{"nrhp_refnum":"78002197","name":"Kirby, James, Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of West Richfield off OH 303","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Richfield","county":"Summit County","state":"OH","lat":41.24068722100003,"lon":-81.67874674499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small wood-frame mill, 22 by 24 feet, at Camp Julia Crowell off State Route 303 near West Richfield, Summit County, Ohio. It was built in 1919 by inventor James Kirby with a local millwright, Mr. Pardee.","why_significant":"The mill was the hand-built workshop of James Kirby (1885-1971), an engineer and inventor who held more than two hundred patents, and many of his inventions were developed there. It also housed the first water wheel mounted on ball bearings, built to generate electricity for his farm.","narrative":"Tucked beside a stream at the south end of the lower lake at Camp Julia Crowell, this small wood-frame mill measures 22 by 24 feet. It has a gable roof with wide eaves, exposed rafters, cross-bracing in the end gables, and board and batten siding that changes to horizontal lap siding below the eaves. Its overshot water wheel has cypress spokes and rims and oak water buckets, and it turns on ball bearings, so even a trickle of water moves it. James Kirby, an engineer and inventor, bought the farm in 1919 and built the mill from timber cut on the site, with a local millwright named Pardee helping on the wheel. The mill generated electricity for the farm and served as Kirby's workshop, where many of his more than two hundred patented inventions were developed, including a vacuum cleaner and a wringerless washing machine. The interior remains intact, and the Lake Erie Girl Scout Council has owned the property since 1973.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1919)","architect_builder":"James Kirby, Mr. Pardee","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and unaltered; the interior is described as intact. The property is now used for educational and social functions by a Girl Scout council.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:13.055892-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/78002197.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002197/77e679316c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002197/77e679316c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JAMES_KIRBY_MILL,_RICHFIELD,_SUMMIT_COUNTY,_OH.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JAMES_KIRBY_MILL,_RICHFIELD,_SUMMIT_COUNTY,_OH.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004871","name":"Camp Crowell Hilaka Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/camp-crowell-hilaka-historic-district-100004871/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991629","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138749164"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/summit-county/kirby-james-mill-78002197/"}