The Spring Mill Complex, also known as the Gunkle Spring Mill, is a historic American

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

complex constructed in 1793. The complex is located in East Whiteland Township,

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978.

History and architectural features

This mill was built in 1793 by Michael and Chatharina Gunkle. It is a -story, banked stone structure with a gable roof. Also located on the property are a contributing -story,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed stone miller's house, a one-story stone

spring house A spring house, or springhouse, is a small building, usually of a single room, constructed over a spring. While the original purpose of a springhouse was to keep the spring water clean by excluding fallen leaves, animals, etc., the enclosing str ...

, a one-story stone

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.carriage house A ''carriage house'', also called a ''remise'' or ''coach house'', is a term used in North America to describe an outbuilding that was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and their related tack. Carriage houses were often two ...

. Gunkle was a German immigrant from Philadelphia who purchased in 1792 in East Whiteland, where he constructed and operated the gristmill, along with a saw mill and a fulling mill. By 1872 the mill processed of flour, feed, corn, and oats yearly. At the peak of its productivity, the mill ran 18 hours a day. The mill remained in continuous operation into the 1940s. ''Note:'' This includes The Gunkle Spring Mill was added to the

on December 14, 1978. It is owned and maintained by the East Whiteland Township Historical Commission. In 2019, the commission initiated a project to install a new wheel. An announcement of the completed installation was made in the Fall 2021 East Whiteland Historical Commission Newsletter. The wheel was manufactured and installed by B.E. Hassett Millwrights of Lynchburg, VA. Some highlights of the wheel are: diameter - 16'; weight - 2000 lbs.; 72 buckets, each 4' wide; wheel speed - 13 RPM, capable of producing 50 HP.

Gallery

Spring Mill complex buildings.jpg, View from the north showing Mill, spring house and carriage house (2024) Spring Mill springhouse.jpg, Spring House in 2024 Gunkle Mill showing water wheel.jpg, View showing the water wheel (2024) File:Date Stone.jpg, Installed above the front door of the Mill Building

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Grinding mills in Chester County, Pennsylvania Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania Industrial buildings completed in 1793 National Register of Historic Places in Chester County, Pennsylvania 1793 establishments in Pennsylvania