Berkley Historic District
Why it's listed
Along Berkley Road and the Willow Creek in Ontelaunee Township, Berks County, stands a small village of stone and frame houses whose cores date to the eighteenth century. The Parvin homestead, a limestone house built in 1758 with a date stone, was enlarged in 1856 by Jacob Parvin to nine rooms and retains its center-hall plan and original fireplaces. Behind it stand a summer kitchen over a meat cellar, an icehouse, and a bark house remnant from a tannery operated between 1735 and 1916. The Davies House, expanded around 1830 to a five-bay Georgian façade, keeps its six-over-six windows and dentil cornice. The district is significant for its architecture, including a barn that combines Switzer and Standard Pennsylvania construction, and for the alcove in a cold cellar that the nomination links to the Underground Railroad through archaeological finds and family history.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district illustrates colonial and early Republic village architecture in northern Berks County, with Georgian and Federal features retained in expanded eighteenth-century cores and a rare hybrid barn combining Switzer and Standard Pennsylvania barn methods. It also argues the Parvin homestead may have been a station on the Underground Railroad, based on a hidden cold cellar alcove and family history.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 02000892, listed August 22, 2002. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Section of Snyder Rd. bet PA 61 and Berkley Rd., Ontelaunee |
|---|---|
| County | Berks County |
| Listed | August 22, 2002 |
| Reference number | 02000892 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1758-c.1856 |
| Architectural style | Colonial: Georgian; Early Republic: Federal; Other: Early Pennsylvania Standard Barn |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 40.42882, -75.93827 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 02000892.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15198541
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.