Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

None

Use Restrictions

Consult repository for information

Preferred Citation

Grain and Flour Bags Collection, MSS 02-09, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library

Acquisition Information

Unknown

Processing Information

Chris Barbuschak, May 2017
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2024

Historical and Biographical Information

This collection contains flour and grain bags from mills located in Virginia, including two locations in Fairfax County. L. Gilmer Hoge and Herbert A. Weaver ran the Hoge & Weaver mill located on Leesburg Pike at the Reston turnoff near Brown’s Chapel in Vienna, Virginia. The mill also had a grain and feed store. By the 1950s, Hoge & Weaver had closed and the mill was demolished by the late 1960s.

Little is known about W.F. Crocker & Company. Willis F. Crocker (1858-1917) operated a store in in Lewinsville, Virginia near Scott’s Run in the 1890s. He also operated a general merchandise store in Laurel, Maryland.

The Forestville Mill, also known as the Andrew Zirkle Mill, located in Forestville, Virginia in Shenandoah County, was in operation by 1781. It ceased production in the late 1940s. The mill was placed on the Virginia Historic Landmark Register in 1992 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. It is currently owned by descendants of the Zirkle family and is awaiting restoration.

Beverley Mills, also known as Chapman’s Mill, was built in Broad Run, Virginia in 1742 by Jonathan and Nathaniel Chapman. It was enlarged in 1758 and again in 1858 and finally closed in 1946. In October 1998, a fire left the mill in ruins, but the walls have since been stabilized.

Wolftown Roller Mills, also known as Hood’s Mill, operated as a grist and flour mill. John W. Price and William Crigler built this mill in 1913, and it functioned until the mid-1960s at which point the mill used diesel power instead of water power to drive the roller machines. The mill is now a private residence located on Wolftown-Hood Road in Hood, Virginia.

In 1866, Frederick Brulle and John H. Myer built the Germania Flour Mill, a four-story brick mill, in Fredericksburg, Virginia on Caroline Street along the Rappahannock River. A fire destroyed the mill in 1876, but Brulle and Myer rebuilt it. In the late 1880s, new rollers replaced the millstones. In 1980, another fire left the mill in ruins and it was finally demolished in 2010. A concrete grain elevator erected next to the mill in 1917 still remains.

The Simmons Grain Mill, also known as the Mill at Palo Alto, is located in Headwaters, Virginia and was owned and operated by Jared Simmons (1910-1991). Addison and John Todd first built a mill on this site in the 1860s. During the winter of 1873-1874, the Todd brothers, under the direction of John Botkin, demolished and rebuilt the grist mill. The new mill housed a post office which Botkin served as Post Master. Botkin’s daughter, Maggie married James Howard Simmons, and their son, Jared Simmons took over mill operations until 1962. The mill passed on to Nelson Simmons, who continues to maintain the structure but it currently is not operational.

Scope and Content

The Grain and Flour Bags Collection consists of 40 grain and flour bags from Hoge & Weaver (Vienna, Va.); W.F. Crocker & Co. (Lewinsville, Va.); Forestville Mills (Forestville, Va.); Beverley Mills (Broad Run, Va.); Germania Mills (Fredericksburg, Va.); Wolftown Roller Mills (Wolftown, Va.); and the Jared Simmons Mill (Headwaters, Va.).

Related Material

Grain and Flour Bags, Fairfax County Park Authority Historic Collections

Separated Material

None

Index Terms

• Mills and mill work - Virginia
• Mills and mill work - Virginia - Fairfax County

Adjunct Descriptive Data