Colebrookdale Township near Boyertown in Berks County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Bahr's Mill
1897
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 27, 2024
1. Bahr's Mill Marker
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1897.
Location. 40° 20.32′ N, 75° 39.511′ W. Marker is near Boyertown, Pennsylvania, in Berks County. It is in Colebrookdale Township. It is at the intersection of Sawmill Road and South Ironstone Drive on Sawmill Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 339 S Ironstone Dr, Boyertown PA 19512, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania and specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and also one of the original Thirteen
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Rhoads Opera House Fire (approx. 0.9 miles away); Carl A. Spaatz (approx. one mile away); Jeremiah Sweinhart and Successors (approx. one mile away); Colebrookdale Furnace (approx. 1.1 miles away); Boyertown Burial Casket Company (approx. 1.1 miles away); Thomas Rutter (approx. 4.6 miles away); New Hanover Lutheran Church (approx. 4.9 miles away); Falkner Swamp Reformed Church (approx. 5.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boyertown.
Regarding Bahr's Mill. Excerpts from the National Register nomination, submitted in 1990:
The thirteen historic resources on the property include two contributing structures; a c 1850 stone and frame banked chicken house with vertical siding and shed type tin roof, a c 1890 stone and frame pig sty with tin roof, and eleven vernacular style contributing buildings; an 1897 stone, banked 2 story plus basement mill with tin gable roof, a c 1820 2½ story, stucco over stone farmhouse with gable strip shingle roof, a c 1820 1 story, brick smokehouse with frame addition,a c 1820 banked frame sawmill with stone foundation and a tin gable roof, a c 1820 2 story stucco over stone store with a 2 story frame addition and gable strip shingle roof, a c 1890 1 story frame storage shed with a gable strip shingle roof, a c 1890 frame shoemaker's shop with gable strip shingle roof, c 1890 double transverse frame combination wagon shed and corncrib with tin roof, a c 1920 small frame outhouse, a stone bank barn with frame forebay, solid ramp, slate roof, rebuilt c 1880, c 1930 frame garage with four rear windows and shed type tin roof.Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 27, 20242. Bahr's Mill MarkerThe marker is on the 1897 mill, the centerpiece of the historic site.
According to family history Abraham Gable acquired this property in 1828. The 1854 map shows the family had an oil mill and store. The 1862 map states they had mills and a store, and in 1876 the map shows a spoke factory and oil mill.
Abraham Gable passed the property on to his son John, whose daughter married Jacob Bahr. In 1888 Bahr became owner and the property remains in the family, now owned by his two grandsons. The original mill was an oil mill but in 1897, it was replaced by the current building used to grind feed and to manufacture wooden handles and spokes, a business that the present owners Raymond and Lawrence Bahr now in their nineties still continue. These buildings were also part of a working farm which is no longer operated.
Also see . . .
1. Bahr Mill Complex (PDF). National Register nomination for the site, which was listed in 1990. (Prepared by Louise Emery; via National Archives) (Submitted on October 14, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
2. Bahrs Mill. Bahrs Mill is a stone mill building built in 1897 to house Jacob Bahrs (pronounced Bear) woodworking and grist mill business. It is part of a farm complex in the village of Gabelsville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. (Boyertown Area Historical Society) (Submitted on October 14, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Credits. This page was last revised on October 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 14, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 438 times since then and 47 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 14, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
