Sunrise Mill

The Sunrise Mill is an historic grist mill complex that is located near Schwenksville in Upper Frederick Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the United States.

Sunrise Mill
Sunrise Mill.
Sunrise Mill is located in Pennsylvania
Sunrise Mill
Sunrise Mill is located in the United States
Sunrise Mill
Nearest city3 miles (4.8 km) west of Schwenksville on Neiffer Road, Upper Frederick Township, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°16′24″N 75°31′13″W
Area8.5 acres (3.4 ha)
Built1795, c. 1835
Architectural styleSwiss bank barn
NRHP reference No.77001177[1]
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1977

History and architectural features

This complex includes a grist mill with an attached saw mill. Built circa 1767, it was enlarged in 1819. The complex also includes a farmhouse that was built circa 1828 and a Swiss bank barn that was erected in 1795.

The grist mill originally operated using an internal waterwheel system that ran off the adjacent Swamp Creek, before converting to turbine power after 1870. The property also includes a mill dam that was reconstructed in 1891, a mill race, and a stone arch bridge that was built circa 1845.[2]

The property was later owned by Dr. Chevalier Jackson (1865-1958), an internationally known physician and specialist in laryngology, who lived at Sunrise from 1919 until his death in 1958. Dr. Jackson established a workspace inside the grist mill where, using power generated by the mill to run a lathe, he invented, more than two hundred different medical instruments for use in laryngeal surgery. Dr. Jackson also kept an art studio in the grist mill, where he painted nature scenes of the surrounding area.[3]

In 1977, the Sunrise Mill complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[4]

The site is now owned and operated by the Montgomery County Division of Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites. It is currently undergoing a restoration project n order to be opened to the public as a history site.[5]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. National Park Service, “Historic American Buildings Survey – Sunrise Mill,” HABS No. PA-6026, Washington, DC: GPO, 1994. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa2900/pa2979/data/pa2979data.pdf. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  3. “Dr. Chevalier Jackson,” Montgomery County, PA. https://www.montcopa.org/DocumentCenter/View/3511/ChevalierJackson?bidId=. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  4. "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Note: This includes Pennsylvania Register of Historic Sites and Landmarks (June 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Sunrise Mill" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-05-16.
  5. “Sunrise Mill,” Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites, Montgomery County, PA. https://www.montcopa.org/Sunrise-Mill. Retrieved June 8, 2021.

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