{"nrhp_refnum":"78002348","name":"Levan Farm","other_names":["Issac Levan Tract","Jacob Levan Farm"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"PA 562, Exeter Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"St. Lawrence","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.32241317450007,"lon":-75.85902467063218,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former working farm in St. Lawrence, Berks County, Pennsylvania, with a fieldstone farmhouse dated 1837, a bank barn, a springhouse, lime kilns, a granery, a corncrib and a wagon shed. The farm began on a land grant to the LeVan family circa 1730 and the family has kept part of the land since then.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the farm is a good example of a self-sufficient working farm, with its structures showing how local materials shaped construction. The lime kilns and quarry illustrate near self-sufficiency, and the springhouse contains a hidden passage tied to family legend of protection from Indian attacks. The family's descent from French Reformed émigrés who settled in Berks County in 1731 is also part of the case.","narrative":"Fieldstone farm complex in St. Lawrence, Berks County, centred on a two-story Georgian farmhouse built in 1837 with a carved date stone and quoins of light stone and red sandstone. The land was granted to the LeVan family circa 1730 by the Penns, and the family settled there in 1731 after leaving France. The property was listed for its value as a working, self-sufficient pioneer farm. Two lime kilns, built without mortar and fed by limestone quarried a short distance away, produced the mortar used on the other buildings. The barn is banked into the hillside, with storage above and animal shelter below. The springhouse has two levels and a passage said by family tradition to have served as a hiding place during Indian attacks in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The farm today comprises 54 acres of the original 1,000.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"The farmhouse has been unoccupied for about 20 years and has deteriorated; the springhouse is in extreme deterioration; the barn is in good condition and used by a farmer who leases the land.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.315715-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002348.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002348/5a6c79eb57-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002348/5a6c79eb57-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shuvaev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Levan_Farmhouse_01.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:Levan_Farmhouse_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998248","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levan_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6534847"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/levan-farm-78002348/"}