Bracken's Mill
Farmsteads and Grist Mills
A regional mill for grinding grain and a typical farmstead
Geocache #7
Indiana County 1776 GeoTrail
- New colonial settlers turned forest into farms by chopping down or burning hundreds of trees. Farmers could manage growing about 50-100 acres of crops on these cleared lands.
- Local farmers made all wooden plows at first. Steel plows were more powerful but expensive to buy and ship from the East, where they were made.
- Around 1773, William B. Bracken built the first grist mill in the region on Blacklick Creek. Mardis Creek used to be called Bracken's Creek.
- Campbell's Mill was built in 1834 on Blacklick Creek about two miles west of the town of Black Lick. In 1887, it became a park and recreation area.
A set of 12 geocaches at Indiana County locations that were significant in the late 1700s. Visit all 12 and imagine what the county was like at our nation's birth.
You can earn a geocoin, while supplies last, by picking up a geotrail passport at the Indiana County Tourist Bureau office, the Blue Spruce Park office, or three of the county's historical societies — Blairsville, Indiana County, and Saltsburg. Or you can download, print and assemble the passport yourself from the Indiana County 1776 GeoTrail web site.
When you open the passport, each left page will show the name and GPS coordinates of a geocache and the right page will be blank. Use the graphite stick supplied in the geocache container (or your own crayon) and the corresponding blank page in your passport to make a rubbing of the woodblock that is attached to the inside of the container's lid. If you don't have a passport, you can use any blank sheet of paper. This rubbing will prove that you visited the geocache. If you are unsure how to make a rubbing, watch the video on the Indiana County 1776 GeoTrail web page.
After completing the geotrail, you will have a broad picture of Indiana County's character in and around 1776. Bring your passport or your own sheets of paper with the 12 rubbings to the Tourist Bureau office or the Blue Spruce Park office to pick up a trackable geocoin prize designed and created for this geotrail, while supplies last. If you logged some of the caches before September 28, 2025, mention this when you go to collect your geocoin. The office will have a list of who found which caches before that date.
For more information, visit the Indiana County 1776 GeoTrail web site.