{"nrhp_refnum":"78002370","name":"Spring Mill Complex","other_names":["Gunkle's Mill"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of Devault at jct. of Moores Rd. and PA 401, East Whiteland Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Devault","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.05254453200007,"lon":-75.56438066499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story stone mill on the headwaters of Valley Creek in Devault, Chester County, Pennsylvania, built in 1793 by Michael Gunkle. It stands with a miller's house, springhouse, smokehouse and carriage house.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the mill is the only remaining one of the three mills Michael Gunkle built, and that the mill and complex are well preserved. It has unusual features such as heavy pegged arches, French burr millstones, and flour-sack stencils. The complex is presented as representative of post-Revolutionary development in the Great Valley.","narrative":"Built in 1793 on the headwaters of Valley Creek in Devault, Chester County, this two-and-one-half story stone mill was raised by Michael Gunkle, who used the free-flowing springs that powered ten to fifteen mills in East Whiteland Township. The mill, roughly 36 by 40 feet with a full basement set into the bank, has a gable roof with heavy pegged arches more typical of German barn construction than milling. Its interior keeps French burr millstones, flour-sack stencils on the plaster walls, and wooden milling parts. Of the three mills Gunkle built, this is the only one still standing. It ran continuously until the early 1940s. The nearby miller's house, springhouse, smokehouse and carriage house form an early mill complex dated about 1793 to 1815. Moores Road, recorded from 1764, carried wagons and drovers through the Great Valley. Significant as a well-preserved example of post-Revolutionary milling in the Great Valley.","period_of_significance":"ca 1793-1815","architect_builder":"Michael Gunkle","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The mill was in continuous operation until the early 1940s, and continued occupation or use for storage is noted as having preserved the building.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:28.781171-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002370.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002370/ba796d21f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002370/ba796d21f7-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Ned Goode, HABS photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spring_Mill131811pu.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ned Goode, HABS photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spring_Mill131811pu.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995232","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Mill_Complex","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7580632"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/spring-mill-complex-78002370/"}