Daniel Bowman Mill at Silver Lake - Shenandoah Valley Mills - Dayton, VA
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 38° 25.324 W 078° 56.389
17S E 679845 N 4254655
Circa 1822 mill on Cook's Creek in the Valley.
Waymark Code: WM14R9T
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/14/2021
Views: 0
During the Civil War, the Daniel Bowman Mill occupied this site, grinding wheat brought here by Rockingham County farmers. The county was part of the prosperous agricultural region known as the “breadbasket of the Confederacy.” It was no accident that the reaper was perfected in the Shenandoah Valley or that the largest flourmills in the world were constructed in Richmond to process Valley wheat harvests. The Shenandoah Valley’s agricultural success brought devastation to the region, however, in the fall of 1864. Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan understood that the bounty of the Shenandoah Valley was a major source of life for the Confederacy. He convinced Gen. Ulysses S. Grant that neutralizing the Valley was an important military expedient.
Sheridan ordered his men to burn only barns and mills that contained grain or forage. Those that were empty were to be left alone, and those belonging to widows, single women, or orphans were to be spared. Between September 26 and October 8, Union soldiers destroyed barns, mills, and crops in the fields. Thousands of head of livestock were either slaughtered or driven away. Tanneries, woolen factories, sawmills, furnaces , and foundries were leveled. In Rockingham County, one of the ten most prosperous agricultural counties in America before the war, 35 mills were destroyed during this dark period including the Daniel Bowman Mill.
A few decades after the first 18th century settlers cleared Shenandoah Valley fields for corn, wheat and other grains, wheat became the dominant cash crop here. Mills were constructed on almost every stream to harness water power for grinding wheat and corn for local trade as well as for shipment around the world. The mills were also community gathering centers where news was exchanged and other business conducted.
Type of site: Other
Address:
2328 Silver Lake Road
Dayton, VA USA
22821
Phone Number: 540-879-3582
Admission Charged: No Charge
Website: [Web Link]
Driving Directions:
From Dayton, go north on Silver Lake Road for less than a mile. Mill is on your left.
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