{"nrhp_refnum":"73001616","name":"Lightfoot Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1703 Conestoga Road","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chester Springs","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.081204779000075,"lon":-75.64408984699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-13","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2005-04-05","areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Lightfoot Mill is a combination grist and lumber mill of random fieldstone with massive corner quoins in Chester Springs, Chester County, Pennsylvania, on Pickering Creek. It was built in 1747 by Samuel Lightfoot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill is an excellent example of mid-18th century mill operation and was vital to the region's agricultural and commercial growth. It also ties the property to Samuel Lightfoot, a prominent local landowner, office holder and surveyor who kept field records for the Mason and Dixon boundary survey from 1763 to 1767.","narrative":"Samuel Lightfoot built this combination grist and lumber mill of random fieldstone on Pickering Creek in Chester County in 1747. The building is a bank-type structure of three levels, with a gable roof, massive corner quoins and six-over-six sash windows. Its interior remains largely intact, with hand-hewn beams, oak floor boards and much of its original grist and lumber milling machinery. A metal wheel replaced the wooden one in 1909, and a cider press shed on the north side was enlarged and enclosed in 1919. By 1765 the mill had made Lightfoot one of the wealthiest and largest landowners in the county. He also served as a county commissioner from 1736 and as a Justice of the Peace from 1751. From 1763 to 1767 he kept the field records for the Mason and Dixon survey of the Pennsylvania and Maryland boundary. After his death in 1777 the mill passed to his son and later a grandson, and it operated under various owners until 1940.","period_of_significance":"1747","architect_builder":"Samuel Lightfoot (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The mill's interior is largely intact with original hand-hewn beams, oak floor boards and much of its grist and lumber milling machinery; the mill is in good condition and at its original site, though the adjoining house has been greatly altered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.881754-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/73001616.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001616/0918ff05e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001616/0918ff05e2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Sdwelch1031","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anselma_Mill_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sdwelch1031</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anselma_Mill_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998470","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightfoot_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6546290"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/lightfoot-mill-73001616/"}