{"nrhp_refnum":"90001629","name":"Seyfert Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Old US 22 and Campsite Rd., Upper Tulpehocken Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Strausstown","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.50988952050005,"lon":-76.12564333318272,"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 2 1/2-story plus basement banked stone gristmill on Old Route 22 in rural Upper Tulpehocken Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, on the west side of the Northkill Creek. The mill has an 1840 date stone and is measured at 48 by 50 feet.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill represents the merchant gristmills built during the county's \"great rebuilding\" period of 1818-1862, and that its surviving hurst frame and gearing show changes in milling technology. It also associates the mill with the Seyfert family's milling and iron enterprises and is described as the last known surviving remnant of that complex.","narrative":"Built into a bank beside the Northkill Creek in rural Upper Tulpehocken Township, the Seyfert Mill is a two-and-a-half-story stone gristmill measuring 48 by 50 feet. A date stone records its construction in 1840 by John and Hannah Seyfert, who replaced an earlier mill on the site. The building follows the rectangular merchant-mill form common in Berks County during the county's period of major mill rebuilding between 1818 and 1862. Its interior retains a hurst frame and remnants of the early gearing arrangement, with the first floor raised to accommodate overshot wooden water wheels. Later changes include the installation of a Wolf Company roller system, which replaced most of the millstones while one pair was kept for cornmeal. The mill is linked to the Seyfert family's wider enterprises, including forges and farms, and it supplied flour to local workers and residents for more than a century. The mill ceased operating around 1954.","period_of_significance":"1840-1939","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Stone vernacular mill","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The mill ceased operating around 1954, and the document notes a modern steel roof and loading platform; the water courses no longer hold water except the mill pond.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.588822-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/90001629.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001629/e714ac457a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001629/e714ac457a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shuvaev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seyfert_Mill_Millrace.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Shuvaev</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:Seyfert_Mill_Millrace.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992346","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7459051"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/seyfert-mill-90001629/"}