{"nrhp_refnum":"74001423","name":"Gaston's Mill-Lock No. 36, Sandy And Beaver Canal District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"About 1 mi. S of Clarkson in Beaver Creek State Forest","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clarkson","county":"Columbiana County","state":"OH","lat":40.727356986000046,"lon":-80.61263961886814,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Engineering","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district in Beaver Creek State Park near East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio, made up of Gaston's Mill, a water-powered gristmill built around 1837, and Lock No. 36 of the Sandy and Beaver Canal, built between 1834 and 1846.","why_significant":"Gaston's Mill is the last of six mills that once operated between Elkton and Fredericktown, and the only one operating in northeastern Ohio. Lock No. 36 is the only well-preserved lock along the 27-mile Eastern Division of the canal. Together they are an educational and historic reminder of the canal era and early transportation.","narrative":"Gaston's Mill and Lock No. 36 sit about 250 feet apart in Beaver Creek State Park near East Liverpool, Ohio. The mill is a three-story, water-powered gristmill with a cut-stone first floor, a frame upper structure of hewn timbers, and two stone grinding buhrs. Samuel Conkle built it around 1837, and it takes its name from Philander Gaston, who owned and operated it longer than anyone else. It ran until World War I and is the last of six mills that once worked between Elkton and Fredericktown. The lock, built of native sandstone, is 130 feet long and 15 feet wide. It is one of 57 on the Eastern Division of the Sandy and Beaver Canal and the only well-preserved one along the 27-mile length. The canal ran from the Ohio River to Bolivar and operated only a few years before railroads replaced it. Restoration of the mill began in 1964. The site is valued for engineering, industry, commerce, transportation, and its record of skilled early workmanship.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (mill: 1837; lock: 1834-46)","architect_builder":"Samuel Conkle (built the mill around 1837)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good and altered. The mill was restored beginning in January 1964, with more work planned, and is state-owned parkland used as a park and museum. The lock was partly filled with silt, and restoration was proposed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.030578-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/74001423.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001423/a6e39a4672-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001423/a6e39a4672-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nancy Horstman","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gastons_mill.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nancy Horstman</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gastons_mill.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987194","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston%27s_Mill-Lock_No._36,_Sandy_and_Beaver_Canal_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5526695"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/columbiana-county/gastons-mill-lock-no-36-sandy-and-beaver-canal-district-74001423/"}