Hello friends,

 

This is one of several images taken of a grist mill not far from my brother's house in Denton, Maryland.  The water from Williston Lake flows under the mill, which is a branch of the Choptank River. The millstone is still in place. There was no external waterwheel.  Below is some relative information on the subject.

The mill was leased by James White to Nathaniel Potter as early as 1778. The mill was rebuilt (possibly in a different location) by General William Potter who started, but apparently never finished, a ship channel from the Choptank River to the mill (McGrain, J. Molinography of Caroline County). Subsequent owners were S. Liden (1875, Isler map) and William Todd (1897, Saulsbury map).

Colonel John Arthur Willis purchased Potter Hall shortly after the death of William Potter; thus the name Williston Mill. Willard C. Todd called it Williston Mill when he operated the facility in the 1920s.

The Williston Mill Historic District is significant primarily for its architectural survivals of two 19th century structures; a two-story frame mill owner's house and a frame grist mill, one of two to remain standing in Caroline County. The mill was erected in two periods. The single-story gable-roofed section dates around 1830-40 and was assembled with pre-industrial hand techniques, especially evident in the heavy chamfered posts and summer beam. The stone used in its foundation is distinctive to Port Deposit, where the first granite quarries were opened in 1829.  The two-story mill addition, built around 1895, is the product of machine-age building technology. The two sections reflect as well a blend in the technological changes important to the processing of grain between the second quarter of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century.  The house and mill complex, set within a rural landscape including a mill pond, mill race, creek, county roads, and fields, is a significant survival of mid- to late-19th century agrarian architectural forms in a relatively undisturbed setting.

 

Cheers,

Brian