The 217-year-old grist mill at the Eden Mill Nature Center and Park in Pylesville received a major makeover last year that will be celebrated with a re-dedication Saturday morning.
The makeover included the replacement of rotted and damaged wooden siding and replacement of all 39 windows in the building.
The renovation means the mill will be around for "another 200 years," Frank Marsden, president and founder of the Eden Mill Nature Committee Inc., said Thursday.
"The old mill was in a serious state of disrepair, and we were concerned about its structural integrity," Marsden said.
The exteriors of the mill, plus the canoe barn and nature center, were also repainted, according to a fact sheet provided by Harford County Recreation Specialist Aimee Dunn and Harford County government spokesperson Cindy Mumby.
The year painted on the front of the mill has been changed from 1805 to 1798, in accordance with tax records that show a grist mill on the Eden Mill site during the latter.
Historic touches have been added by the contractor, L.C. Bathon Builders Inc., of Elkton, such as a lumber marker that shows the mill's original roof line, boards that show how ropes used to lift bags into the building wore on the boards over time, as well as boards that have people's initials carved on them, which have been included in the exterior wooden siding, according to the fact sheet.
L.C. Bathon Builders started working on the mill last July and finished in November.
Saturday's celebration runs from 9 to 10:30 a.m. and will feature mill-themed activities, tours and a ribbon cutting with Harford County Executive Barry Glassman. Some of the activities include corn sack races, face painting and corn grinding. The nature center adjacent to the mill and the gift shop will be open. Pre-registration is requested.
The Eden Mill Nature Committee, which was founded in 1991 and is staffed by local volunteers, maintains and operates the nature center and Historic Grain Mill Museum in what Marsden said is a "symbiotic relationship" with Harford County.
"They saw the value of having this historic mill for future generations of Harford County [residents]," he said of the county-funded $203,880 restoration project.
Marsden said the mill "is the only mill that belongs to the county that's still basically whole," and he noted that about 400 mills could be found along Deer Creek and its tributaries at the turn of the 20th century.
"What built Harford County was all these mills," he said. "Every community had one, and Harford County would not have grown without them," he said.
Constructed on the north shore of Deer Creek by the Stansbury family, the Eden Milling Company has had a varied history, according to the Eden Mill Nature Center's website, www.edenmill.org.
Throughout the 19th century, the mill ground flour from grain purchased from local farmers. In 1917, the building and adjoining dam were used to produce electricity, which powered the nearby communities of Fawn Grove and New Park, Pa., until 1929.
Marsden said the mill also provided power in the Pylesville area, and "it helped the growth in this end of the county."
The last grain was ground at the mill in 1964. Harford County purchased the building and 57 surrounding areas the following year. The park was established, but it wasn't for another 26 years that a plan developed for using the mill building, when the non-profit Eden Mill Nature Committee was founded as a local recreation council.
In addition to being instrumental in preservation of the mill building, the committee also has a variety of programs that provide nature studies and a variety of outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking.
"Together, it's probably the best example of public and government working together to provide a service and a facility for Harford County residents, and it's been a wonderful relationship for the last 25 years," Marsden said.
Earlier this spring, the Eden Mill restoration project received a preservation award from the Harford County Historic Preservation Commission. The award recognized the efforts of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, Angela Hoover, the Eden Mill Nature Center Committee and Lawrence C. Bathon Builders.
Eden Mill Nature Center and Park is at 1627 Eden Mill Road in Pylesville. For information, call 410-836-3050 or visit www.edenmill.org.