{"nrhp_refnum":"87002205","name":"Hartman Cider Press","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Keim Rd., 1.1 mi. W of Lobachsville","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lobachsville","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.41087216100004,"lon":-75.74908907599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-01-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large wooden beam cider press housed in a one-story plain wood frame building on a stone foundation, now located at the Keim Homestead in Pike Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. It was built c. 1835 at the Hartman Homestead in Muhlenberg Township and moved eleven miles in 1975.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the press is a rare surviving example of the large beam cider presses once common in southeastern Pennsylvania. It is described as one of only three intact large beam presses left in the region, and it retains very good integrity in its press, building and setting despite relocation.","narrative":"A large hand-hewn beam cider press in a one-story wood frame building on a stone foundation, built c. 1835 on the Hartman Homestead in Muhlenberg Township. The press has a thirty-foot oak beam that exerted about thirty tons of pressure on crushed apples, turned by a thirteen-foot wooden screw. Its building, measuring thirty-five by fifteen feet, also houses a hickory pomace mill. Apple growing and cider pressing were widespread across southeastern Pennsylvania in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and farmers from surrounding areas brought apples to large beam presses like this one each autumn. The Hartman family used the press through the early twentieth century, and it was acquired by the American Folklife Society in 1974. The nomination identifies it as one of only three intact large beam presses remaining in the region, making it a rare survivor of a once common farm process. The homestead was demolished after the press was moved to the Keim Homestead in 1975.","period_of_significance":"C. 1835","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Moved in 1975 from its original location; all parts of the press are described as original and operational, and the building is described as largely intact.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.198001-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/87002205.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002205/c56e3333b1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002205/c56e3333b1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Hshuvaeva","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hartman_Cider_Press_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Hshuvaeva</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:Hartman_Cider_Press_02.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83002218","name":"Oley Township Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/oley-township-historic-district-83002218/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997608","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartman_Cider_Press","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5674989"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/hartman-cider-press-87002205/"}