{"nrhp_refnum":"90001619","name":"Johnson, Nicholas, Mill","other_names":["Schollenberger Mill"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Mill Crest Rd., Colebrookdale Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Berlinville","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.34988625600005,"lon":-75.61958536509871,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-11-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick gristmill with its farmhouse, barn and a log-and-stone tenant house, on a plot in northeast Colebrookdale Township, New Berlinville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. The mill bears a datestone reading \"Nicholas Johnson, 1861\".","why_significant":"The mill is argued to be significant for its brick construction, a rare combination in Berks County mill complexes, and for its largely intact wooden water-power transmission machinery, including two overshot wheels, wooden gearing and a large hurst frame. The complex is also regarded as a rare example of an auxiliary cable drive from mill to barn threshing floor. The building is said to permit accurate interpretation of 1860s milling technology.","narrative":"Built in 1861 by Nicholas Johnson, this brick gristmill stands on a rural plot in northeast Colebrookdale Township, New Berlinville, with a brick farmhouse dated 1838, a brick barn built around 1850 and an earlier log-and-stone tenant house. The mill is two and a half stories over a stone basement and was operated by water power, later supplemented by steam. Its interior retains much of its original wooden machinery: two overshot water wheels, a large white oak hurst frame and wooden spur gears, although the millstones themselves have been removed. A cable drive once carried power from the mill to the barn's threshing floor. Johnson's mill replaced an earlier one on the same site, and the complex is valued for its rare combination of brick construction, its surviving water-power system and its value for understanding nineteenth-century grain milling in Berks County.","period_of_significance":"1838-1939","architect_builder":"Nicholas Johnson (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"The recently installed steel roof and removed millstones are noted; the mill was in use for milling until 1956 and was later used as a woodworking shop on the first floor.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.23591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/90001619.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001619/ddb4258c5f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001619/ddb4258c5f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Hshuvaeva","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicholas_Johnson_Mill_01.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:Nicholas_Johnson_Mill_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992362","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Johnson_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7025666"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/johnson-nicholas-mill-90001619/"}