Newlin Mill Complex
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The Newlin Mill Complex, also referred to as The Newlin Grist Mill, is a water-powered
gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
on the west branch of
Chester Creek Chester Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in Delaware County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ' ...
near Concordville,
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, ...
was built in 1704 by Nathaniel and Mary Newlin and operated commercially until 1941. During its three centuries of operation, the mill has been known as the ''Lower Mill'', the ''Markham Mill'', the ''Seventeen-O-Four Mill'' and the ''Concord Flour Mill''. In 1958 the mill property was bought by E. Mortimer Newlin, restored and given to the Nicholas Newlin Foundation to use as a historical park. Water power is still used to grind corn meal which is sold on site. The park includes five historical buildings, which were added to the
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 ...
in 1983, and of natural woodland.


History (1683-1739)

Nicholas Newlin was a member of the
Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
and an
Irishman The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...
who lived in the Quaker town of
Mountmellick Mountmellick or Mountmellic () is a town in the north of County Laois, Ireland. It lies on the N80 national secondary road and the R422 and R423 regional roads. Name ''Mountmellick'', sometimes spelt ''Montmellick'' or ''Montmellic'', is a ...
, in Queens County,
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 ...
. In May, 1683, Newlin, fleeing religious persecution, emigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife, Elizabeth, and three children: Nathaniel, Rachel, and John, on the ship ''Levee'' from Liverpool. In October, 1683 purchased the mill property 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 ...
in Concord Township, about northwest of the town of Chester. Newlin was a prominent citizen, serving on the province's governing body, the Provincial Council in 1686 and 1687, as a Justice of the Peace, and on the Courts of Chester County. Newlin's son, Nathaniel, married Mary Mendenhall in 1684. In 1685, Mary Mendenhall received additional land as part of a grant to her and her siblings. Nathaniel and Mary Mendenhall built the present mill, the third gristmill in the township, in 1704. Nathaniel also served as a Justice of the Peace, and on the Courts of Chester County, and served in the Provincial Assembly from 1698 to 1722. Through Nathaniel's inheritance from his father, and the land Mary Mendenhall held, and by their purchase of that became Newlin Township, they became together one of the largest landowners in Chester County. When Nathaniel Newlin died
intestate Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estat ...
in 1729, shortly after Mary Mendenhall died, the land was divided under Pennsylvania law among their children with the oldest son, Nicholas, receiving a double portion, and all the daughters and other sons, including a son named Nathaniel Newlin, each a single portion.


History (1739-pres.)

In 1739, Nathaniel's grandson via his son Nathaniel, Nathaniel Newlin III, built a house for the head miller. In 1742, William and Anne Trimble, the owners of a neighboring gristmill, built a house overlooking the Newlin mill. A mile to the west in the village of Concordville, Nathaniel's son Nicholas built the
Nicholas Newlin House The Nicholas Newlin House was built in 1742 in Concordville, Delaware County, Pennsylvania by Nicholas Newlin. Located roughly a mile west of the Newlin Mill Complex, it is located in the Concordville Historic District. This house was listed o ...
in 1742; which is listed separately on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1777, the Battle of Brandywine was fought within a few miles of the mill. General
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
had ordered the removal of millstones from nearby mills to hinder the supply of British troops, but there are no records of the order's effect on Newlin Mill. p. 47. Southeastern Pennsylvania was the leading producer of grain in the colonial period and mills could be easily powered by the steep descent of the streams, called the
Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...
, in the area. By 1781 there were 127 gristmills in Chester County, which then included present-day Delaware County. The Newlin mill only served local and domestic needs and was known as a "country mill", rather than a "merchant mill" which would produce finer flour for urban and export markets. The Newlin family owned the mill until 1817, selling to William Trimble, Jr. Thomas Newlin, who died in 1811, had remarried after his wife's death. Disagreements between his two sets of children resulted in a judgment of $11,326.30 against his estate, forcing the sale of the mill. The
Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad The Philadelphia and Baltimore Central Railroad (P&BC) was a railroad that operated in Pennsylvania and Maryland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It operated a main line between West Philadelphia and Octoraro Junction, Maryland (near Port ...
was built through the property in 1859; this allowed the mill to market its flour in Philadelphia and Baltimore. A railway station was built in 1868 and Samuel Hill bought the mill in 1869. In 1942 the mill stopped commercial production and the buildings were used temporarily as a bookstore and an antique store. In 1956, Nicholas's eighth-generation descendant, E. Mortimer Newlin, purchased the property and later formed the Nicholas Newlin Foundation to restore and preserve the mill. Restorations were completed in 1962, and 1992.


Buildings


Mill

The mill measures wide by long. A date stone on an exterior wall is marked "Nathan'l Mary Newlin 1704." The dam and the half-mile
mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...
, which provides the water that powers the mill, were built the same year. The original grindstone was imported from France. The mill was built of fieldstone into a hillside: the north side two stories, the south side one story high. The mill wheel was originally outside the mill and was probably breastshot. It was reconstructed in 1976, weighs and measures , with 52 buckets. The water exits underground through the tail race and travels about back to Chester Creek. The floors and mill machinery are supported by a hurst frame, an inner timber frame that is separated from the outer stone walls so that vibrations do not break the outer walls. The process of grinding the corn may be viewed at the mill. Sometime after 1817 William Trimble expanded the mill and enclosed the mill wheel. It ground about 60,000 bushels of corn per year at that time. Sometime before 1850 the mill was refitted according to the
Oliver Evans Oliver Evans (September 13, 1755 – April 15, 1819) was an American inventor, engineer and businessman born in rural Delaware and later rooted commercially in Philadelphia. He was one of the first Americans building steam engines and an advoca ...
automated mill design and began to grind wheat flour. In 1850 owner Casper Sharpless purchased 20,000 bushels of wheat for $22,000 and sold flour worth $30,000. In 1870 the following products were produced: At that time the mill had four millstones and two wooden
overshot A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...
water wheels with a fall, producing about . A wood-framed upper story was added about 1890.


Warehouse

The warehouse is a -story stone building to the east of the lower level of the mill. It was built by Nathaniel Newlin after he built the mill to use as a dry goods store. It now serves as the Foundation's archive.


Miller's house

Built in 1739 of stone, it is adjacent to the south side of the mill. There are two rooms on each of the two floors, with a fireplace in each room, and a beehive oven attached to the kitchen. A third story was added about 1860 and removed during a restoration in the 1960s. This house should not be confused with the Newlin Miller's House about north in West Whiteland Township which was built in the early 19th century by William Newlin and listed separately in the National Register of Historic Places.


Trimble House

This house was built into the hill above the mill and the miller's house in 1742, also with four rooms. It was expanded by 1765 to accommodate William Trimble's growing family. It has nine fireplaces, a deep well and much of the original flooring, woodwork, doors, and hardware. The Newlin Foundation bought the house in 1998 and it is used as a private residence.


Railway station

The -story Gothic-style station was originally built in 1868–1869 by Samuel Hill. It served as a post office and polling station for the community of mill workers in the area. It burned down in 1890 and was rebuilt the next year, serving as a railway station until the 1930s. It is used now as the park office.


Park

The five original buildings form the core of a park, which is mostly natural woodlands. A 1710 springhouse from a local farm was moved to the park in the 1970s and a small barn was moved from northern Delaware to the area behind the miller's house. In 1965 a log cabin was constructed, which is used for meetings, receptions, and parties. A new 18th Century style blacksmith shop replica was constructed in 1975. Two ball fields are also included in the park. File:NewlinDam.JPG, The "Black Dam," built 1704 File:NewlinMillRace.JPG, Mill race takes water from the dam to the mill File:NewlinSpillway.JPG, Spillway regulates waterflow


References


Sources

Wallace, Antony F. C., "The Mystique of Old Mills", Ch. 1 in Sellers, Nicholas, "Short History of Newlin Grist Mill", Ch. 2 in


External links


Newlin Grist Mill
- official site
Millpictures.com
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania 1704 establishments in Pennsylvania Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Mill museums in Pennsylvania Museums in Delaware County, Pennsylvania History museums in Pennsylvania Grinding mills in Pennsylvania Parks in Delaware County, Pennsylvania English-American history Pennsylvania state historical marker significations National Register of Historic Places in Delaware County, Pennsylvania