"Grist from Abbott's Mill"

Several years ago, it was noticed that there was a lot of structural water and insect damage in the basement of Abbotts Mill, mostly in the first level floor joists and the sills at the top of the stone basement walls. The Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) has hired Bathon Builders, out of Elkton, MD, to do the repairs. Bathon Builders has recently completed an excellent restoration of the Aberdeen B&O Train Station, the only surviving station of the

W hat is a honeybee doing here in my birdbath??!!, I asked myself in shocked disbelief one January morning. A short spell of “warmish”...

By Amy Shockley, guest writer Dedicated to Nora, (of Abbott’s Mill Nature Center) who didn’t laugh at me. I am about to ask you to...

As I said last week: On May 6th, 1919 Wm. Hendricks sold the mill to Ainsworth Abbott and Joseph J. Smith for $7,000. Mr. Hendricks...

I’ve been researching details about as many of the previous owners of Abbotts Mill as I can find information on: Back in the late 1700s,...

It appears that the first ever written mention of a water-powered mill may have been by the Roman architect and military engineer Marcus...

I’ll get back to Abbott’s Mill next week, but last Saturday was Veteran’s Day and yesterday, Nov. 16th, was my father’s birthday, so I...

I’ve been wondering just when water was first used to power a mill. I knew that the first water-powered mill in America was built in...

I volunteered to represent the Mid-Atlantic chapter of SPOOM, (the Society for the Preservation Of Old Mills) at the 2023 Mid-Atlantic...

(Here's the whole article that I didn't finish last week.) So first, let’s settle just who Oliver Evans was. Oliver was born on Sept. 13,...

So first, let’s settle just who Oliver Evans was. Oliver was born on Sept. 13, 1755 in Newport, Delaware. At the age of 16 he was...

Now that you have an understanding of how cornmeal was produced at Abbott’s Mill, you can forget all that because white flour is made in...

Before I explain the corn milling processes at Abbott’s Mill, I should briefly explain what the “Oliver Evans System” is. Delaware native...