The Rise

            The rise of mills in the area that would become Montgomery County (the county was not established until 1776) was dependent on the settlement of that area, which did not take place largely until the mid 18^th century.  Emphasis had switched from tobacco to wheat around this time, and the geography of the area was suited for milling.

Mills were an important part of life from the founding of Maryland. “The first colonists ‘set up a Water Mill for the grinding of Corne’ at the edge of St. Mary’s in 1634.” [1]  In 1639, another mill was in the planning.  “Governor and council were authorized to enter into a contract for erecting a mill, up to an expense limit set at 3000 lbs. Of tobacco.  The total amount was to be raised within two years.”[2]  Milling was fundamental in making a usable product out of corn and wheat, but the demand for mills was not significant because grain products were raised for local sustenance, not for export.  [3]

            Wheat growing and flour milling did not become important in Maryland until after 1700.  Tobacco had been established as the dominant crop in Maryland as early as 1637. The process of goring tobacco for export involved each plantation having a private wharf, which merchant ships would trade with one by one.  This system promoted settlement in the tidewater area.[4]

            Tidewater Maryland refers to the low-lying coastal plain, navigable by ships.  The fall line is a geographic boundary that separates Tidewater from another of Maryland’s main geographic regions, the piedmont (literally, “foot of the mountain”).  The fall line runs in a generally northeast-southwest direction through Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Wilmington, Delaware, and represents the farthest distance inland a ship could travel.  Thus, it was a natural boundary of early Maryland settlements which were dependent on the waterways for commerce. [5]  All of Montgomery County’s land is west of the fall line, and was considered frontier until the early 1700s.  “Although good for milling purposes, the fall line tended to inhibit the settlement initially.  The domination of the old tobacco plantation system with its orientation towards navigable waters kept growth slow until after 1730.” [6]

       Interest in cereal crops grew in the 1740s, when Philadelphia merchants expanded their supply networks to the south. [7]  Around 1750, foreign tobacco markets became unprofitable, and many of the long-settled tidewater areas had switched to wheat as a staple crop.  By 1760, the northern counties of the western shore were already famous for their “white wheat.”  The piedmont that included present Montgomery county had begun to be settled, and wheat was established early on as a staple. [8]

                                                                                                                    The immediate abundance of milling in the piedmont is credited to the increased supply of water power and also to poor transportation.  The rolling hills of the piedmont are drained by a winding network of streams; any location in Montgomery County is not far from a water source suitable for milling.  (Fig.1) Waterways such as Paint Branch, Northwest Branch, Great Seneca Creek, Rock Creek, and the Patuxent River powered most of the mills. [9]

Most of the mills in Montgomery County were custom mills, meaning that they handled relatively small amounts, and served only their local areas.  This is in contrast to merchant mills such as those at Ellicott City, Baltimore, and Richmond.  Merchant mills had a much larger supply area, and ground a much larger quantity of wheat for the purpose of export. [10]

“Said Jefferson in 1786: ‘There is no neighborhood in any part of the United States without a water gristmill for grinding the corn of the neighborhood.’  Poor facilities and the high cost of transportation tended to make each locality self sufficient…the miller could not sell a large output; unless located on a navigable river…” [11]

Before 1800, forty-four mills were shown operating in Montgomery County.  The tracts of land that mills were situated on (or could potentially be situated on) were called mill seats, which was indicative of certain features.  “The stream had to be reliable, the topography favorable for construction of a dam, grain available nearby, the mill accessible.” [12]  Because of the profitability of a mill, land owners were conscious of the presence of potential mill sites on their property.  “When Thomas Pleasants wrote his will in 1803, he mentioned having laid off 40 acres ‘for the purpose of a mill seat’”  Mills in Montgomery County often developed into local centers of commerce, where blacksmiths, tanners, taverns and stores would locate. [13]