Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The Millville Grist Mill - The Mill The Town Was Named For


 "The gristmill which gave rise to the town of Millville as operated after the death of John Eves by his son Thomas.  The latter built the first dwelling house in the town. David Masters bought the mill late in 1830, and rebuilt the mill.  His son George ran it until 1849, when fire destroyed it.  Masters and John Betz rebuilt the mill on a larger scale, and made a success of its operation for a number of years.  Later owners were Masters and Heacock, in 1872, McHenry & Heacock from 1874-1883 and today [1921] is partly operated by Reece and Greenley and the other part by Welliver and Diehl."  - Bloomsburg Press, 1921
The historic structure was destroyed by a fire on February 23rd 1995.

In 1913, the mill, which was owned by Lundy Reece and Ellis Greenly, was recognized as the second largest Buckwheat Mill in the nation, shipping 50 boxcar loads of buckwheat flour along the rail lines that year. The mill ground 38,000 bushels of buckwheat in one year alone, just before America entered World War II.


In the 1960s, the decline of family farms caused a considerable downturn in the milling business.  The mill was shut down and was sold to the Girton Family on April 1 1966.  The Girtons owned it in 1995, when it was destroyed by an accidental fire caused by heat tape in the basement.
October 6, 1995

At the time of the fire, the building had most recently housed a video rental business, Theater Video, located on the southeast corner of the first floor.



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