Ruins: Stoever Mills / Freeport Mills
Lebanon Co. | Pennsylvania | USA
Watersource: Little Swatara Creek.
Ruins: Stoever Mills / Freeport Mills
Four miles north of Lebanon City on Pa 343, turn right on Golf Road, go 0.5 miles to the bridge over the Little Swatara Creek. the stone mill ruins are by the bridge.
The remains of Stoever's Grist Mill with the miller's house in the background. The mill was torn down in either 2003 and/or 2004.
There was a grist mill and saw mill built around 1848 by Jacob Stoever. A 3.5 story brick flour mill of Oliver Evans design was built in 1840. It was powered by an undershot wheel, then the tailrace passed the water on to the grist milland saw mill, also using an undershot wheel.
The flour mill was torn down in the mid to late 1980's. A covered bridge nearby also dissappeared about the same time frame. The owner of the nextdoor golf course has some bricks with the name Stoever's Mill on them.
The bricks from the grist mill were used in two building projects that wanted bricks that were not uniform. The bricks were made on site by hand using kilns built there for that very purpose. The walls were 6 bricks thick, four layers of soft brick, more than likely sandwiched between two layers of hard bricks. For laying the bricks, a "hot lime" method was used.