Avondale Mill

The Avondale Mill was a large gable-front stone structure, three stories in height, and 10 bays long by three wide. It was located on the bank of the Patuxent River in the city of Laurel, Prince George's County, Maryland. It was constructed in 1844–1845 for Captain William Mason & Son of Baltimore. It was complemented by the neighboring Laurel Mill built in 1811, S.D. Heath's machine shop, and Richard Israel's flouring mill. At that time it was provided with the machinery for the manufacture of fine cloth, running as many as 1,500 cotton spindles with 150 employees.^[2] In 1845, industrialist Peter Gorman was responsible for the first macadamized (paved) road in Laurel, Avondale Street next to the new Mill.^[3]

Avondale Mill
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Avondale Mill Site, January 2011
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Location	21 Avondale St., Laurel, Maryland
Coordinates	39°6′25″N 76°50′46″W
Built	1844
NRHP reference No.	79003267 [1]
Added to NRHP	September 20, 1979

The mill was sold for $10,000 with a $13,000 ground rent in 1850 to S.P. Heath and James Arthur (Webb Heath & Co.).^[4] In the mid-1850s, it was converted to a gristmill. The waters of the Patuxent provided an 8–9 foot fall and gave the mill 60-70 horsepower to use, along with steam power fueled by coal from Cumberland as early as 1854.^[5][6] George William Brown purchased the 21.7 acre property and outbuildings from Benjamin F. Crabbs, but sold his holdings in a mortgage auction on 20 October 1897.^[7] By 1904, the mill employed only 4 people, but produced $10,400 in product annually.^[8] Avondale Mill was the only one of Laurel's 19th century mills to have survived into the late 20th century. A devastating fire on December 19, 1991, destroyed the mill. The remains were then demolished and the site cleared for use as a community park.^[9]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.^[1]

See also

• Laurel Mill

Gallery

• 
  Avondale Mill Site Plaque, January 2011

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. "The Operatives and Manufactures-- The Eleven Hour Rule-- The Flouring Mills-- Avondale--Arrear of Wages-- Machine Shops-- The Brag Farm-- Value of Land-- Churches-- Hotel". The Baltimore Sun. 11 January 1854.
3. Conrad Jay Bladey; Helen Curtis. Human Adaptation to the Fall Line Setting: A Framework for the Archeology of Laurel, Maryland. p. 25.
4. "Celebration at Laurel--Avondale Sold- R.W Walker's Property--Sudden Death--Crops--Intense Heat". The Baltimore Sun. 7 July 1854. p. 4.
5. "Repair of Patuxent Railroad Bridge--New Academy--Station House--Protracted Meeting--The Factions--Avondale--Churches--Fatal Accident--The Factory Hands--Flouring Mill--Machine Establishment--Fine Farm". The Baltimore Sun. 11 November 1854.
6. Census reports Tenth census. Vol. 16. United States Census Office. June 1, 1880.
7. Evening Star. 14 January 1897. p. 7. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Bureau of Statistics and Information, Maryland. Annual report, Volumes 14-16. Commissioner of Labor and Statistics, Maryland. State Board of Labor and Statistics, Maryland. Bureau of Industrial Statistics
9. Elizabeth Compton; Stuart Hurtt & Edwin Stretch (June 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Avondale Mill" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2015-08-01.

External links

• Avondale Mill, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:LAU-4, including photo in 1978, at Maryland Historical Trust website