{"nrhp_refnum":"94000516","name":"Mount Union Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Water and Greene Sts., the I.O.O.F Cemetery, Washington and Lafayette Sts., Shirley Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Union Borough","county":"Huntingdon County","state":"PA","lat":40.38457248200007,"lon":-77.88446264030662,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-05-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Industry","Transportation","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district covering over two-thirds of Mount Union Borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, a former canal, railroad and brick-manufacturing town. Its building stock ranges from the 1840s to the present and is mostly two-story, single-family frame houses.","why_significant":"The district is significant in industry and transportation as a regionally important railroad transfer point for iron and coal shipments, and in community development for how its growth responded to changes in transportation and industry. It is also significant in commerce and architecture as a local commercial center with a representative collection of central Pennsylvania architecture from the 1840s to the 1940s.","narrative":"Mount Union Borough, in the Ridge and Valley region of Huntingdon County, grew from a canal port on the Juniata River opened in 1831 into a railroad junction and brick-making center. The Dougherty and Speer town plan of 1849 set the street grid, and the East Broad Top Railroad connection in 1873 doubled the population between 1870 and 1900. Three silica brick plants opened from 1899 to 1912, and the population passed 6,000 by 1920. The district includes the John Sharrar House of 1841, the oldest surviving building, and the Welch Building of 1890. Most of its houses date from the 1900 to 1920 boom, when local builders constructed dozens of frame and brick homes on the original lots. Shirley Street developed as the commercial center, with bank branches, churches and a 1915 theater. The district's architecture reflects the town's shifts from canal to railroad to refractories economy.","period_of_significance":"1841-1944","architect_builder":"Welch, Allen S.; Welch, Elmer D.","architectural_style":"Gothic, Queen Anne, Renaissance, Commercial, Bungalow/Craftsman, Moderne, Gable-Front, I-House, Center-Hall Georgian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most of the district's historic buildings are in use; the Shapiro Theater has been closed since 1970.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.582136-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/94000516.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000516/9b748ee100-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000516/9b748ee100-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jet Lowe","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shirley_and_Jefferson_in_Mount_Union.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jet Lowe</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shirley_and_Jefferson_in_Mount_Union.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996648","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Union_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6924262"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/huntingdon-county/mount-union-historic-district-94000516/"}