Shade Gap Feed and Flour Mill
Why it's listed
Along Route 522 north of Shade Gap Borough in Huntingdon County stands a three-story frame grist mill built in 1846 by Brice X. Blair in the Shade Gap Narrows. Blair sold it in 1854 to Mathias Shoop, who added a steam engine to the mill's water-powered wheel. Joshua Price owned it from 1861 until 1897, when the Price family's ownership ended. C.S. Hess bought the mill in 1912 and ran it with his sons until 1973, producing flour, corn meal and animal feeds. The machinery, much of it made by The Wolf Company of Chambersburg and Sprout Waldron Company of Muncy, remains in place on the first and third floors, with the water wheel and gearing still in the basement. The mill is important mainly for this equipment. It is the only one of the county's seven surviving grist mills that keeps enough of its milling machinery to show how milling worked in its period. The site was listed for its engineering significance.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the mill is significant under Criterion C for engineering because it retains nearly all of its original flour and feed milling machinery in place, making it the only one of the county's seven surviving grist mills to do so. It is also presented as a good example of a late nineteenth or early twentieth century feed and flour mill in Huntingdon County.
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 90000396, listed March 20, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | US 522, 1 mi. N of Shade Gap, Shade Gap |
|---|---|
| County | Huntingdon County |
| Listed | March 20, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000396 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1846-1939 |
| Architect / builder | Brice X. Blair (builder) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Engineering |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The mill ceased operation in 1973-74 and the millrace has been filled in and the dam destroyed; the diesel engine was removed. Later feed mill structures adjacent to it do not contribute to eligibility. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 40.18726, -77.86865 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
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 90000396.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7460269
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.