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Introduction
The Bowles Mill site (18WA498) is a 19th-century
grist mill with some intact dam cribbing and mill and race walls,
as well as a 19th-century house site (possibly that of the miller).
There is evidence that the buildings were cannibalized for their
materials after the mill ceased operating. The mill was in operation
as early as 1831 and ceased some time in the 1880s. It was a relatively
small mill conducting a local custom trade, powered by a turbine,
in later years, under a fall of 6 feet.
Archaeological Investigations
The Bowles Mill site is within the State Highway
Administration's right-of-way for I-70, on the north side of the
I-70 bridge and the west bank of Great Tonoloway Creek. Intensive
Phase I archaeological survey and Phase II evaluation was conducted
by James Gibb in 2002 in advance of proposed road widening and bridge
improvement efforts.
The two phases of investigation included intensive
archival research, mapping, and limited excavation, documenting
the site as the mill clearly owned and operated by Samuel Bowles
and his heirs. It was likely the same owned by his father James
H. Bowles, and possibly owned by earlier millers (e.g., William
Yates the Younger) and documented on the 1808 Varlé map.
The mill can be dated with a fair degree of confidence to the period
1830-1890.
Mapping efforts included recordation of persistent
architectural elements associated with the mill, including portions
of the millpond dam, dam cribbing, stone retaining wall, a crude
roadway, and a brick rubble dump.
Archeobotanical Analysis
Identification of wooden members associated with
the dam cribbing was conducted by Justine McKnight as part of Phase
I testing. Ten waterlogged wood samples were collected from well-preserved
portions of structural elements and planking. The wood assemblage
revealed the predominance of oak and pine species in its construction.
White oak accounted for 50% of the analyzed specimens, southern
(hard) pine for 40%, and "coniferous taxa" for 10%.
References
| Gibb, James G. |
| 2002 |
Intensive Phase I Archeological Survey of the
Proposed Widening of I-70 Over the Great Tonoloway
Creek
and Phase II Site Investigation of Bowles Mill (18WA498), Hancock,
Washington County,
Maryland. Maryland State Highway Administration Project Planning Division
Environmental Evaluation
Section.
Archeological Report Number 289. |
| |
| McKnight, Justine |
| 2002 |
Wood Identification. Appendix B to Intensive
Phase I Archeological Survey of the Proposed Widening
of
I-70 Over the Great Tonoloway Creek and Phase II Site Investigation
of Bowles Mill (18WA498),
Hancock,
Washington County, Maryland. Maryland State Highway Administration
Project Planning
Division
Environmental Evaluation Section. Archeological Report Number 289. |
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