Colvin Run Mill is in Great Falls, Virginia. Built c. 1811, Colvin Run Mill is the sole
surviving operational 19th-century water-powered mill in the Washington, D.C.metropolitan area, and its restored mechanism is a nationally significant example of automated technologies pioneered in milling and later adopted across American industry.[1]
Location
Down the gravel path of the park is the miller's house, home to the families who ran the mill. In 1883, Addison Millard moved his family here when he bought the old mill. Addison, his wife Emma, and some of their 20 children lived there. When Addison died, the family stayed and operated the mill until 1934.[2]
In the mid-1930s the mill was abandoned, and highway development caused it to be cut off from any near-by water source. The mill was later acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority, repaired, and made open to the public.[3]
Ord, leading the 10,000 strong 3rd Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves set out west from Langley to clear the south bank of the Potomac River of Confederate pickets and partisans in Fairfax and Loudoun. At Colvin Run Mill, Ord left half his force to protect his rear and prevent his force from being cut off from their base at Langley. The battle resulted in a Union victory.
References
^"Colvin Run Mill - History"(PDF). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 10 May 2001. Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
