Union Mills celebrates its 225th anniversary in 2022, a good opportunity to reflect on the site’s rich industrial history. Founded in 1797 centered on a water-powered gristmill, the site evolved during the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries along with the American Industrial Revolution. (Image above: The A.K. Shriver & Sons Tannery in 1877, as depicted in the 1877 Illustrated Atlas of Carroll County, Maryland; Lake Griffing & Stevenson,
(Image Above: The Tannery Bark Shed and Drying Shed at the Union Mills Homestead) Most visitors to Union Mills know about its grist mill – it is hard to miss that big brick building when you drive into the site! As reflected in its name, the enterprise founded in 1797 by Andrew and David Shriver featured a union of two mills, a grist mill and a saw mill. Much less