{"nrhp_refnum":"89001616","name":"Guthrie, Dr. Samuel, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Co. Rd. 75/Military Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hounsfield","county":"Jefferson County","state":"NY","lat":43.95146003800005,"lon":-76.09309010999993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Federal style house with a one-story rear wing, built in 1818 on County Road 75 (Watertown Road) in Hounsfield, Jefferson County, New York, just outside Sackets Harbor. It was built for Dr. Samuel Guthrie and his wife.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Dr. Samuel Guthrie, the American discoverer of chloroform in 1831 and inventor of percussion pills for firearms. It is also one of the few intact Federal-era brick houses in Hounsfield, built of brick in a region where limestone was usual. It is one of the last remnants of the milling hamlet of Jewettville.","narrative":"Built in 1818 for physician Dr. Samuel Guthrie and his wife Sybil, this brick house sits on Watertown Road near Sackets Harbor in Hounsfield. It has a two-story, five-bay main block in the Federal style, a round-arched center entrance, and a rear wing added in stages from about 1822 to about 1910. The brick was probably made at a local yard in the mill hamlet of Jewettville, of which the house is among the last survivors. Guthrie kept his medical office upstairs and carried out experiments here. In 1831 he discovered chloroform and perfected a percussion pill priming powder for firearms, which eventually made the flintlock obsolete. The house is also notable as one of few intact Federal-era brick houses in a town where limestone was the usual masonry. Its original stone-lined well and a surrounding parcel of about three and a half acres are included, along with a modern garage that does not contribute to its historic character.","period_of_significance":"1818-1840","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Used as a residence and described as in good condition; the form lists no known threats.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.610465-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/89001616.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001616/08d5727e40-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001616/08d5727e40-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DR._SAMUEL_GUTHRIE_HOUSE.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DR._SAMUEL_GUTHRIE_HOUSE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313256","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Samuel_Guthrie_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5304367"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/jefferson-county/guthrie-dr-samuel-house-89001616/"}