Maryland Geocaching Society
Cache Across Maryland 2010
This is one
of ten caches placed for the 2010 Cache Across Maryland. Each
location was picked specifically to give you a taste of the state
and show you just a part of its beauty. By combining all ten,
you'll be able to see why Maryland is truly "America in Miniature".
We hope you enjoy them!
The Union
Mills Homestead, built in 1797, in Carroll County is one of
Maryland’s truly unique historic landmarks.
The
Homestead began in 1797 when David and Andrew Shriver purchased a
large tract of land along the Big Pipe Creek. The site was perfect
for the enterprises that the Shriver brothers hoped to start. The
Big Pipe Creek provided an excellent source of water for a mill,
the fertile valley was good farmland and the surrounding rolling
hills contained heavy stands of black oak which could furnish
tanbark for a tannery.
Soon the
brothers entered into a contract with Frederick County millwright,
John Mong, to construct a set of mills, a grist mill and a saw
mill. Jacob Keefer and John Eckert were contracted “to mold
and burn a kiln of brick for the grist mill and to be paid one
French crown for every thousand brick.” Clay from the banks
of the Big Pipe Creek was used for molding the bricks. While the
Grist Mill and Saw Mill were under construction, David and Andrew
Shriver also started the main part of the house. Henry Kohlstock of
York County built a small double house with a connecting center
hall and front porch for the labor costs of $86. To these early
endeavors, the brothers added a tannery, cooper shop and a
blacksmith's shop. Now David and Andrew truly had the beginning of
an early industrial park. The growing enterprises soon took the
name “Union Mills” because of the partnership of the
two brothers and their various businesses. This is the same name
that the small settlement that grew around the Homestead
took.
Museum
hours: June 1 through August 31 - open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 4 p.m.. May and September - open
weekends, Noon to 4 p.m.
To find
this cache, you need not be fast
Just be sure to protect it to last
Follow
the source of this mill you must
Don't stop until you find what cannot rust
Across
you must go to learn your fate
This short journey shouldn't make you too late.