Aged grist mill awaits scarce federal funds

(Baltimore Sun) PERRYVILLE, Maryland — A 250-year-old grist mill near the mouth of the Susquehanna River has sat mostly vacant since the end of the Civil War, its thick stone walls serving no purpose but the protection of a few old tools.
Though the building is historic — it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places decades ago — it is uncelebrated and receives few visitors. While many old mills are being restored, plans to develop the Cecil County property have stalled.
The lack of interest in the old mill is partly due to its owner: the federal government. Continued

Hike along Gunpowder Falls and see ruins of mills

(North County News) Gunpowder Falls State Park ranger Robert Bailey will lead a Mill Hike on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Winter is the best time of year to see the ruins of mills that once operated along the Gunpowder Falls. The hike begins at the Paper Mill Road parking lot of the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail. Participants will visit the site of Ashland Furnace, an anthracite-fired furnace active in the mid-19th century, as well as other buildings from that same time period. Continued

First American Cotton Mill

(LoC) On December 20, 1790, a mill, with water-powered machinery for spinning, roving, and carding cotton, began operating on the banks of the Blackstone River in Pawtuket, Rhode Island. Based on designs of the English inventor Richard Arkwright, the mill was built by Samuel Slater, a recent English immigrant who had apprenticed with Arkwright's partner, Jebediah Strutt.
Slater had departed Britain in defiance of the British law against the emigration of textile workers (which would result in the loss of their mechanical skills and technical knowledge) and left for America to seek his fortune. Considered a central figure in the birth of the American textile industry, he eventually built several successful cotton mills in New England and established the town of Slatersville, Rhode Island. Continued

The Office of War Information

(LoC) On June 13, 1942, some six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Office of War Information (OWI) was created. In October of that year, the documentary photography unit of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) was transferred to the OWI to document the war effort, as it had the U.S government’s battle against poverty during the Great Depression. An important U.S. government propaganda agency during World War II, the OWI supported America’s mobilization for the war effort by recording the nation's preparations for war in films, texts, photographs, radio programs, and posters. OWI photographers documented American life and culture during the early years of World War II, focusing on such subjects as aircraft factories, training for war work, women in the workforce, and the armed forces. Photographs were created to inspire patriotism in the American public. Continued

The Drama of Steel

1946 ARC Identifier 12505 / Local Identifier 70.218. This documentary film starts with the history of the steelmaking process, explaining the operation of the blast furnace and the open hearth furnace. It goes on to cover the mining of ore and limestone, transportation and coking of coal, open hearth and rolling mill operations, and plating and finishing. In addition, it also illustrates many of the applications of steel mill products. The film is partly animated. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Mines. Pittsburgh Experiment Station. (1934 - 01/19/1975)

Turkey Hill opening tourism spot this spring in Lancaster County

(YDR) York County's tourism is rooted in its manufacturing base and manifested through factory tours with stops such as Harley-Davidson and Martin's Potato Chips.
Soon, the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau will add one more tour to its portfolio, and this time, the stop will be just across the Susquehanna River bridge in Lancaster County. This spring, the Turkey Hill Dairy will open its Turkey Hill Experience at the long-vacant, former Ashley & Bailey Silk Mill in Columbia.
And, while the interactive tour promises to feature simulated exhibits rather than actual production, the Turkey Hill Experience fits the bureau's local brand of "Factory Tour Capital of the World." Continued

Also: View a construction photo gallery at Turkey Hill

Photos: Ashley & Bailey silk mill before restoration began (Nightening).

Felton, the town that Ma & Pa Railroad built

(YDR) The Ma & Pa Railroad put Felton on the map.
Felton Station was a major stop between Muddy Creek Forks and Red Lion on the winding railroad that connected York and Baltimore. In addition to the railroad, the borough benefited from its location near two streams: Muddy Creek Forks and Pine Run. Continued

Photo: MDRails

New Book on York County, Pennsylvania Mills

(Universal York) York County Heritage Trust will launch its latest publication, Millers' Tales: The Mills of York County, this Saturday, November 27 with a public program. The event will be held a 1 p.m. at the Trust's Agricultural and Industrial Museum, 217 W. Princess St., York. Ray Kinard will speak on milling and agriculture in York County and there will be a demonstration of the Bradley mill, the interior of a full-size working mill installed inside the museum. The author will also be available. The quality paperback book can be obtained at AIM as well as at YCHT's 250 E. Market St. shop. It can be purchased alone or as part of a special package of books on York County history at the shops, online or by phone. Continued

Photo: Wallace-Cross Mill (Kim Choate).

United Steelworkers Founded

(Wikipedia) ... Early attempts to organize steelworkers encountered resistance, even violence. An example is the Homestead Strike. In 1889, after a strike at a mill in Homestead, Pennsylvania, the Carnegie Steel Company signed a contract with the workers. Three years later, however, the mill cut wages, triggering another strike. Management sent in 300 Pinkerton detectives to break the strike, resulting in a pitched battle on July 6, 1892, that left 10 dead and many wounded. Eventually, strikebreakers, backed by state militia, broke the strike, eliminating the early union from its mills.
The USW was established May 22, 1942, by a convention of representatives from the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, after almost six years of divisive struggles to create a new union of steelworkers. The drive to create this union included such violent incidents as the infamous Memorial Day, 1937, when Chicago policemen supporting the rival American Federation of Labor (AFL) fired on workers outside a Republic Steel mill and killed 10 men.
The founder and first president of the USW, Philip Murray, led the union through its first organizing drives and dangerous first decade, when the workers of USW went on strike several times to win concessions such as the right to bargain collectively with steel companies, higher wages, and paid vacations. Continued

Photos: 1. Bethlehem, PA 2. Steelton, PA 3. Sparrows Point, MD (Falmanac)

Little Falls stream project will open waterway

(North County News) A project will begin this summer to reroute the Little Falls in White Hall so it no longer spills over a dam. The $280,000 project is part of Maryland's Department of Natural Resources Fish Passage program, aimed at opening blocked waterways so fish can swim unimpeded.
Fish Passage coordinator Jim Thompson gave details at a March 2 meeting in Hereford. He said the dam was originally built to accommodate a paper mill in White Hall. Continued

County eyes Keystone Weaving Mills site in West York

(YDR) York County's planning commission has proposed to work with two developers to redevelop the old Keystone Weaving Mills manufacturing complex on West Market Street in West York, according to the commission.
The commission and the developers, The Ingerman Group and PFG Capital, plan to demolish all but four buildings on the site, said Chris Rafferty, the commission's administrator of housing and community development.
They plan to redevelop one building into an 80-unit apartment building, Rafferty said, and the other buildings into commercial and office space. Continued

Skinner UnaFlow Steam Engine Needs a New Home

(Steampunk Workshop) I received a very interesting email a couple of days ago from a fellow who was tearing down the old Nichols and Stone factory in Gardner, MA. It seems at the center of this turn-of-the-last-century brick building was a Skinner Unaflow steam engine and alternator that he simply did not have the heart to scrap and would I like to see it and perhaps put out the word that it was available?
Would I like to poke about in a 100+ old factory building and check out a steam engine? Continued

Photo by Jake von Slatt, some rights reserved.

Fundraiser for historic Eden Mill set for Jan. 31

(Ægis) A shrimp and bull roast fundraising event for Eden Mill Nature Center will be held Sunday, Jan. 31, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Jarrettsville Gardens.
Proceeds will benefit the nature center and its popular programs for children, adults and families. Continued

Photo: Falmanac, some rights reserved

This year's York steam whistle concert could be last

(York Dispatch) The annual steam whistle Christmas concert might come to an end this year because of ongoing boiler issues and high costs.
"I want to make 55 years and we'll see what happens after that," said Whistle Master Donald Ryan. "I'm 66 years old and this has been part of my life for 55 years. That's my Christmas." Continued

Part of Clipper Mill project foreclosed

(Baltimore Sun) Part of the Clipper Mill development in North Baltimore will go to a foreclosure auction later this month, including more than two dozen partially built upscale homes - the first setback for a project that has transformed long-vacant factories into a mix of shops, offices and homes. BB&T Bank has foreclosed on unfinished homes and lots in Overlook at Clipper Mill, planned as a community of contemporary two- and three-story houses, as well as on the cavernous Tractor Building, meant to become apartments, offices and parking. Continued

Photo: Woodberrymill.jpg (Marylandstater/Wikipedia)

Historic mill project planned in Baltimore

(Baltimore Sun) One of Baltimore's historic cotton mills will become the city's newest apartment and office building if a local developer can secure funding and zoning approval for the conversion. Developer David F. Tufaro of Terra Nova Ventures has a contract to purchase Mount Vernon Mill No. 1, a vacant, four-level mill at 3000 Falls Road in the Jones Falls Valley. Continued

Photos: Library of Congress

Unclogging the Patapsco

(Baltimore Sun) - Since Tropical Storm Agnes ended its working life abruptly in 1972, Union Dam has stood in the Patapsco River as a broken monument to a bygone industrial era, but it's also an obstacle to migrating fish, a swimming hazard and a potential threat to a large sewer pipe.
Its remaining time can now probably be measured in months. Fueled by federal stimulus money, efforts of state and federal officials and river advocates are expected to be realized in the coming weeks with a demolition crew rumbling into Patapsco Valley State Park on the Baltimore- Howard County line to begin dismantling the 209-foot-long concrete hulk. Continued

Photo: Union Dam (B&O RR Photo Tours)

Backer of York's steam whistle concert dies

(InYork) - Douglas Ryan said he remembers Louis Root as the businessman who annually made sure the York community was treated to the best steam whistle concert possible.
"(Root) was a very generous man," said Ryan, 66, of Springettsbury Township. "He helped me and my dad develop this for the people of York." Continued

Mill 'friends' want to know more about owner

(YDR) - The Friends of Wallace-Cross Mill want to learn more about the mill's last owner.
Harry Cross gave his East Hopewell Township mill to York County 30 years ago Sunday. It's now a landmark where visitors can see how millers ground farmers' grains to make feed and flour on the site as early as 1826. Continued

Photo: Kim Choate

York settles with Ohio Blenders for final Northwest Triangle property

(InYork) - ... The Ohio Blenders property was the last parcel the authority needed to acquire at the Northwest Triangle, the site of a $53 million revitalization project in downtown York. The area is bounded by North George and West Philadelphia streets and the Codorus Creek.
Plans for the site call for redeveloping 84,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and building 85-135 market-rate townhouses and condominiums. The project also would extend the York County Heritage Rail Trail. Continued

Photo: Railroad.net