Horst's Mill
Lebanon Co. | Pennsylvania | USA
Watersource: Hammer Creek & steam power
Horst's Mill
Traveling on Pa 419 about 5 miles west of Schaefferstown, through Buffalo Springs, turn left on Rexmont Road. Drive just short of one mile to the creek as the road turns toward the west. The mill is on the SE side of the road near the creek.
The 3.5 story grist mill measures approximately 35'X 50'. Built along Hammer Creek in the early to middle 1700's of limestone with red sandstone quoins (corner blocks), a typical combination for many stone mills in especially Lebanon County and also some in Lancaster County.
Samuel S. Horst was an early owner and miller at this mill in the 19th century along with 19 acres of farmland, a substantial mill at the time for Lebanon County.
The mill pond is still evident in this photo on the SW side of the mill structure, fed by the waters of Hammer Creek.
The owner of the mill in the late 1970's, Amos Horst Wenger, was not certain of the mills original construction date, but thought it was sometime in the early 1700's. It has been in the Horst family from the beginning. Originally water powered, the mill race fromthe millpond still runs under the building. A date stone somewhere on the building indicates the year 1836. This was to mark the year when it was rebuilt and remodeled.
The mill is probably still used for storage for the business that has moved to newer structures across the road. In 1978, the mill was still the main center of the business; since then, the newer feed mill and lawn & garden center operates from quarters on the NW side of Rexmont Road.