In 1875 the mill was owned by J. Harnish and in 1889 by Harvey Haverstick. Mr. Haverstick owned the mill in 1889 to 1899 and then ownership changed to his wife. We believe Harvey died in a milling accident. The Haverstick family owned the mill property into 1905.

During the Haverstick ownership, the old stone mill house was torn down and a new brick house was built. All the trim in the house is walnut taken from trees on the property. All the lumber was sawed at the sawmill on the mill property. The date stone on the house is 1889.

An image of the 1889 millhouse.

Once again the mill with three houses, barn and 22 acres was sold at sheriff's sale. Harold Hunsecker paid $12,005 for the property.

The mill was powered by an undershot wheel that ran French burl stones that ground the wheat to flour. Harold decided to up date the equipment. In 1905, Mr. Hunsecker installed a Leffel Turbine and four 9x18 Robinson Roll Stands along with a sifter and purifier.

In 1915, Harold added the present poured cement silos. All the work was done by hand with about 100 men and boys. The boys were paid 12 cents an hour and the men received 15 cents an hour. The silos can store 40,000 bushels of wheat.

With the updated equipment and additional wheat storage, the mill was able to produce 75 barrels of flour per day. Much of that was shipped to Philadelphia and New York. It was transported by wagon to the freight station at West Willow and then by train. The flour was also sold locally to Martin's and Sturgis Pretzel Companies. Flour, bran and middlings were sold to farmers and community members for daily use.

This mill was the center of the community at Lime Valley. On the property was a sawmill and cider mill. The post office was located in the mill office. Nearby there was a quarry, buggy, wheelwright and blacksmith shops.

The Hunsecker's had one child, Anna. Harold died in 1936. He willed the property in a trust to Anna who had married L. W. Lippold. The trust was controlled by a local bank.

Mr. Lippold was an electrical contractor and knew very little about the milling operation. Due to that fact, the mill was not making money and the bank demanded the mill be sold.

In 1941 the mill was purchased by Lloyd Sheaffer and operated by his son, Reid.

This is a flour bag used at the mill during the Sheaffer's ownership from 1941-1963. The Sheaffer's also produced feed using the by products of flour. Bran which is the outer husk of the wheat and middlings were added to ground corn, ground alfalfa, oats and molasses. A hammer mill was used for grinding the feed.

In 1963 the Sheaffer's sold only the mill and 6+ acres for $17,000 to Lancaster Milling Co. They continued manufacturing flour until 1972. During this time the flour was bagged under the name "Daisy Flour".

Agnes, the flood of 1972 hit the mill hard. Lancaster Milling discontinued it's production at the mill but used the silos for storage of wheat. In 1981 Lancaster Milling Co. sold the mill at public auction. Roy and Helen Wagner purchased the property of 6.249 acres for $27,200.

The Wagner's converted the mill to a hydroelectric plant and started generating in 1986. At that time the small turbine could generate 10kwh at 60 cents an hour making $14.00 a day. The large turbine could generate 18kwh at $1.08 an hour making a total of $25.92 per day.

As time pasted the dam started sinking and the mill race filled with silt. There was not enough water in the race to run the large turbine and the small turbine could not run all day. It was not a profitable venture.

In 1996 Betty Sheaffer, Reid's widow placed the brick mill house with 15+ acres up for sale. During the same time Helen Wagner considered selling the mill.

John and Karen Hofmeister purchased both properties in 1996 with the intent to restore the historic old stone mill.

You can now join us for tours of our historic mill. See our event page for more information.