{"nrhp_refnum":"86000489","name":"Westinghouse, George, Jr., Birthplace and Boyhood Home","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Westinghouse Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Central Bridge","county":"Schoharie County","state":"NY","lat":42.70905563600007,"lon":-74.33176637799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural three-acre property near Central Bridge, Schoharie County, New York, with two nineteenth-century wood frame houses (one built c. 1825, one c. 1840), outbuildings, and the site of a threshing machine works and blacksmith shop. It was the Westinghouse family's home from the 1830s to 1856.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the only intact historic property directly associated with the life of inventor and industrialist George Westinghouse Jr. known in the United States. He was born in the first house in 1846 and lived in the adjacent house from 1847 to 1856. His father's machine shop here exposed him to mechanical trades early in life. The homes have changed little since the family left in 1856.","narrative":"Two modest wood frame houses on the east bank of Cobbleskill Creek, near Central Bridge in Schoharie County, mark where George Westinghouse Jr. was born in 1846 and spent his boyhood until 1856. The first house, built about 1825, is a one-and-one-half-story post and beam building with Greek Revival detailing and Eastlake additions from around 1880. The second, built about 1840, has a two-story block with a rear kitchen wing. The property also includes a privy, a well house, barns, and the site of his father's threshing machine works and blacksmith shop across the road. Westinghouse worked in that shop with his father and became familiar with machinery. He later invented the railroad air brake and helped develop alternating current power systems, natural gas transmission, and other technologies. The nomination describes these buildings as the only intact historic property tied to his life that is known in the United States, and notes that they have changed little since the family left for Schenectady.","period_of_significance":"1846-1856","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular Greek Revival and Federal; Eastlake additions c. 1880","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Occupied private residences, in good condition, under single ownership; the c. 1900 barn is non-contributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:44.976858-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/86000489.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000489/2f39b1fced-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000489/2f39b1fced-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Adam Lenhardt","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Westinghouse,_Jr.,_Birthplace_26February2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Lenhardt</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Westinghouse,_Jr.,_Birthplace_26February2011.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321789","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Westinghouse_Jr._Birthplace_and_Boyhood_Home","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5546178"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/schoharie-county/westinghouse-george-jr-birthplace-and-boyhood-home-86000489/"}