Peirce Mill

Peirce Mill is located in Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC near the National Zoo. The mill is owned by the National Park Service. Peirce Mill is the last remaining waterpower mill located in Washington, at one time Rock Creek at eight operating mills. For many years this 1820s mill has been a popular attraction for visitors to Rock Creek Park. I have visited the mill numerous times, my first visit occurred about 20 years ago when Theodore Hazen was the miller. Ted now owns a mill restoration company, Pond Lily Mill Restorations. The mill was once an operating grist mill in Rock Creek until the failure in 1993. It has not operated since that time. The waterwheel at the mill was in very poor conditioned until restorations begun recently to fix the damaged portions. The National Park Service maintains two websites for additional information, www.nps.gov/pimi/ or www.nps.gov/archive/rocr/piercemill/. An organization Friends of Peirce Mill is in the process of raising funds and restoring the structure, the wheel is being repaired. www.peircemill-friends.org/index.html

The interior of the mill when I first photographed it about 20 years ago was one of the best examples of an Oliver Evans Mill. Oliver Evans was a 1700s millwright that invented ways to automate mills using the power from the waterwheel. This photograph shows runs of stones used to grind grain.

The mill dam on Rock Creek.