Crossroads | Story and Photos by Betsy Arnett, Contributing Writer

Village of Millwood, Virginia

The village of Millwood, located insouth-central Clarke County, grewup around the Burwell-Morgan Mill,

one of the largest merchant mills in theShenandoah Valley. Completed in 1785, the mill was a joint

venture between Col. Nathaniel Burwelland Gen. Daniel Morgan. Burwell wasfrom the Tidewater region of Virginia, born and raised at Carter’s Grove nearWilliamsburg. In 1771, he inherited nearly 5,500 acres in what was thenFrederick County, Virginia. Recognizing the power-generation

potential of a fall in Spout Run, heconvinced Gen. Daniel Morgan, theRevolutionary War hero of the Battle ofSaratoga, to become his partner inestablishing a mill and to oversee the mill’soperations as Burwell still spent most ofhis time in the Tidewater area. The millwas a commercial success as soon as itopened. Shortly thereafter, Burwell builthis plantation, Carter Hall, nearby andlived there until his death in 1814. The Burwell-Morgan Mill operated for

over 150 years, grinding corn, wheat andother grain into meal and flour for areafarmers. Naturally, other commercialenterprises sprang up around the mill totake advantage of the traffic it generated.

By 1810, the village of Millwood had atannery, a wagon maker, a boot-and-shoemaker, a tavern, a blacksmith, a tailor anda store, in addition to the mill. After Clarke County was formed from

Frederick County in 1836, Millwoodcontinued to be a commercial center forthe southern part of the county. Even afterthe mill closed in the early 1950s, thevillage included several stores, two gasstations, a hairdresser, a barbershop andother businesses. Today, the mill is still the centerpiece of

the village, but in an entirely differentcapacity. Now owned by the Clarke CountyHistorical Association, theBurwell-Morgan Mill is aworking mill museum, bestknown for its twice-yearly“Art at the Mill” art shows.

Art at the Mill began in 1990 with 14artists and was held over a single weekend.The historical association’s largest fundraiser,Art at the Mill is now held the first twoweeks of May and the first two weeks ofOctober. Each show features more than

1,000 pieces ofartwork from over200 artists. Theshow is highly

competitive, drawing artists from acrossthe mid-Atlantic and beyond. After the Spring Art at the Mill show closes

in mid-May, the mill is open on weekends,with grinding demonstrations on Saturdays,through the end of November. The mill has

MILLWOOD, VA

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Burwell-Morgan Mill, the village’s namesake, operated for over 150 years in the Shenandoah Valley.

Shiloh Baptist Church

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an interior water wheel, an unusual designthat allowed the mill to operate year-roundin its heyday, and two grinding stones, onefor corn and a heavier stone for wheat. Inseason, visitors can purchase organic flourand meal ground on site.When the mill was donated to the

historical association in 1964, the buildingwas in rough shape. One wall collapsed in1943, rendering the water wheel inoperable.The owner had continued limited milloperations for another eight or nine years,by cutting a new window into the lowerlevel of the mill and running a belt driveoff his tractor through the window. The mill reopened as a working mill

museum in 1971 after considerablerestoration efforts by the historicalassociation. Because it is a working mill, thebuilding and its machinery require continualcare and maintenance. A second majorrestoration was completed in 2001, butaccording to Nathan Stalvey, executivedirector of the historical association, amajor support beam and a water springwere replaced last year.“The art shows make these types of

repairs possible, to keep the mill operating,”Stalvey notes. The core of the village, surrounding the

mill, is remarkably intact. Across from the

mill, the Locke Store building has beencontinuously occupied by a store since itwas constructed in 1836. Owner JulietMackay-Smith purchased the building in2002 and has transformed it into theLocke Modern Country Store,specializing in prepared foods using locallysourced ingredients, a carefully curatedselection of wines and other fine foodstuffs. Mackay-Smith grew up in Pennsylvania,

but came to Millwood during the summerswhen she was a child to stay with hergrandparents who owned a Welsh ponyfarm. She remembers stopping at the LockeStore to get ice cream on hot summer daysafter swimming in the river. When shepurchased the store, Mackay-Smithplanned to focus on off-site catering andadded a full kitchen to the building.However, she wasn’t prepared for thescope of running a retail business and thecatering side of the business has evolvedinto pick-up and on-site orders only.

On a typical weekend, it’s not unusualto see locals coming to collect their dinnersstanding in line, with out-of-town visitorsbuying lunch to eat at one of the picnictables on the front porch. Mackay-Smithoffers wine tastings every weekend, drawinga very loyal clientele from far and wide. “The building has kind of a life of its own,”

Mackay-Smith says of the store. Herrestoration of the store and the adjacentbuilding, known as The Buttery, continuesa family legacy. Mackay-Smith’s grandfatherwas instrumental in the restoration of theBurwell-Morgan Mill in the late 1960s.Following the Civil War, Millwood was

a predominantly African-Americancommunity. Today, the village remains tightknit, with many families going backgenerations. Denise Jackson’s family has livedin Millwood since before the houses hadrunning water. She remembers stories fromher mother of having to draw water from thevillage pump next to Shiloh Baptist Church.The pump is still there, although its handleis missing.Shiloh Baptist Church was built in 1892

by a white Baptist congregation, but afterthey built a new church two miles away inBoyce in 1923, the African-American Baptistcongregation in Millwood purchased thebuilding. Jackson was the last member of the

Burwel l-Morgan Mil l

The Burwell-Morgan Mill, built in 1785,hosts “Art at the Mill” twice yearly.

Nathan Stalvey,executive director

of the historicalassociation.

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congregation to be baptized in Spout Run.After she graduated from high school,

Jackson went to Washington, D.C., to findwork. She returned to Millwood in 1979when Project HOPE opened the Carter HallConference Center at Nathaniel Burwell’sformer plantation. Jackson worked atProject HOPE for 22 years as a cook and housekeeper.

When she was growing up, the centerof village life in Millwood was theMillwood Community Center. The centerwas built in 1910 as a school for African-American children, replacing an olderReconstruction-era building. In 1952, theAfrican-American schools in Clarke Countywere consolidated at the Johnson WilliamsSchool in Berryville, the county seat, andthe Millwood school was closed. Later thatyear, a group of village ladies formed theMillwood Good Will Association andpurchased the building from the county for

use as a recreation center.Jackson has fond memories of watching

boys play basketball on the court behind thecenter and of the youth dances that wereheld at the center nearly every Friday andSaturday night. “So many kids lived in Millwood back

then. Saturdays were ‘Oldies but Goodies’nights and that floor would jump,” Jacksonrecalls. “I was too young to stay until thedances were over, though.” The dancesended in the 1970s. Today, the communitycenter hosts an annual fall homecomingweekend and is available for rental. Millwood is an unincorporated community,

so there is no municipal government. Instead,the Millwood Community Association, anon-profit organization, tries to fill that gap.According to Candy Means, who moved toMillwood in 2005 with her husband Howard,the association has been successful inlimiting truck traffic through the village andin enforcing the county noise ordinance. However, the association focuses most of

its efforts on projects that help Millwoodresidents. Several years ago, the associationconverted the vacant lot next to the villagepost office into a community garden. “There is a perennial garden in front and

a vegetable garden, with a deer fence aroundit, behind that. One week each month, theproduce from the garden goes to the food

Locke Store

Visiting Millwood• Burwell-Morgan Mill:Open weekendsfrom mid-May through the end of October.Grinding on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.Upcoming events include Colonial Kids Dayon July 15, the Fall Art at the Mill show(Sept. 30 to Oct. 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily)and Heritage Day on Nov. 4.www.clarkehistory.org/events.

• Locke Store:Open Tuesday through Friday,9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. www.lockestore.com.

pantry run by the Episcopal Church,”Means explains. “The weeks when thefood pantry is closed, we deliver produceto pantry clients in the village.”The Millwood Community Association

also hosts a Christmas bazaar, with theproceeds going to the Good Will Association,and a summer picnic for the entire villageon the mill grounds. After moving to Millwood from Bethesda,

Maryland, the Meanses quickly becameinvolved in village affairs. “People were justso welcoming,” Means says. “When we retired,we knew we wanted to live someplace wherewe could be part of the community. Wecertainly found that here in Millwood. It is a very special place.” � �

Denise Jackson,long-time resident

of Millwood.

Scenes from around the Locke Modern Country Store,the core of the village of Millwood.

Above (from left to right) Ashley Gannon,Locke Store owner Juliet Mackay-Smithand Savannah Voelkel.