This historical marker is located on US 70 at Eno River bridge northwest of Hillsborough in Orange County. It was originally cast in 2006. The current marker has a date of 2007 on it.
By August 4, 1755, a Quaker by the name of Joseph Maddock was operating a grist mill on the Eno River just outside what is now Hillsborough. For years Maddock's mill had steady business as it was the closest mill to the Orange County seat. In 1766, it was the site of large and well-publicized gathering of Regulators. Edmund Fanning deemed the meeting "an insurrection" when he believed the men were attempting to usurp power from the local court.
After the meeting Maddock grew increasingly fearful of governmental retribution and decided to move to Georgia with a group of Quakers. In Nov. 1767 he conveyed the mill to Gov. William Tryon's friend, Thomas Hart, and in July 1768 Maddock conveyed a 434-acre tract to Tryon himself....
Thomas Hart enlarged the grist mill into a complex of "Mills Manufactories, &c." His operation included a saw mill, oil mill, fulling mill, distillery, weaving house, tannery, blacksmith's shop, and cobbler's shop. Hart also owned stables and an orchard on his plantation....
Cornwallis reached the mill complex in Feb. 1781, selecting Fraser's home as his headquarters. The mill was used by the troops for grinding corn and about thirty soldiers were posted to protect the site. Maj. Joseph Graham learned of the troops at Hart's Mill and ordered his militia to attack. The cavalry and mounted riflemen divided to effectively surround the British. Americans killed or wounded nine men and took nineteen prisoners; all but two were British regulars. Graham and his militia, with prisoners in tow, fled to General Andrew Pickens's camp nearby. Graham's exploit inspired confidence in the weary American soldiers. Thomas Jefferson referred to the skirmish in a letter to George Washington, dated March 8, 1781. He wrote that the skirmish at Hart's Mill, combined with the defeat of Loyalist Col. John Pyle's forces on February 23, "had a very happy effect on the disaffected in that country."
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