Historic industrial sites to be surveyed

View larger image The Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society operates in the former mill built by David Hollingsworth in the 1830s. Alex Bridges/Daily

Archeological study will include iron furnaces, mills, lime kilns

By Alex Bridges -- abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- An archeologist for a state agency plans to survey Frederick County's industrial enterprise history, and wants the community's help.

Iron furnaces, mills and lime kilns fueled the local economy in the Winchester area from the 1700s through the early 20th century. But as those industries ceased operations the sites fell into ruins or vanished as a result of development, according to a news release from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

"The purpose of the survey is to pinpoint the locations of former industrial sites using historical maps and to work with local property owners so that surviving information can be recorded," the release states. "The information is being gathered for historical research. The identification of an industrial site on a person's land will neither restrict what a person does with the land -- or ultimately the site itself."

Local archaeologist Bob Jolley, with the agency's Northern Regional Preservation Office in Stephens City, said work on the survey has begun.

"The thing about doing this type of work is that a lot of these sites are next to creeks and they're in wooded areas so we need to wait for the vegetation to come down," Jolley said Wednesday. "So we're talking about November through probably about February is conducive for us to actually do the survey and actually see these sites and see what's on the ground surface."

The agency wants residents and property owners to contact Jolley if they have information about possible historic sites on their land or if they have questions.

The survey involves no excavation but rather recording features that occur on the ground surface, according to the DHR. Most industrial sites survive either as stone foundations, mill races, dams and ponds, the release notes.

Communities in Northern Virginia have worked to preserve some of the historical industrial mill sites such as the Abram's Delight in Winchester, Zirkle Mill in Shenandoah County, Burwell-Morgan Mill in Clarke County and Aldie Mill in Loudoun County. Many other former industrial sites remain forgotten, the release states.

The survey focuses on examining previously unrecorded sites as a follow-up to work performed in the 1990s. Jolley also plans to re-examine sites recorded in the prior survey but possibly destroyed by commercial development. The Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society, Frederick County and the DHR funded and managed the prior survey through a collaborative effort.

The society has its offices in a mill at 1360 S. Pleasant Valley Road, built in the 1830s by David Hollingsworth, the great grandson of Abraham Hollingsworth and early settler of Frederick County, according to information from the organization.

Letters found and kept by the society show people traveling through the area stopped and bought grain at the mill.

"So that's probably one of the first indications that there was activity in this area and there was a mill operating in Frederick County at that time," Shull said.

David Hollingsworth built the second mill on the site, replacing the long lost original building constructed in the 1730s, according to Shull.

The original mill race also has since disappeared as a result of the city redirecting Abram's Creek, she said.

"I don't know if they used the same foundations or close, but that's one of the things we'd like to research," Shull said. "I think in doing a survey of those sites, I think it would determine what the populations were and what people did for a living -- agriculture or business."

Property owners who have historical industrial sites on their land and wish to have this information recorded, or to learn more about their history, may contact Jolley at 868-7032 or by email at Bob.Jolley@dhr.virginia.gov.