St.
Mary’s County Art Association
Cecil’s
Old Mill
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The
history of Cecil's Old Mill is an interesting one. Cecil's Mill was
originally built as a cotton/ textile factory in the 1800's. Later, it was
transformed into a grist mill and saw mill. After restoration, Cecil's Old
Mill has become a National
Landmark in Historic St.
Mary's County and is home to some of the finest local arts and crafts
around. |
LOCAL ARTS & CRAFTS | ATTRACTIONS | | CRAFTERS WANTED | CONTACT US | | WATERWHEEL | SAWMILL | | GENERAL STORE | POST OFFICE | MAP
301-994-1510 |
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The water wheel is used to produce
mechanical power. This mechanical
power was used to operate machinery such as pulverizers, screeners,
separators, mill stones, roller, sifters, saw blades, hoists and other pieces
of machinery. The Cecil’s
water wheel is a 10 foot diameter, 12 foot wide double overshot wheel. It is believed to be the only one of
its kind in Maryland. The
overshot wheel was usually more difficult to install due to the fact that the
water elevation had to be above the wheel and naturally the stream was below
the wheel. Most wheels were undershot
wheels where the water level was required to be only half way up the
wheel. The reason an overshot
wheel was installed at Cecil’s is they are about 65% efficient with the
The Cecil’s water wheel produces
approximately 15-20 horse power.
The water used to power the wheel comes from the Western Branch. The water was brought to the wheel in
what is called a Mill Race. The
Cecil Mill Race is three to eight feet deep and over 3,000 feet long. Considering it was all dug by hand,
this was quite a feat. The last
time the Mill race was dug out was in 1907 by John T. Cecil. The mill race has mill ponds, where
water was stored for dry times.
Part of the mill ponds wooden gates are still standing today. Once the water leaves the mill race it
enters what is called a flume.
The flume directs the water to the wheel and usually had a gate that
governs how much water was allowed over the water wheel. A large gearwheel is connected to the
wheel shaft, which is located in a dry location. This large gearwheel is then connected
to a small gearwheel which is on the same shaft as a large drive pulley. This in turn is connected to a leather
belt used to operate machinery in the Mill. The Cecil’s Mill also had a
Delco system used to light the building in Direct Current (DC) volts. The last time the water wheel was used was
1927. After that time a 50 horse
power (hp) diesel Fairbank Morse engine was used. The engine had one thirteen inch
diameter cylinder. The Grist Mill
operated until 1940.
The saw mill has not operated commercially
since the fatal injury of H. Robb Cecil on 22 April 1959. Restoration was completed in 1987 by
William J. “Bill” Clements.
The saw mill is operated periodically for public viewing.
General Store Records of a store on the Clifton
(Cecil’s) property date back to 1818 when Clifton included a tan yard,
storehouse, blacksmith shop, tavern, a manager’s dwelling and a single
and double house for workers. By 1834, the Clifton Factory was sold and
a three room store house was listed as part of the assets. An 1874 Ledger from the General Store
lists items sold such as eggs, brown sugar, candy, cigars, lard and
coffee. By 1882 William The April 27, 1899 edition of The Beacon includes an advertisement
for Cecil’s General Store by John Thomas Cecil, I: “We are selling all lines of goods
for less money than any other dealer in Southern Maryland.” By 1909, J. Allen Cecil, son of John T.
Cecil, I and father of John T. Cecil, II began clerking at the store. According to John T. Cecil II, the front portion of the original Cecil’s
General Store probably extended about forty -four feet. Today, the expanse of eighty-four foot
frontage nearly doubles the original store. One may still find the original
markings of the rear door about half-way back in the store. The meat corner section was added in
the 1930’s. In 1946, John
Thomas Cecil, II built over this section and
extended the addition to the right side. Early 1900’s – from “Chronicles of St. Mary’s
County” “Mr.
Cecil (J. Allen Cecil) says that he has clerked at the store for sixty-four
years and remembers when most families in the area were self-sufficient. The stock of staples at the store
consisted of sugar, baking powder, sardines, canned peaches, beans, salmon,
corned beef (called potted tongue then) and soap.” From an interview with Rose Cecil. “The
store has sold anything from tins of snuff to ten pound buckets of frozen
chittlins. We used to sell
tobacco twists brought in by the Southern Maryland farmers and black molasses
from a big barrel. Customers
would bring half gallon jugs with small mouths on the coldest days of the
year, especially during Christmas week.
We would leave them under the spigot to fill with the slow running
molasses, only to return and find molasses all over the floor. Even having a barrel near the stove
did not make it run any faster.
Over the years, many customers requested “Miss Rosie’s”
homemade country sausage.
Military people would send for it from as far away as Alaska. Rose was also well known for her
Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham.” The Cecil’s General Store closed in
1976.
Post Office From “History
of St. Mary’s County” by Regina Combs Hammett. The location of the Great Mills Post
Office has seesawed between old Great Mills and the Clifton Factory
site. The list of Great Mills postmasters. ·
Hellen R.
Cecil – ·
John T. Cecil,
I
– ·
J. Allan Cecil
– ·
H. Robb Cecil
(acting) – October 6, 1934 (brother of J. Allan Cecil) ·
H. Robb Cecil
(confirmed) – ·
Mrs. Mildred
Leona Sanner (acting) – ·
Rose B. Cecil
(acting) – June 30, 1944 (wife of J. Allan Cecil) ·
Rose B. Cecil
(confirmed) – ·
Mrs. Beverly
O’Neil (officer in charge) – |
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Video
- A STEP BACK IN TIME in VHS
format
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An entertaining &
informative video about Cecil's Old Mill To Order by mail send name & address with a check
or money order for $11.95 to: The St. Mary's County Art
Association |
(c)1997-2007 St. Mary's
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