It measures about 46 by 33 feet and has a central hall with two rooms on each side, following the Georgian plan. The eastern rooms retain simple moldings and mantels, while the western section, probably remodeled around 1825 by James Williams, has more elaborate flute and bullseye molding and a turned maple banister. The house anchored a family enterprise that by 1802 included more than a thousand acres of farmland, two mills, a quarry and a lime kiln. Later the land became a railroad junction, and from 1874 the island hosted the National Grange's annual farm machinery exposition, which drew hundreds of thousands of visitors by the 1890s. The house is significant for its surviving interior woodwork and its ties to these local developments.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house is a private residence and was restored in 1970; the document does not state current use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.889302-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/77001161.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001161/c86985bbf6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001161/c86985bbf6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JOHN_WILLIAMS_HOUSE,_WILLIAMS_GROVE,_CUMBERLAND_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:JOHN_WILLIAMS_HOUSE,_WILLIAMS_GROVE,_CUMBERLAND_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998750","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams_House_(Williams_Grove,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6264391"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/cumberland-county/williams-john-house-77001161/"}