Bring a pair of tweezers if you want to write in the log.
This location commemorates the first Gunpowder Mill built in the United States. Early in the Revolutionary War, the grandson of South Parish’s first minister, Samuel Phillips, Jr, saw the need for gunpowder and set up a gunpowder mill located on the Shawsheen River near the junction of what is now North Main Street and Stevens Street (The actual site of the mill is located behind and to the left of the marker on the Shawsheen river). Phillips recruited friend and trained chemist Eliphalet Pearson to assist with the operation. The new mill ran day and night producing 1,200 pounds of ammunition for the Continental Army.
Unfortunately, General George Washington was unimpressed by the quality of the gun powder and sent it back to the Andover mill. Phillips found skilled British prisoners of war and put them to work manufacturing a better quality gun powder. Local residents feared the combination of enemies and gun powder in their midst. June 1, 1778 an explosion at the mill killed three men and partially destroyed the mill. The state sent Phillips money to rebuild the mill. After an additional 2 explosions and 2 additional lives lost, the mill was shut down for good in 1796.
Please park in the Post Office parking lot. Please do not park in the residential parking lots near by, they are for private use only. Tx