{"nrhp_refnum":"79002185","name":"Oak Hall Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"SR 871, College Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oak Hall","county":"Centre County","state":"PA","lat":40.79374142700004,"lon":-77.80435332191288,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district comprising the western portion of the village of Oak Hall in College Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, centred on the farm of General James Irvin, including his mansion, stone barn, grist mill site and several nineteenth-century houses.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is significant in agriculture, industry, architecture and association with General James Irvin, an ironmaster and local leader. It holds the Irvin Mansion and barn, which show skilled use of native limestone, and the surviving portion of the Irvin grist mill and its races, which express the milling industry. The highway construction of 1971 removed the village core, which makes the surviving district a record of the community's history.","narrative":"Oak Hall is a village in College Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and this district covers its western portion, built around the farm of General James Irvin. The centrepiece is the Irvin Mansion, a two-and-a-half-story limestone house begun around 1825 with a center hall plan and measuring 48 by 38 feet, one of the largest houses in the area at the time. Nearby stand a limestone barn of about the same date with a Palladian-style ventilator, and the foundation story of the Irvin grist mill, first built in 1822. Irvin, who began his career in Oak Hall as a miller and storekeeper, later became a prominent ironmaster and served in Congress from 1841 to 1845. The district also includes the Johnstonbaugh House, a vernacular dwelling with an early log section, and the Benjamin Peters House of about 1860. Together these buildings preserve the agricultural and milling character of the community after the 1971 highway project removed its core.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian and Victorian elements; traditional center hall plan","criteria":[],"status_note":"Eastern portion of the village demolished for the State College By-Pass in 1971; the Irvin grist mill was converted to a residence in 1961 with its upper stories removed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.977335-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002185.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002185/b8d625789e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002185/b8d625789e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ruhrfisch","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oak_Hall_Historic_District_-_Irvin_Mansion.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ruhrfisch</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:Oak_Hall_Historic_District_-_Irvin_Mansion.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996834","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Hall_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7073531"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/centre-county/oak-hall-historic-district-79002185/"}