Farmar Mill (also known as Mathers Mill) is a historic mill building. The mill was powered by the

Wissahickon Creek Wissahickon Creek is a tributary of the Schuylkill River in Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, Pennsylvania. Wissahickon Creek rises in Montgomery County, runs approximately 23 miles (37 km) passing through and dividing Northwest ...

and is located on Mather's Lane near Skippack Pike (

Pennsylvania Route 73 Pennsylvania Route 73 (PA 73) is a long east–west state highway in southeastern Pennsylvania. It runs from PA 61 near Leesport southeast to the New Jersey state line on the Tacony–Palmyra Bridge over the Delaware River i ...

), and just west of the historic

Bethlehem Pike Bethlehem Pike is a historic long road in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania that connects Philadelphia and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It began as a Native American path called the Minsi Trail which developed into a colonial highway called the King's ...

in the village of Whitemarsh (near Fort Washington),

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The water-powered

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

was built around the year 1690 by Edward Farmar. Farmar's father was a

British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer living in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

who had purchased a parcel of land in

from

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

. This tract contained most of what is present-day Whitemarsh Township. Farmar's father died before he could move his family to America, but his mother brought the family to America in 1685, settling in the area of present-day Fort Washington. Farmar Mill was the original terminus for Skippack Pike, which was established in 1713. By 1722, a road also existed from Farmar Mill, through the village of Three Tuns, to Richard Saunders' ferry, on the

Neshaminy Creek Neshaminy Creek is a United States Geological Survey. National Hydrography DatasetThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 stream that runs entirely through Bucks County, Pennsylvania, rising south of the borough of Chalfont, where its north a ...

(later the village of Bridge Point, now Edison) in

Bucks County Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...

. In 1740, Quaker businessman Samuel Morris bought a one-half interest in the mill, and bought the remaining half interest after Farmar's death in 1746. During the period of 1743 and 1748, Morris was building his country mansion "Whitemarsh Estate" (later known as Hope Lodge) a mere stone's throw from Farmar's Mill. After Morris' death in 1770, his brother Joshua sold the mill and of land to Isaac Mather, whose son Joseph built the present mill in 1820. Farmar Mill is listed on the

U.S. National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Today, Farmar Mill is part of a museum and historic site at Hope Lodge operated by the

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...

. Due to concerns of structural integrity, the building is not open to the public.

References

{{Authority control Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Industrial buildings completed in 1690 Grinding mills in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 1690 establishments in Pennsylvania

See also

References