{"nrhp_refnum":"91001132","name":"Codorus Forge and Furnace Historic District","other_names":["Hellem (Hellam) Forge"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Jct. of River Farm and Furnace Rds., Hellam Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saginaw","county":"York County","state":"PA","lat":40.05160734100008,"lon":-76.65690177699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An iron plantation complex in Hellam Township, York County, Pennsylvania, on the south bank of Codorus Creek near its confluence with the Susquehanna River. It includes a stone furnace built in 1836, an ironmaster's house dating to about 1780, a forge, and related ruins.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is one of the earliest ironmaking enterprises in central Pennsylvania and that its round stone furnace and hot blast apparatus are unusual and well preserved. It also cites the surviving forge walls as a rare survivor of its type and the site's archaeological potential, since it has seen little later disturbance.","narrative":"Along the south bank of Codorus Creek in Hellam Township, York County, lies an iron plantation whose origins go back to 1765, when William Bennett built Hellam Forge. Henry Grubb bought the property in 1810, renamed it Codorus Forge, and had a furnace built a short distance away in 1836. The furnace is roughly 30 feet tall, with a square stone base rising about 12 feet before becoming round and tapering upward, and it retains an iron-banded top and a brick hot blast stove with some original piping. The ironmaster's house, a stuccoed stone structure from about 1780, is nine bays wide and is regarded as a well-preserved example of vernacular architecture. The forge building measures 58 by 45 feet, with masonry walls and arched openings. The nomination considers the round furnace unusual, the forge a rare survivor of its type, and the site a source of information about iron production. The furnace stopped operating by 1850.","period_of_significance":"1765-1850","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"The furnace had ceased operation by 1850; the furnace is owned by the Conservation Society of York County and maintained as a historic site; the 1989 fire destroyed one ruined building.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.915455-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001132.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001132/143b2444d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001132/143b2444d8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Codorus_Furnace_YorkCo_PA_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</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:Codorus_Furnace_YorkCo_PA_1.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994113","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codorus_Forge_and_Furnace_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5140345"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/york-county/codorus-forge-and-furnace-historic-district-91001132/"}