Over the years North River Mills
has changed. What was once a booming town is now silent and still. The hundred residents
have been reduced to one horse. All that remains are the memories of a town
based around a post office, three gristmills, a store, a strong house (Fort
Thomas Parker), an inn, a lime kiln and a blacksmith shop.
George Washington surveyed the
North River Mills area and made mention of it in his diary during peacetime. He
returned to spend at least two nights there as a soldier.
The town was first called Parkers Gap. This came from Fort Thomas
Parker, located just west of town, which
played an important role in the French Indian War. Named after its owner and
builder, a land surveyor, Thomas Parker, it was built in the fall of 1754.
Located between two larger forts, Loudoun and Pearsall, on the
Fort Thomas Parker or the North
River Stockade was not a fort as is usually understood, but a fortified home or
blockhouse with rifle slits and few windows. It is believed a stockade
encircled the house.
During the French Indian war,
Arriving at the fort they found it
to be surrounded by hostile Indians. Capt. Pearis
fired on the Indians and reclaimed the fort. The battle lasted about 30
minutes. The enemy commander, a Frenchman Sieur Douville was killed and three warriors were wounded. Capt. Pearis lost one man while two others were hurt. Sieur Douville�s scalp was
presented to Colonel
Another scalping may have occurred
near the fort or this may be a different version of the previous story. Capt.
Joshua Lewis and eighteen men of the Virginia Regiment came upon a small band
of Indians led by a French officer. A skirmish followed in which the French
officer was killed and two others were wounded. The scalp was also sent to the
Governor, and probably the bounty was paid.
The Gibbons family was living near
Fort Thomas Parker. When Sarah Gibbons was 13 years old Indians kidnapped her.
She was taken to an Indian village and was raised by the Indians. Sarah had a
�half-breed child. The child was named Abraham Gibbons.
��� In 1765
or 1767 Sarah left the Indian village to find her natural parents. Her home
place had been sold to Dr. James Craik, (
Sarah gave up her son to Daniel
Sowers as an indentured servant. In 1774, Sarah filed charges against Sowers
for child abuse. The child was returned to her. Sarah married Cornelius Lister
and lived three miles south of
Thomas Parker later sold the land
to Robert Pritchard. It was then sold to J. Rees Pritchard. Kenny Baker now
owns the land believed to include the fort site.
The town later became
known as North River Mills. The town�s name was derived from
The town�s main
economy was based on the three gristmills. Each Mill was uniquely different in
style from the others.� Ironically, only
one mill, the Snapp Mill, was powered by
�Charles Harmison
told a story about the bridge that went over the road to the mill. A man would
stand on the bridge and throw rocks at people as they would pass under it.� Just after the Civil War, Mr. Snapp became the owner of the Snapp
Mill. When Maude Pugh (author of
A mill race from Hiett�s Run (also know as Parker�s Gap Run) supplied
sufficient drop for an overshot wheel at the Miller Mill in the center of town
on the Slanesville side of the Old Inn.� Instead
of paddles, it used buckets. The wheels ranged from ten to thirty feet. The
number of buckets varied according to the size of the wheel. A ten foot wheel
needed around twenty-four buckets and a forty foot wheel needed over a hundred
buckets. With a seventy-five percent efficiency rate this was the most
efficient type of wheel.
The mill had three stories. In an
early 1800�s flood the Miller family took refuge on the third floor. The Miller
Mill fell down in a large snowstorm in 1936. The Millers built a shed on the
remaining foundation that still remains today. No mortar was used in the
foundation.� One grinding bur remains at
the mill site.� Sloan Miller�s family
owns the other stone.
�A diesel turbine powered the Shanholtz Mill so no water was needed.� The poured concrete foundation can still be seen across from the old store near the center of town.� Henry Shanholtz operated this mill.
�The three mills were never running at the same time. There was a short period that the Shanholtz Mill and the Miller Mill were operating together.
Even though North River Mills has almost died away, the stories told by its residents keep it alive in our hearts and minds.� The tales tell of a diverse community that could almost be mistaken for one large family.� Services are held at the century old Methodist church every second and fourth Sundays.�� Many people in the area have worked hard to preserve what is left of North River Mills.� The town�s heritage is celebrated every year in at North River Mills Day.
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