Prizer's Mill Complex

Along Mill Lane in East Pikeland Township, the Prizer's Mill Complex grew from an 18th-century grist mill built beside Royal Spring Creek near French Creek. The complex includes an 18th-century stone house, the three-and-a-half-story mid-Victorian miller's house built in 1878 by Benjamin Prizer, a stone barn, a rectangular vaulted stone cistern and the remains of a Victorian carriage house. The mill was fed by a hand-dug race from Kimberton Dam and once drove a saw mill and wheelwright shop by cable. Its early operation followed the needs of a growing valley, first with flour and bread, then with a larger iron wheel and upper floors. Operations ceased in 1954 after truck-mounted grinding machines took over milling work. The nomination regards the group as the remains of a mill operation that functioned from the 18th century until 1920, with its houses and grounds reflecting that history.