Evans-Mumbower Mill's Ice Cream Social Showed Guests How a Waterwheel Mill Runs

The Evans-Mumbower Mill in Upper Gwynedd hosted its second Mid-Summer Ice Cream Social this afternoon from 1 to 4pm, where guests enjoyed ice cream and water ice while the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association (WVWA) volunteers showed them how they use the water wheel and millstones to grind corn.  

The mill, first built by Abraham Evans around 1744, was last operated by David Mumbower in 1930, and is now on the list of the National Register of Historic Places.  WVWA, who own and maintain the mill and its operations, have restored it to allow the wheel to run by water power, and its millstones to grind items like corn.  According to the organization, the Evans-Mumbower Mill is the only operating mill on the Wissahickon creek.

The WVWA volunteers, who dressed in the 19th century garb of the era that they want to mill to project, looked forward to guests treating themselves to iced treats while exploring the mill.

Peg West, a WVWA volunteer and member of the mill’s steering committee, gestured at the newly-built houses not too far from the mill.   The mill volunteers are “[t]rying to get people to think about what life was like before all of these houses were here,” she said.

Today, miller Dave Froehlich and associate miller Kate Pike lowered the top millstone in position onto the bottom millstone, after which the water was released onto the waterwheel, which powered the stones that ground yellow corn between them.  According to Pike, it is a overshot waterwheel, meaning that the wheel is powered by water that flows on top of it and moves downward over the wheel.

The mill also houses an archaeological collection of items found in an archaeological dig of the property.  There is, on one floor, a wall still covered with 19th century Harper’s Weekly magazine pages, most notably, one page showing a drawing of president Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration.

Today guest Jen DeSantis brought her children Anna and Aaron to the mill for the first time, and said that it was interesting to walk around the property and see the original elements of the mill.  “It’s been fascinating,” she said.  “The kids have really enjoyed being here.”

The Evans-Mumbower Mill will continue to hold events through the year, including their Old Fashioned Mill Festival on September 15 and their Visit from the Ghost of Henry Mumbower! event on October 26.  For more information about the mill, such as volunteer opportunities, visit the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association Website here.