The Old Mill Creamery, Cowan Pa

The Old Mill Creamery, Cowan Pa

Located in the restored Gristmill, at the corner of Buffalo & Church Roads, outside of Lewisburg  in the village of  Cowan, Pa.

Address for your GPS: 6542 Buffalo Rd. Mifflinburg, PA 17844

The mill building is the 3rd or 4th building constructed on the site. The first two or three mills here were destroyed by fires, and this building, constructed somewhere around 1873,  was also gutted by a fire in 1942.   See more of the history of the old Cowan  Mill below.

In addition to delicous ice cream made right on the premises, there is a great selection of milk, yogurt, cheesecakes, and cheese curds.  [The dill cheese curds are VERY good. ]

 
They also serve coffee, or you can buy coffee beans here too. It is really good coffee!

The fresh flower bouquets ranged in price from $12 to $20.

There's seating available on benches alongside the mill, and also tables and a bench behind the mill, along the creek.

Or, if you prefer, there's a drive through option as well!

"A single-family farm that has been producing quality milk for the wholesale market since 1993, milking approximately 58 cows year-round. As our family has grown, we have been looking for opportunities to grow our business. After many years of studying and research we have committed to putting in a dairy processing plant and producing a local brand of ice cream and bottled milk, along with yogurts and drinkable yogurts."

The Mill's History

The Mill at Cowan, 1909

Accident at the mill in Cowan, May 6th 1870

Mill owned by Mr Wesley Shannon

From the bulletin board inside the mill:

Cowan Mill History Calendar
The first mill to be run on the site was moved from the Forest Hill area by a man known as French Jacob, who after getting into a land dispute, in 1782, moved his mill to what is now Cowan. He had also added a saw mill in 1783. First stationary mill was built by Adam Wagner about 1795, it was burned in 1812.  The area was long known as Wagners Mill.

After it burned, the site was sold to Jacob Baker, who built a mill 1813 on September 12th 1828 it too was destroyed by fire. Jacob Bakers daughter and her husband Jacob Rangler inherited the property.  Jacob Rangler built a third mill in 1830 (the current one) than in 1836 sold it to Daniel Guldin for $13,300, who in 1851 sold it to Doug and Spigelmyer for $10,000.

Martin Rudy and George Himmelreich purchased the mill in 1863, and later in a bout 1870 sold it to Mussina and Leiser for $21,500.  they also added a store, farm, lumber and shingle business.

In the early 1890s a fire caused by lightening destroyed all the buildings except the mill.  Among the owners of the mill were Spitler and Lester Johnsons.  Fred Johnson later ran the mill.

The last owner to tun it as a mill was Don Johnson.  The first year he owned it, in 1942, the mill was gutted by fire.  He had insurance and the mill was rebuilt and put back into production.  After being closed as a mill, around 1960, it was used as a chicken barn for a few years.

Later, the Leroy Wagner family purchased it and ran it as a large ceramic molding business. The business closed in the late 1980's or early 1990's.

The property was then sold to James Mullen in 2003, who was attracted to the historical aspects of the property, and had all the newer additions removed to reveal the original brick building.

After Jim died of cancer, his widow sold it to the Nolt family in 2017, who then restored the building and put in milk processing plant and ice-cream production business.  They also added a retail store.

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Fire, February 12th 1942

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The numbers to the left are: Moisture, Found, Guaranteed
From the PA Dept Of Agriculture Bulletin, 1924

1946 advertisement mentioning Cowan Mills

John Johnson, who operated the feed mill for a time, was once affiliated with the Pinkerton Detective Agency.