Pottstown Roller Mill - Pottstown PA - Underground Railroad Sites on Waymarking.com

One of the oldest mills in the United States sits just off the banks of the Schuylkill River in Pottstown. It's history is the story of America itself.

The Pottstown Roller Mill was built at the intersection of South and Hanover streets in 1725, in the fledgling years of what would become a new nation.

The mill was owned during the Civil War period by Jesse Ives, a prominent abolitionist and anti-slavery activist. Ives was among those who helped turn the mill and several nearby homes into important stops on the Underground Railroad as slaves sought to escape to the north.

"The fugitive slaves would race from Chester County, their first stop after crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, across the bridge (over the Schuylkill River) and into the Ives home," according to records of the nearby Pine Forge Academy compiled by the Columbian Visitor. Ives was assisted by his daughter, Mary Anna Ives, and her husband, Charles Rutter, another prominent area businessman and abolitionist.

After serving the region and causes most crucial to the survival of the nation, the mill remained in use for over another century.

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Pottstown Roller Mill is a historic roller mill located on the Schuylkill River at Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The original mill building was built in 1725. It was constructed of fieldstone, two stories tall, and three bays wide and two bays deep. The building was altered in 1849. In 1856, two brick stories were added to the original fieldstone mill. A five-bay, brick addition was subsequently added and doubled the size of the 1856 mill. The property includes the contributing dam and mill race.

The mill provided flour to George Washington's Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

It is "the roller mill of Jesse Ives ... that provided shelter for escaping slaves" in the Underground Railroad.

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Address: South and Hanover Sts. Pottstown , PA Open to the public?: Private Web site: Not listed Site Details: Not listed Name of organization who placed the marker: Not listed

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