{"nrhp_refnum":"79002216","name":"Fort Hunter Historic District","other_names":["See Also:McAllister, Archibald, House"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"U.S. 22","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Hunter","county":"Dauphin County","state":"PA","lat":40.34114953300008,"lon":-76.90787740848752,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Military","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about several acres on the banks of the Susquehanna River and Fishing Creek, about six miles north of Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, containing a mansion, barns, a blacksmith shop, a tavern, and other structures along with a Pennsylvania Canal section and archaeological remains of an early fort.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant for its ties to French and Indian War frontier fortifications and the supply fort and garrison at Hunter's Mill, for its agricultural and commercial role through the late 1800s, and for its architecture, including the Georgian McAllister Mansion, a Victorian barn described as one of the finest remaining in Pennsylvania, and rare folk-style buildings. Archaeological potential is also noted.","narrative":"Fort Hunter District sits on the Susquehanna River and Fishing Creek about six miles north of Harrisburg, where settlement dates to about 1720. Benjamin Chambers was the first settler, and the site later became Hunter's Mill. During the French and Indian Wars, a supply fort and garrison of about 100 men were established here as part of a chain of forts. After the Revolution, Archibald McAllister acquired the property and built a large stone residence in 1814. The district holds a symmetrical Georgian mansion, a frame barn built in 1876 with ornate bargeboards and a hexagonal cupola, a blacksmith shop with most of its tools still present, a stone tavern, and a section of the Pennsylvania Canal. Its architecture and archaeological potential for the fort and garrison are the main reasons for its listing.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian (McAllister Mansion); high style Victorian (large frame barn); board and batten folk style (farm house)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Some resources were later removed: the Everhart Covered Bridge was dismantled and the garage was destroyed; the Hunter's House is used as apartments.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.368319-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002216.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002216/f2bc8f0966-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002216/f2bc8f0966-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Hunter,_Pennsylvania_(5657298498).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fort_Hunter,_Pennsylvania_(5657298498).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995596","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Hunter_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5471381"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/dauphin-county/fort-hunter-historic-district-79002216/"}