{"nrhp_refnum":"85002358","name":"Hayes Mill House","other_names":["Site #49-4"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Star Gazer Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newlin Twp.","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.93969843800005,"lon":-75.73318231599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, single-pile stone-and-frame house on Star Gazer Road in Newlin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, with a stone core dated to about 1780. It was built as a tenant house for the Hayes whetstone quarry and mill.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant for its vernacular Colonial architecture, particularly its corbeled stone cornice, which is rare in the region. It is also significant for its association with the Hayes Whetstone Mill and Quarry, a local industry that operated for nearly a century.","narrative":"Built around 1780 as a tenant house for a nearby whetstone quarry, this two-story stone house in Newlin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, follows the English hall and parlor plan typical of vernacular Colonial building. Its stone core remains easily visible beneath later additions, including a two-story east wing and an enclosed front porch. The house is distinguished by a corbeled stone cornice, seldom seen in this part of Chester County, and by chimneys formed from the stone gable walls. Two other buildings in the West Branch Brandywine Scenic River Corridor have similar cornices. The house is also tied to the Hayes Whetstone Mill and Quarry, opened by Mordecai Hayes about 1780. Under his nephew-line successor Jacob Hayes, the operation used a water-powered mill to dress stones. Whetstones were sold in Philadelphia, Wilmington, and West Chester. Production ended in the 1870s or 1880s. The house is one of the few surviving remnants of this milling industry.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Mordecai Hayes (builder, per the nomination's account of the tenant house)","architectural_style":"Colonial English (vernacular, English hall/parlor plan)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Good condition with various additions; the form notes the current owners refuse an inside inspection.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.933631-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/85002358.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002358/e89559b911-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002358/e89559b911-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Timothy Colgan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hayes_Mill_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Timothy Colgan</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:Hayes_Mill_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992722","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_Mill_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5686618"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/hayes-mill-house-85002358/"}