{"nrhp_refnum":"07001206","name":"Metz Ice Plant","other_names":["Klaer, Jacob Gristmill","Idlcs #82296, 82295","Milford Ice and Refrgeration Company"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Harford St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milford","county":"Pike County","state":"PA","lat":41.317319534000035,"lon":-74.79925032099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-11-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former water-powered gristmill in Milford, Pike County, Pennsylvania, on Sawkill Creek, later converted to an ice manufacturing and cold storage plant. The original block dates to 1869, with concrete block additions built between the 1920s and 1950s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is the only intact water-powered industrial structure in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and was the only manufactured ice plant in the Upper Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania north of the Lehigh Valley. It is significant for its industrial role, including its conversion from grain milling to ice making and refrigeration to serve the local demand for year-round ice.","narrative":"Beside Sawkill Creek at the south end of Milford, a wood-framed gristmill was rebuilt in 1869 by Jacob Klaer, Sr., after a fire the previous year. The original gambrel-roofed block later gained concrete block additions built between the 1920s and 1950s. In the 1920s, August Metz, Jr. converted the mill into one of the first mechanical ice plants in the area. A water wheel supplied power, and the plant produced 300-pound ice cakes and stored meat and produce for local hotels and restaurants. Earlier, the building had been used for grist milling and, under the Tuscano family, for jelly production. Cold storage continued until 1959. The site was acquired by the federal government in 1979 and is now within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Its significance lies in the way it documents a shift from small-scale water-powered milling to refrigeration and cold storage, and it is regarded as the only surviving water-powered industrial structure of its kind in the recreation area.","period_of_significance":"1869-1959","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Vacant; no longer in active use, and owned by the National Park Service as part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.210262-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/07001206.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001206/df37e44e3c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001206/df37e44e3c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"National Park Service","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metz_Ice_Plant_DWG_NPS.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">National Park Service</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metz_Ice_Plant_DWG_NPS.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996561","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metz_Ice_Plant","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6825553"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/pike-county/metz-ice-plant-07001206/"}