{"nrhp_refnum":"85000580","name":"York Iron Company Mine","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"N of Green Valley Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Spring Grove","county":"York County","state":"PA","lat":39.84120677050004,"lon":-76.80918864774475,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 19th-century iron ore mine site on a wooded ridge in Strickhouser's Ravine, about 2.5 miles southwest of Seven Valleys in southwestern York County, Pennsylvania, with adits, open cuts, shafts, a pump-house foundation, a station house foundation, and railroad remains. The mine was originally opened in 1854 by John Musselman and later operated by the York Iron Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the site is the only remaining visible reminder of an iron ore industry that shaped the economy and social life of southwestern York County from 1854 to 1888. It states the site contains the only visible shafts in the county's mines and that its drill holes, chisel marks and shaft configurations document 19th-century hand mining techniques. The ore's quality and quantity are cited as further grounds for significance.","narrative":"Iron ore mining in Strickhouser's Ravine, near Seven Valleys in southwestern York County, began when John Musselman opened the first adit in 1854. The York Iron Company later bought the operation and worked it until 1876, and mining continued in the area until 1888. The site has a large open cut, several adits and shafts, and a pump-house foundation, along with a station house foundation that housed employees during mining periods. A stone loading platform and remnants of a railroad spur running to the Hanover Branch Railroad also survive. The ore, sometimes called Codorus Ore, was reported at up to 46 percent metallic iron and was shipped to the Lehigh Valley for pig iron production. The site is considered significant for its surviving evidence of hand-mining methods, including drill marks and pick marks, and for its role in the region's economic history. It is the only remaining place in the county with visible mine shafts from this period.","period_of_significance":"1854-1888","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Site is in an overgrown wooded condition with ruins and altered features; mining ceased in 1888 and the land remains largely as it was then.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.889309-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/85000580.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000580/4e06e8e415-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000580/4e06e8e415-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raab_Park,_North_Codorus_twp,_York_Co_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Raab_Park,_North_Codorus_twp,_York_Co_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996806","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Iron_Company_Mine","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8055484"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/york-county/york-iron-company-mine-85000580/"}