{"nrhp_refnum":"69000259","name":"Poplar Grove Mill and House","other_names":["Tide Mill and Poplar Grove"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW of jct. of Rtes. 14 and 613","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williams","county":"Mathews County","state":"VA","lat":37.39867303950004,"lon":-76.33160444037858,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A tide-powered mill and adjoining house at Poplar Grove, near Williams in Mathews County, Virginia, on a narrow mole between a lagoon and Mobjack Bay. The mill dates from after the Civil War; the earliest part of the house predates the Revolution.","why_significant":"The nomination states that a tide mill has stood here since colonial times and that this one is the only such mill remaining in Virginia, operating until 1912. The house served as the millers' residence and has ties to John Patterson, builder Richard Billups, and Captain Sally Tompkins, a Confederate officer born there in 1833.","narrative":"Poplar Grove is a tide mill and house on Mobjack Bay near Williams, in Mathews County, Virginia. The two-story frame mill with a gable roof sits on a narrow mole separating a small lagoon from the bay. Tidal flow between the two turned a large wheel at the side of the building, and some original machinery survives inside. The mill ground grain until 1912, then deteriorated before a thorough restoration. It replaced an earlier mill burned during the Civil War. The nomination calls it the only remaining tide mill in Virginia, and tradition holds that corn was ground here for Washington's troops. Across the lagoon stands the miller's house, a five-section building. Its earliest part is a small gambrel-roofed cottage probably built for John Patterson before the Revolution. The central section, a late eighteenth-century temple-form block with a later Ionic portico, was built by local builder Richard Billups. Captain Sally Tompkins, a Confederate officer, was born here in 1833.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Richard Billups (central portion of the house, late 18th century); John Patterson (earliest portion built for him)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Mill is vacant after a recent thorough restoration; condition rated good; house listed as a private residence.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.961234-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/6818/41681893/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000259.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000259/ffb1964dc2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000259/ffb1964dc2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poplar_Grove_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poplar_Grove_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681893","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar_Grove_Mill_and_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713084"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/mathews-county/poplar-grove-mill-and-house-69000259/"}