{"nrhp_refnum":"76001621","name":"Centre Mills","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Rebersburg off PA 445","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rebersburg","county":"Centre County","state":"PA","lat":40.92567105900008,"lon":-77.47209965799993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone grist mill with a stone house, a barn and a miller's house forming the Centre Mills site on a hillside less than 100 yards north of Elk Creek, near Rebersburg in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The stone mill was built in 1802 or 1803 for Tobias Pickle.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is an important landmark of the pioneer era of the county and the preeminent site for the settlement of Brush Valley. The massive masonry and timber work reflect the enterprise of early settlers, and the site shows the introduction and development of milling in the valley.","narrative":"Stone grist mill built in 1802 or 1803 for Tobias Pickle, sitting on a hillside a short distance north of Elk Creek in Brush Valley, Centre County. Its walls are roughly coursed fieldstone with large quoining stones at the corners, and it has a basement with mill-race arches, two full stories and an attic. Inside, the timber superstructure that once held the breastwheels survives, with stone piers and sixteen posts spanning the race. A stone house of about the same date stood alongside, and in later years the site is said to have accommodated farmers who came some distance to have grain milled. The site is regarded as the preeminent place for the settlement of Brush Valley and the first introduction of milling there. Its masonry and timber work recall the early settlers' effort in a frontier valley. Originally water-powered, the mill converted to steam after the dam was lost around 1900, and the property's buildings show the development of the local milling industry.","period_of_significance":"prior to 1798, log 1802 or 1803, stone mill","architect_builder":"Col. Meyer (builder), as the form names him","architectural_style":"Stone Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"The mill operated on steam power into the 20th century after the dam washed away circa 1900; the breastwheels were replaced by a turbine and the machinery is largely gone; the barn was being rebuilt.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.673312-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/76001621.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001621/a6199b17a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001621/a6199b17a4-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centre_Mills_house_rear_Centre_Co_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centre_Mills_house_rear_Centre_Co_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997966","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Mills","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5062288"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/centre-county/centre-mills-76001621/"}