{"nrhp_refnum":"77001122","name":"Berk, Daniel, Log House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Albany on Maiden Creek, Albany Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Albany","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.604146796000066,"lon":-75.87287421699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-one-half-story log house with a later stone addition, located in Albany Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The first section dates to circa 1760 and the second section to the late 1700s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is among the oldest structures in Albany Township and a fine example of a frontier house and of how it was adapted by successive generations of the Berk family. It is tied to the family's settlement history in Berks County, which lay on the frontier line during the Indian raids of the 1760s.","narrative":"Built in two sections in Albany Township, Berks County, the Daniel Berk Log House combines a log structure begun circa 1760 with a stone section added in the late 1700s. The log part measures 20 by 22 feet, has a gable roof, and is approached through a stone and wood porch that spans both sections. The Berk family settled along Maiden Creek after arriving in Pennsylvania in 1747 from the Palatinate, and they farmed the area through hard frontier conditions, including Indian raids into the late 1760s. Daniel Berk, born in 1768, farmed the family lands after his parents' death. The house passed from the first Daniel to his son Daniel (1796-1871) and on through five generations. It is valued as one of the oldest structures in Albany Township and as an example of a frontier house adapted across generations. The house remains in use as a residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Henry Berk (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The house is still being used as a home today.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.171171-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/77001122.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001122/ffb1e92653-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001122/ffb1e92653-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shuvaev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daniel_Berk_Log_House.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Shuvaev</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:Daniel_Berk_Log_House.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994455","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Berk_Log_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5216550"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/berk-daniel-log-house-77001122/"}