Linden Hall Historic District
Also known as: Rock Hill
Why it's listed
Linden Hall is a rural village in eastern Harris Township, Centre County, that grew around a grist mill built on Cedar Creek by John Irvin in 1808. Its houses, barns, a church, a school and a small cemetery were built mostly between 1810 and 1919, along Rock Hill and Brush Valley roads. Most of the dwellings are frame or plank, two and a half stories tall, with gable roofs and a modest scale. Two brick Federal-style houses, including Irvin's 1810 house overlooking the mill pond, are the main exceptions. The village was shaped by the arrival of a railroad branch in 1885, which brought a local building boom tied to nearby lumbering. It is regarded as a representative example of a small mill village in central Pennsylvania. Its significance lies in the retention of vernacular buildings with high integrity, spanning more than a century of construction and showing a range of architectural styles. Few intrusions have been built, and the village has remained largely unchanged.
Significance in brief: The district is argued to be a well-preserved rural mill village whose 19th and early 20th century vernacular houses form an excellent collection representative of small central Pennsylvania villages. Its high integrity, its siting in the flood plain of intersecting creeks, and its relative isolation from major roads are cited as reasons for its preservation. It is also linked to the arrival of the railroad in 1885, which brought a building boom tied to local lumbering.
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 90001409, listed September 5, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Rock Hill Rd. between Linden Hall and Brush Valley Rds., Linden Hall |
|---|---|
| County | Centre County |
| Listed | September 5, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90001409 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1810-1919 |
| Architectural style | Federal; Gothic Revival; vernacular |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Buildings maintain high integrity; most are well maintained; the mill was torn down in 1938 and the mill pond remains; the railroad grade remains after track was removed in 1978. |
| Acreage | 35 |
| Coordinates | 40.79723, -77.76206 (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 90001409.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6552312
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.