{"nrhp_refnum":"93001614","name":"Pulpit Rocks","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Old Huntingdon--Hollidaysburg Tpk.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntingdon","county":"Huntingdon County","state":"PA","lat":40.51669828250007,"lon":-78.04582036111836,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-11-04","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1993-11-04","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pulpit Rocks is a geological site on Warrior Ridge about one and a half miles northwest of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, along the old Huntingdon-Hollidaysburg Turnpike. It consists of weathered sandstone pillars of the Oriskany (Ridgeley) formation, and most of it is owned by Juniata College.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the rocks illustrate the findings of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, particularly the 1836 agreement on the order of succession of sedimentary rocks in central Pennsylvania. That agreement is said to have set the framework for later geologic work in the Appalachians and the eastern United States, and the survey is credited with founding structural geology. The site is also described as largely unchanged since the survey's time, retaining a high level of integrity.","narrative":"Pulpit Rocks is a group of weathered sandstone pillars on Warrior Ridge, about one and a half miles northwest of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, beside the old Huntingdon-Hollidaysburg Turnpike. The rocks are remnants of the Oriskany, or Ridgeley, formation, deposited in an ancient sea nearly 390 million years ago. Juniata College owns most of the site, which was donated by the Africa family. The rocks appear in George Lehman's 1840 watercolor, which was used as the frontispiece to Henry D. Rogers's report on the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. In 1836, Rogers, James C. Booth and John F. Frazer met in Huntingdon and agreed on the order of the region's sedimentary rocks. That agreement is regarded as the basis for later geologic mapping across the Appalachians and the eastern United States. The site is still used for teaching geology.","period_of_significance":"1836-1842","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The primary use today is as an outdoor classroom for geology at Juniata College, and the deed requires the college to preserve the site in perpetuity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.157607-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/93001614_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001614/7c48ee49b4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93001614/7c48ee49b4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Frontispiece of \"The Geology of Pennsylvania, a Government Survey\" Henry D. Rogers, 1858","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pulpit_Rocks.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frontispiece of &quot;The Geology of Pennsylvania, a Government Survey&quot; Henry D. Rogers, 1858</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pulpit_Rocks.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994217","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulpit_Rocks","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7259599"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/huntingdon-county/pulpit-rocks-93001614/"}