Mill Creek Historic District

Mill Creek runs through a wooded valley in Gladwyne, Lower Merion Township, about ten miles from central Philadelphia, and this district grew around a milling settlement begun by Welsh Quaker miller John Roberts, who set up a grist mill called The Wain by 1690. The surviving houses are built of locally quarried rubble stone, several stuccoed later, with porches, pent eaves and steep roofs that reflect Welsh and English Quaker building traditions. The house at 105 Old Gulph Road was built in stages from about 1720 to 1752 by Roberts and his son, and it records changing scale and finish over time. Other features include a mill store dated 1771, a stone house dated about 1750, and the ruins of three mills, including Conrad Sheetz's 1748 paper mill and Samuel Croft's 1846 brass and copper rolling mill. The milling complex is regarded as one of the early industrial developments in Lower Merion.