Mill Details

Rock Run Grist Mill

Harford Co. | Maryland | USA
Known Dates: Original mill 1760, current mill 1794.
Township: Halls Roads District #2
Watersource: Rock Run.

Location / Directions

Rock Run Grist Mill

From US Hwy 1/Conowingo Road, exit south onto Md 161/Trappe Church Road. Go about 0.7 miles to Darlington and bear left on Shuresville Road. When Shuresville Road turns left keep straight on Stafford Road for about 5.5-6.0 miles to the mill in Susquehanna State Park at the junction with Rock Run Road.

Verse for Thought
"Praise our God! His deeds are wonderful, too marvelous to describe."
({Psalm 150:2 CEV})
Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

This mill was erected by John Stump in 1794. Stump also built the Rock Run Mill across the Susquehanna River at Port Deposit about the same time, 1797,and the Stump Grist Mill at Point Perry on the grounds of the Point Perry Naval Hospital just south of the town of Perryville in Cecil Co.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

Two canal locks reside within the parks boundaries. The Canal functioned well until 1889, when a combination of floods and the railroad forced its closure. Prior to 1818, the lower Susquehanna was crossed only by fording at shallow locations during low water or by a ferry.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

A section of the Susquehanna & Tidewater Canal runs between the mill and the river. The canal, built in 1836, connected Havre de Grace, Maryland and Wrightsville, York Co., Pa.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The three story mill, full of 19th century mill equipment and farming displays, is fully operational, being operated during the summer months in conjunction with visitor traffic through the mill displays.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The penstock crosses the road to dispense water through the distribution box onto the top-dead-center of the overshot wheel.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The large replica waterwheel of the original, about 18" wide and 18' in diameter, weighs 24,000 pounds; but, it only takes 2 pounds of force to turn it, grinding grain using the French 'buhrstones'.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. KInsey 03/08/2009

The remnants of the canal, a major commercial waterway with mules pulling barges north and south until 1890, lies just to the right of the picture.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The 14 room stone mansion, the Rock Run House, built in 1804 by John Stumps mill partner, John Carter sits on a hill overlooking the barn & mill lower downhill.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

Carter died the next year and Stump's daughter and husband, Dr. John Archer took possession. Son, James J. Archer, was a Confederate General in the Civil War.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The springhouse at the Rock Run complex still runs cold, clear spring water.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The barn, situated below the Rock Run Mansion, is about halfway between the mansion and the mill.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

A mill shaped stone barn and a stone spring house complete the "L-shaped" mansion.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

A frame toll house at the end of Rock Run Road served as a fee collection station for the Rock Run Covered Bridge that spanned the river from 1818 until 1856, when an ice jam took many sections of the bridge away. The bridge was one of the longest covered bridges in the United States in its day and ever since.

Rock Run Grist Mill
Robert T. Kinsey 03/08/2009

The complex, restored in 1965, is open for tours from May 1 through Labor Day, with meal being ground and given, bagged, to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Reservations for mansion tours can be made: Rocks/Susquehanna State Parks at 410-557-7994. GPS: 76' 08.34W, 39' 36.31N

 
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