Kiamensi Woolen Mill

Kiamensi Woolen Mill

Most of the mills mentioned in posts so far, like the Harlan Mill and the England Mill, have been
fairly small operations, run by only one or two men. And while most of the mills in the area were like this, there were a few industrial sites that operated on a larger scale. For a good part of the second half of the 19th Century, one of the largest employers in Mill Creek Hundred was the Kiamensi Woolen Company. Situated on Red Clay Creek at Kiamensi Road, just south of Marshallton, the large textile mill and the community it spawned are now nothing more than a vague memory.

The first mill on the site certainly dates from the 1700's, but to be honest, the early history of the millseat is a bit hazy. Scharf gives a fairly detailed account of the ownership of the site, but I think that he might be confusing a few different sites together. (I think the confusion stems from conflating different Red Clay mills, as well as the fact that mills in Stanton (located somewhere behind where Happy Harry's is now) [Edit: See comments below for a correction on the location of this Stanton mill] were later owned by the same company and also referred to as "Kiamensi mills".) He states the mill was owned first by John Reese, who built, likely, a grist mill on the site. In 1811, Reese's son sold the mill to Mordecai McKinney, who according to a DelDot archaeological report, was doing cotton milling at several other nearby sites as well. For the next 20 years, the mill passed through the possession of a number of people with names well known to anyone familiar with Wilmington history -- Lea, Price, Tatnall, and Warner. From then until 1864, the mill was resold no less than seven times. Then, its story really picks up.

Joseph England House and Mill

No doubt many people have, while driving down Red Mill Road, figured that it got that name because there used to be a red mill along it somewhere. Well, they're right. What many of those people may not realize is that the mill, along with an even older house, is still there. They also happen to be among the oldest structures still standing in Mill Creek Hundred.

John England was a Quaker and an iron master, originally from Staffordshire, England. He came to America in 1723 to oversee construction of Cecil County, Maryland's Principio Furnace Iron Works, of which he was part owner. Principio was one of the first major iron works in America, gathering interest from all over the colonies. In fact, John England had frequent dealings with an investor from Virginia named Augustine Washington, whose son George would go on to become rather famous in this country.

Hersey-Duncan House

Sometimes when I stop and think about it, I'm amazed that any old houses (say, 150 years or more) are still around for us to enjoy. It takes a special combination of luck and caring ownership for a historic home to remain in excellent, near original condition. One such house that has benefited from just this scenario is the Hersey-Duncan house, on Duncan Road just off of Kirkwood Highway. This handsome Federal style fieldstone home not only has enjoyed caring ownership from a single family for most of its history, but its own history is directly intertwined with the history of the area.

The story actually begins at least 40 years before the construction of the current Hersey-Duncan House, in the 1760's. It was at this time that a man named Solomon Hersey settled in the area, and built a merchant grist mill along the Red Clay Creek. The millseat was so well positioned, in fact, that the site would see continuous industry from about 1765 until 2003, when a devastating flood closed the now Ametek-owned site for good.

The Harlan-Chandler Mill Complex, Milltown

For my money, one of the most enjoyable aspects of studying local history is when you experience a "So that's what that is" moment. It might be a place name or street name suddenly making sense, or connecting a historical name with a place, or vice versa. It also can be finally learning the identity of something you've seen many times, but never knew the story behind. I had this experience a few days ago.