Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf and Dumb

Set on a hilly site of about sixty acres in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, this campus was laid out in the 1890s by the Wilson Brothers, a firm of architects, engineers and planners. The buildings follow a pavilion plan arranged for light and air, and they are built of rough Wissahickon Schist. The central dormitory halls, Cresheim, Wingohocking and Wissinoming, each contain about 80,000 square feet and were designed for the school's primary, intermediate and advanced departments. The power house, with its Flemish gables, octagonal brick chimney and iron truss-roofed interior, served the school's industrial arts classes. Morris Hall and Gilpin Hall, by Cope and Stewardson and their successors Stewardson and Page, show the shift toward collegiate Gothic and later pastoral styles. The campus is listed for its intact late Victorian ensemble and its role in deaf education. The school was founded in 1820 and was among the earliest such institutions in the country.