Edmonston's Mill

Ninian Edmonston, a planter and surveyor, built a small grist mill here in the mid-1760s in a well-forested setting with a steady supply of fast-flowing water, conditions essential for water power, protection against evaporation, and more reliable stream flow. In 1773 the facility was described as "A Single geer'd breast mill that goes by water, hath a bolting cloth, and about 80 or 90 acres of land." After Peter Kemp purchased it in 1790, he may have renovated the aging building with new automatic machinery, and the property became known as Kemp Mill. Dr. Washington Durall bought the property in 1835, and it was completely demolished by 1842. The mill was built from natural resources on the miller's land with help from a millwright and neighbors, was generally two to three stories high, and depended on a millpond, sluice, gate, wheel pit, waterwheel, raceway, dam, spillway, and overflow channel to harness and control water before returning it to the stream.

Colesville, Maryland · United States