{"nrhp_refnum":"96000078","name":"LeMoyne Crematory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Redstone Rd. and Elm St., NW corner, North Franklin Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Washington","county":"Washington County","state":"PA","lat":40.160665504000065,"lon":-80.23752984799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, three-bay brick crematory building on the northwest corner of Redstone Road and Elm Street in North Franklin Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, built in 1876 by Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne. The building is vernacular in style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its role in the history of cremation in the United States, as an early private crematory designed by LeMoyne himself. It is also tied to LeMoyne's prominence as an advocate of cremation, a physician, and a local figure in education, abolition, and philanthropy. The building is said to retain a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1876 on Gallows Hill in North Franklin Township, the five-course common bond brick crematory was erected by Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne on his own land at a cost of $1,500. LeMoyne drew the plans himself, and John Dye built it. The furnace and fire-clay retort, designed by LeMoyne because existing retorts were too small for human bodies, were used for forty-one cremations between 1876 and 1901. The first cremation, of Baron Joseph Henry Louis de Palm in December 1876, drew reporters and visitors from across the country and was followed by a public meeting in the town hall. LeMoyne's plans were reportedly copied in Europe. The crematory closed in 1901 and was given to the Washington County Historical Society in 1920 as a memorial. Its interior, including the reception room and cremation room with the retort, remains largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1876-1901","architect_builder":"Francis J. LeMoyne (designer); John Dye (builder)","architectural_style":"other: no style (vernacular)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Maintained by the Washington County Historical Society since 1920 and opened to the public for special occasions and an annual fall open house.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.061174-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/96000078.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000078/4015355ba9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000078/4015355ba9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeMoyneCrematory.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeMoyneCrematory.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998528","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeMoyne_Crematory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6506384"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/washington-county/lemoyne-crematory-96000078/"}