Page 42 - The Hunt Winter 2021

Mills operated along the Brandywine blasting powder to that list. Its fiber mills for
and nearby creeks for almost three centuries. Due to the weight on their circular wheels, a fast-running stream
wasn’t necessary. Today, some stone mills have been repurposed. But most have disappeared or exist only as creek-side ruins.
The first local miller is believed to have been Swedish colonist Timothy Stidham, who milled barley for flour in Wilmington. From that modest start, milling flourished along the Brandywine through the next century. A 1791 report on industrial Wilmington listed at least 22 manufacturing mills, including 12 flour mills, six sawmills, and mills for paper, nails, barley and snuff. In 1804, the du Pont family added the manufacturing of gunpowder and
40 THE HUNT MAGAZINE winter 2021-22
wool and cotton would come later. Water-driven manufacturing continued
through the 1800s. “All along the river were great places for mills,” says Lucas Clawson, reference archivist at Hagley Museum & Library.
Thanks to the gradual decline in the Brandywine’s altitude, it was just right for powering the giant wheels used to grind ingredients or move machinery. Mill races channeled water into the building, and
over 60 pounds of pressure per square foot would set the paddled wheel spinning. The water then flowed back into the creek for its continued journey to Delaware Bay.
Not all manufacturing mills were powered
by water—and not all of continued on page 43
(Here and opposite page) What remains of the Garrett Snuff Mill in Delaware.