{"nrhp_refnum":"00000848","name":"Sinking Springs Farms","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Church Rd., Sinking Springs Ln., N. George St., Locust Ln., Susquehanna Trail and PA 238","address_restricted":false,"city":"Manchester","county":"York County","state":"PA","lat":40.00853396350004,"lon":-76.7425582883667,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-07-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Sinking Springs Farms is a historic working farm district in Manchester Township, northeastern York County, Pennsylvania, less than half a mile north of York City, comprising about 661 acres with six groups of built resources including a manor house, four farmsteads and a radio broadcast complex.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is locally significant for agriculture as an estate-type farm formed from three contiguous historic farms, reflecting typical 19th-century York County farming and the Small family's gentrification into a gentleman's estate. It also argues architectural significance for its farm buildings, its Colonial Revival theme, and two architect-designed residences, an 1893 Shingle style farmhouse and a 1900 Colonial Revival manor house, both by the Dempwolf firm.","narrative":"Sinking Springs Farms is a working farm district of about 661 acres in Manchester Township, just north of York City, with stretches of cultivated land, pasture and woodland cut by numerous springs and creeks. Its 56 individual resources date from c. 1841 to 1993 and are grouped around a manor house, four farmsteads and a radio broadcast complex. The property was assembled in the 19th and early 20th centuries from three adjacent farms, with the Smyser, Small and Appell families each shaping its buildings. Samuel Small, Jr. commissioned the 1900 Colonial Revival manor house from the Dempwolf firm of York, and W. Latimer Small's 1893 Shingle style farmhouse was also a Dempwolf design. The 1936-41 renovations of the manor house were by Robert A. Stair. Its combination of farm buildings, estate architecture and limestone-related landscape features is the basis for its listing.","period_of_significance":"C. 1841-1950","architect_builder":"Dempwolf, John A. & Reinhardt (architects); Robert A. Stair (architect, 1936-41 renovations)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Shingle Style; Georgian; Pennsylvania German vernacular","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Working farm; the nomination describes the property as currently a working farm, with some farmsteads rented to tenants.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.391014-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/00000848.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000848/d261f7f881-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000848/d261f7f881-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SINKING_SPRINGS_FARM,_YORK_COUNTY,_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</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:SINKING_SPRINGS_FARM,_YORK_COUNTY,_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996369","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_Springs_Farms","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7524589"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/york-county/sinking-springs-farms-00000848/"}