Down By The Old Mill Stream
Grist mills survive to tell the story of a golden era in Bucks County.
I don’t recall seeing a grist mill in 19 years living in California and another 10 in Florida. To me they were the stuff of idealistic photos and illustrations from Switzerland and New England. Then I moved to Bucks County. Wow, water-powered old mills everywhere though most no longer mashed grain between heavy grindstones into flour.
I explained this to my beloved Aunt Bennie Fry as I was about to visit a grist mill home in Upper Bucks County with my granddaughter Margaux and daughter Genevieve. Bennie was much impressed. “Oh, how I’d like to tour just one of them,” she sighed, now in her 90s in Oregon.
To me, it seems a miracle that so many mills have survived to tell their 18th century story of Bucks’ livelihood as a recognized “breadbasket of the world”. Seems like every one of the county’s 54 municipalities had a mill or two or three in the past, each powered by rushing rivers and tributaries that proliferate in a county with average rainfall of 40 inches. Today surviving mills are museum pieces or converted into some other use. My family and I have visited more that a few. These come to mind:
The mill in Durham Township is a well-preserved museum hiding a secret in its basement – the original blast furnace that created steel for stoves and ammo for George Washington’s army in 1776. The grand kids and I have climbed all over the sprawling building beside Cooks Creek where flour was produced for international markets in the 1800s. A well-preserved basement waterwheel once turned grindstones to crush local grain into flour.
Information: The mill is located at 215 Old Furnace Road, Durham Township. Information: email Durham Historical Society at info@durhamhistoricalsociety.org
The nationally-famous New Hope Playhouse occupies this former mill, giving the village of Coryell’s Ferry a new name. In the 1930s playwrights Moss Hart and Kenyon Nicholson saved the mill from demolition by converting it into a theater for Broadway-bound plays. Succeeding decades drew stars such as Bela Lugosi, Kim Hunter, George C. Scott, Bea Arthur, Eli Wallach, Liza Minnelli, John Lithgow, Grace Kelly, Angela Lansbury, Robert Redford and many more stage luminaries. The tradition continues at the Playhouse.
Information: The mill is located at 70 S. Main Street. Its history and upcoming events can be found on its website at https://bcptheater.org/
Pennsylvania has restored the old grist mill just off River Road in Solebury to working condition. The picturesque mill, one of three originally built at the site in the upper section of Washington Crossing Historic Park, sits beside rushing Pidcock Creek at the base of Bowman’s Hill with its 125-foot-high watch tower. Occasionally, the mill comes alive for demonstrations of the milling process. Public tours are offered. While there, be sure and check out the wildflower sanctuary adjacent to the mill. Also visit the House of Decision across from the mill where George Washington’s Continental Army officers were quartered before his famous crossing of the river in 1776.
Information: The mill is located at 1635 River Road (Route 32) a few miles below New Hope. More about the mill and events are on the web at www.washingtoncrossingpark.org
This 3-story mill on Neshaminy Creek dominates Hulmeville, founded by a family descended from William the Conqueror in Normandy. John Hulme and his sons energized the former Milford into a 19th century industrial powerhouse. Today, the mud-ravaged basement waterwheel is idle. Remnants can be seen by hiking down a slope to the back of the building along the creek. The mill has functioned as an antiques and flea market in modern times.
The mill is located at the corner of Hulmeville Road (Route 532) and Water Street. For further details, call the Hulmeville Historical Society at 215-692-6201.
Wife Mary Anne and I have enjoyed community theater inside renovated Spring Garden Mill with its eye-catching ventilation cupola in Northampton. The mill’s survival on Neshaminy Creek came against the odds. A fire in 1862 gutted the building. It wasn’t until 1878 that it was restored. In the 1930s new owner George Tyler, a Philadelphia banker, made improvements including adding a gas station. Nearby was the county’s oldest covered bridge which succumbed to a record-breaking flood in 1955. The mill, though swamped, survived. It’s now a portion of Neshaminy State Park. The state in 1976 converted the mill into a drama theater for the Langhorne Players. Community actors today offer superb off-Broadway plays to patrons enjoying plush seating close to the stage.
The mill is located at 1440 Newtown-Richboro Road (Route 332), Northampton Township. More details by calling the playhouse at 215-860-0818 or going to its website www.langhorneplayers.org
***
Carl LaVO is a weekly history columnist for The Intelligencer and Bucks County Courier Times newspapers. Signed copies of his two-volumn Bucks County Adventures coffee table books are available at book stores in Doylestown, Lahaska (Peddler’s Village) and Newtown. Carl can be reached at carllavo0@gmail.com
