Zirkle Mill

About this property

The Andrew Zirkle Mill is a 1760s era grist mill located in the southern end of Shenandoah County, Virginia. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 after being restored by Glenn Hofecker, the owner at the time. The mill is cited as a prime example of the architecture and construction of grist mills and manufacturing facilities of its era. Built by German pioneers who moved to the area from Pennsylvania in the 1750s, the mill is a remnant of the culture, industriousness and vision of these early settlers. Its use, architecture, builders, owners and location place it in the forefront of early frontier life. Added to the Virginia Historic Landmark Registry in 1982. In 1749, Thomas Lord Fairfax issued a land grant for 224 acres (91 ha) to George Brock. Brock sold this land in 1757 to Andrew Zirkle, who had arrived in the area in 1755 with four brothers, two sisters and his mother. Shortly thereafter, Andrew and his brothers built the mill. While the exact date of the construction of the mill remains a mystery, there is a variety of evidence that shows it was built and in operation by 1781. Anecdotal evidence places its construction in the early 1760s. The mill has a log frame and uses mortice and tenon construction. The main beams of the mill, of which there are six, are huge timber beams. These beams are one piece, each of which are 40 feet (12 m) long and over one foot square. The mill rests on a coursed rubblestone foundation built into the hillside. A portion of the mill foundation rests on solid bed of limestone that protrudes from the hill. There is also a large natural cleft in the rocks where the waterwheel now resides. The waterwheel is fed by a mill race that extends nearly 1/2 mile upstream to the mill dam located on Holman's Creek. As it nears the mill, the water runs into a raised wooden flume to be fed to the Fitz Waterwheel. The waterwheel is 20½ feet in diameter and 2 feet (0.61 m) wide. It was manufactured by the Fitz Waterwheel company of Hanover, PA was installed in the spring of 1921. Inside the mill is a collection of equipment spanning the entire lifespan of the mill. The original granite and French quartz millstones are present, roller milling machines installed just before 1900, sifters, bolters, and other items. The mill also features a Fitz gearing installed in the basement that takes the power from the waterwheel and uses it to drive all the equipment. The American historian George Bancroft writes of contributions made by citizens to relieve "the poor of Boston" during the hardships caused by the blockading of the harbor after the Boston Tea Party. Bancroft specifically mentions contributions made by settlers in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, citing 132 barrels (21.0 m3) of flour being brought into Winchester. The Boston Tea Party occurred in December 1773 and with the passage of the Intolerable Acts which contained the Boston Port Bill, the harbor was ordered closed June 1, 1774.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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