Cumberland Valley State Normal School Historic District
Also known as: Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Why it's listed
Seven acres on a rise above Shippensburg hold five buildings put up between 1870 and 1915 for the Cumberland Valley State Normal School. Samuel Sloan designed the central Old Main in 1870 in the Second Empire style; it opened in 1873 and was reworked in 1895 by Harry E. Yessler, who replaced its Mansard roof with a steep Classical Revival gable roof and raised the tower. Arthur P. Rosser designed the Romanesque Revival gymnasium, now Stewart Hall, completed in 1895. Horton Hall, a Romanesque Revival women's dormitory, was begun by Rosser and finished by Yessler after Rosser's death in 1894, and it opened in 1899. Maurice R. Rhoads designed the Classical Revival principal's residence, now the Martin House, and the Renaissance Revival Model School, now Gilbert Hall. The buildings matter because they preserve, in their original setting, the campus of the stockholder phase of Pennsylvania's state normal school system, which ran from 1857 until about 1917. Old Main's financial troubles, including an 1887 sheriff's sale, were central to that system's decline.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues that the group is the only state normal school campus in Pennsylvania that retains all its major structures in the physical and visual setting of the end of the stockholder phase of the state's teacher-training system, which lasted from 1857 to the World War One era. Old Main, designed by Samuel Sloan, is central to that story because its costly construction and financial problems contributed to the troubles of the system. The campus buildings are also presented as an intact record of the school's relations with the local community and the seven-county district it served.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85000076, listed January 11, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by N. Prince St., Stewart, Old Main, Gilbert and Henderson Drs., Shippensburg |
|---|---|
| County | Cumberland County |
| Listed | January 11, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85000076 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1870-1915 |
| Architect / builder | Samuel Sloan, Arthur P. Rosser, Harry E. Yessler, Maurice R. Rhoads |
| Architectural style | Second Empire and Classical Revival (Old Main); Romanesque Revival (Stewart Hall and Horton Hall); Classical Revival (Martin House); Renaissance Revival (Gilbert Hall) |
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Old Main serves as an administrative building and was undergoing a major renovation in the 1983-84 period described; Stewart Hall is an administrative and classroom complex; Horton Hall is an administrative and service building. |
| Acreage | 7 |
| Coordinates | 40.05893, -77.52250 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85000076.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7498066
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.