{"nrhp_refnum":"80003501","name":"Hamilton, Alexander, House","other_names":["Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"45 E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waynesboro","county":"Franklin County","state":"PA","lat":39.75517826000004,"lon":-77.57618504599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick building in Waynesboro, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, built in 1814 in a simplified five-bay Georgian style, later used as a public library.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a typical rural interpretation of the Georgian style common to the Pennsylvania valley and is the only example of an earlier era of economic property in the Waynesboro area, standing among Victorian-era downtown commercial buildings. Its association with Alexander Hamilton and his family, and with the founding period of the borough, is also cited.","narrative":"Built in 1814 by a Mr. Bittinger, this two-story brick building in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, is a five-bay example of the simplified Georgian style common in the Pennsylvania valley. Its front has a central door flanked by two windows on each side, flat brick arches over the openings, and a cornice with dentil work and carved wreaths. A Greek Revival porch with fluted columns was added in 1841, when Alexander Hamilton bought the house. Hamilton, a wagon maker and blacksmith who had moved to Waynesboro from Chester County in 1817, lived here with his family. Their son John, a farmer, painted the family portraits that hang in the library. The house was willed to the borough in 1955 and converted for public library use, which extensively altered the interior and added a two-story brick wing. The building is significant as one of the few surviving early structures in a downtown otherwise built between 1890 and 1920, and for its ties to the borough's founders. A stone spring house also stands on the property.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Mr. Bittinger (builder); Eli Horner (interior woodwork)","architectural_style":"Georgian (simplified, rural interpretation)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Altered for library use; original interior largely lost after alterations in the 1950s, and a 1955 addition was built to the east.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.562586-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/80003501.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100005205","name":"Waynesboro Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/waynesboro-historic-district-100005205/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998586","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4719070"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/franklin-county/hamilton-alexander-house-80003501/"}