Academy Hill Historic District

Residential streets on the hill north of Greensburg's commercial core hold the Academy Hill Historic District, developed largely between 1880 and 1930 on land that once surrounded the town's first public school, established on the site in 1810. Four subdivisions shaped its layout, beginning with the Culbertson Plan of 1882 and followed by the Metzgar, Jamison-Fogg and Barclay Place additions. Wealthy industrialists built high-style houses on North Main Street, North Maple Avenue and the upper Walnut Avenue blocks, while middle-income families and workers settled the lower slopes. The district contains 23 architectural styles and many eclectic variations, with Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Shingle Style and Tudor Revival among the common types. Paul Bartholomew designed several houses, and Ralph Adams Cram designed the Huff Mansion at 424 North Main Street. The Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, completed in 1928, and the 1927 Greensburg High School also stand within its boundaries.