J. Peter Lesley House

The J. Peter Lesley House is a historic row house at 1008 Clinton Street in the Washington Square neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A National Historic Landmark, it was for 27 years the home of John Peter Lesley (1819-1903), one of the leading geologists of the second half of the 19th century. The house is a private residence, and is not open to the public.[2][3]

J. Peter Lesley House
Location1008 Clinton St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39°56′40″N 75°9′29″W
Arealess than one acre
Builtc. 1836
Architectural styleGreek Revival
Part ofClinton Street Historic District
Washington Square West Historic District (ID72001148, 84003563)
NRHP reference No.94001646
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 12, 1994[1]
Designated NHLOctober 12, 1994[2]
Designated CPApril 26, 1972
Designated CPSeptember 20, 1984

Description and history

The J. Peter Lesley House is located in Philadelphia's Washington Square West neighborhood, on the south side of Clinton Street between South 10th and 11th Streets. It is a ​3 1⁄2-story brick building, with a gabled roof pierced in front by a gabled dormer, and flanked on the side walls by chimneys. It is three bays wide, with the entrance in the rightmost bay, topped by a Federal style half-round transom window. The interior of the house largely retains features of the later 19th century, despite conversion to multiunit residences and back to single-family use.[3]

J. Peter Lesley rented this building from 1869 to 1897, using it as his home and office. Lesley served for many years as the State Geologist of Pennsylvania, and was a leading authority on geology related to coal and iron ore, especially in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. His pioneering work A Manual of Coal, published in 1856, demonstrated the relationship between topography and geological structure. He supervised the publication of more than 120 state reports produced by its Geological Survey department, which he also directed for many years.[3]

The Lesleys made this address their year-round home until 1885, when Mrs. Lesley was given a house in Milton, Massachusetts. He continued to spend most of his days here until ill health compelled his retirement in 1896, after which he also moved permanently to Massachusetts.[3]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "J. Peter Lesley House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  3. John W. Bond (March 23, 1994). "National Historic Landmark Nomination:" (pdf). National Park Service. Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 2 photos, exterior, from 1993 (32 KB)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.