{"nrhp_refnum":"78002402","name":"Hays Bridge Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"E of Mercersburg on SR 331 and SR 328","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mercersburg","county":"Franklin County","state":"PA","lat":39.78858044800006,"lon":-77.85402287608892,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-07-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Engineering","Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural historic district of about 11 acres near the confluence of Licking Creek and the West Branch of the Conococheague Creek, southeast of Mercersburg in Montgomery Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It contains a stone farmhouse, a stone bank barn, a double-arched stone bridge and a covered bridge.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant mainly for its vernacular stone architecture and the early 19th-century building tradition it represents in southern Pennsylvania. The two bridges are cited for their 19th-century engineering, and the farm complex for its agricultural history. Its scenic setting among limestone hills and cliffs with little modern intrusion is also noted.","narrative":"Near the meeting of Licking Creek and the West Branch of the Conococheague Creek, southeast of Mercersburg in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, the district centres on a three-bay-wide, three-story stone house built into a slope, probably in the latter part of the first quarter of the 19th century. Its two main-floor rooms each have a fireplace and a tightwinder staircase, and the attic floor carries a layer of lime and clay mortar about an inch thick, a treatment linked to 18th-century construction in southern Pennsylvania. A stone bank barn with German siding stands nearby amid a working apple orchard. Several hundred feet south, a double-arched stone bridge of about 100 feet carries Township Route 331 over the Conococheague, and to the southwest, a Burr truss covered bridge built in 1883 spans Licking Creek. The site is valued for its regional stone building tradition, its 19th-century bridge engineering, and its rural setting.","period_of_significance":"early 19th century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The house and barn are in fair to good condition and were prepared for restoration that was about to begin; the bridges are in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.058684-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002402.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002402/cf32902d4f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002402/cf32902d4f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAYS_BRIDGE_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</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:HAYS_BRIDGE_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996500","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hays_Bridge_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5687180"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/franklin-county/hays-bridge-historic-district-78002402/"}