{"nrhp_refnum":"91001140","name":"Swatara Furnace","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Old Forge Rd. E of Lebanon Reservoir, Pine Grove Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Suedberg","county":"Schuylkill County","state":"PA","lat":40.542989742500055,"lon":-76.49262527473059,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Swatara Furnace historic district is an iron plantation in Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill County, on Mill Creek near the village of Suedberg. It contains a limestone furnace built around 1830, a stone dam breast, an ironmaster's mansion, a barn, a foreman's house and a double worker's house.","why_significant":"The district is nominated under Criterion A for its association with the iron industry in Pennsylvania and as a representative iron plantation of the first half of the nineteenth century. It is also notable under Criterion C for its well preserved furnace stack and wheel pit, and for the ironmaster's mansion, which shows gradual enlargement and embellishment. The manager's and double worker's houses are described as locally significant vernacular architecture.","narrative":"Built around 1830 by Dr. George N. Eckert and Simon Guilford, Swatara Furnace is an iron plantation on Mill Creek in Pine Grove Township, Schuylkill County. The complex included a limestone furnace, a stone dam breast, an ironmaster's mansion whose stone western section dates to 1830 and whose eastern section was added around 1860, a barn, a foreman's house and a double worker's house. Ore and limestone reached the site by the Union Canal, and the works made stoves and iron chain. A flood around 1860 is the most likely cause of the operation's end, though accounts differ on the dates. The furnace stack and its wheel pit survive well and show the construction of a nineteenth-century iron furnace. The mansion illustrates the gradual enlargement of a house over several decades. Mahlon Boyer acquired the property in 1881, and his descendants still own the mansion, which operates as a bed and breakfast.","period_of_significance":"1830-1860","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The mansion and buildings remain in the Boyer family, who operate a bed and breakfast in the mansion; the furnace ceased operation around 1860.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.981161-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/91001140.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001140/cdcb7a2575-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001140/cdcb7a2575-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JoeRed","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swatara_Furnance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JoeRed</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:Swatara_Furnance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993832","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatara_Furnace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7654008"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/schuylkill-county/swatara-furnace-91001140/"}