West Earl Grist Mill / Groffdale Mill
Lancaster Co. | Pennsylvania | USA
Watersource: Groff's Run.
West Earl Grist Mill / Groffdale Mill
About 2.5 miles west of New Holland, Pa. on Pa 23, turn right on either Short Rd. or the next road, N. Groffdale Road. Follow for about 1 mile north to Groff's Run. The mill is back from Groffdale Rd. about 350-400' just before crossing the creek. A lane goes back to it. After the creek, Brick Church Rd. turns off Groffdale Rd. to the left.
The 30'X 40' limestone mill 2.5 stories tall was built according to one source, Landis, in 1775 by Peter Groff. Another source, Lord, has an earlier mill on the site as early as 1758 with Zitter Grove( Peter Groff) owner/operator. Adrian Groff in 1770, and Magdalin Graffen. The names Graffen, Graaf, Groff, and Grove apparently are Anglicized spelling of the same German family name. A span of years are unaccounted for with Lord giving the present mill as being built by Abraham Groff in 1801.
The flour and grist mill employed an overshot wheel to power buhrs using water from Groff's Run/Grove's Run brought by a 1000' headrace and being returned to Groff's Run by way of a 50' tailrace without utilizing a dam. The output was about 8 barrels of flour/day, a small operation. In 1875, the owner is still Abraham Groff, possibly a decendent of the earlier A. Groff. George Martin was the owner in 1899. A later owner was Hans Groff. Kinsey mentioned that another building on the premises is involved with sales and servicing of farm tractors, with the old mill being used as storage for tractor parts. Some stencils on the walls inside the mill read, "West Earl Mills Family Flour by A. Groff".