Blow Horn update

I'm delighted to report that the historic Blow Horn mill at Routes 82 and 841 is going to be preserved and renovated.
General contractor Chuck Ginty of Unionville, who has the fascinating assignment, was kind enough to show me around the eighteenth-century fieldstone mill one morning last week, with the generous permission of owner D.D. Matz.
The iconic "Blow Horn" stone is going to remain where it is, forming the edge of a courtyard. But the rest of the wall nearest Route 82--the one that was mangled when a wide tractor-trailer hit it last October--is going to be taken down, stone by stone, and moved about eight feet back from the road, for safety's sake.
Chuck said Mrs. Matz asked him to assess the mill shortly before the accident, and he predicted that given its level of deterioration, "it would be two to five years before something tragic happens. ... when the truck hit, it goosed us all into action." Parts of the mill are in obviously bad shape, with gaping cracks, a collapsed wooden floor and damaged beams. We could hear and see baby birds in a nest in one of the walls, and there was fresh fox scat on an upstairs floor.
The mill is going to be completely repointed and new windows will be installed. Its future use hasn't been determined.
In the dirt-floor basement there are several beautifully built arches where water flowed in and out, providing the power source for the mill, as well as chutes where farmers could drop off their grain from the outside of the building. The millstone is missing. The muddy basement floor is going to be cleaned up, drained and covered with concrete.

The massive beams, Chuck said, are made of hemlock (Pennsylvania's state tree). By studying the saw marks, he can tell the date of some of them and even how big the saw blade was (huge).
Belts and gears conveyed the power from the basement through the three levels (there used to be another story on top as well), with wooden chutes directing the finished product into big storage bins. The gears still turn, thanks to the animal fat that was used as lubricant.

Chuck found a pile of the substantial canvas belts with metal scoops that were used to carry the grain automatically from floor to floor.

On the top floor, which is bright and airy, there's an old scale, and a windlass with thick rope that dangles down through a trap door.
Some of the craftsmanship is beautiful, with unexpected decorative touches on the staircase banister and the curved plaster window reveals. In the mill office on the main floor, scrawled sums are still visible on the white plaster wall.

The date stone on the west wall bears two dates: 1744, when William Harlan owned the mill, and 1789, when Caleb Phipps bought and enlarged it. Several owners and uses later (grain, lumber, cider), it was destroyed by fire in 1884 but was rebuilt a year later by owner William Hannum. It was purchased by Buck & Doe Run Valley Farms in 1946.

I'm pleased that the mill is being preserved -- thanks, Mrs. Matz -- because it holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of us Unionville residents. Blowing your horn at the corner is a quirky tradition that mystifies outsiders, but it's a much-loved part of our history.