Peirce Mill & Barn

Meh. It’s a nice sight from the outside, and this location is a good place to start a hike along Rock Creek. The mill itself is rarely open, and when it is, there’s not much going on there. Maybe when they restore it it’ll be more interesting but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to see the mill until then.

Located on the outskirts of Rock Creek Park, Peirce Mill is the last standing gristmill in Washington, DC, and the only operational mill maintained by the National Park Service. (Unfortunately, it’s currently undergoing extensive restoration and is not running while preservation takes place. The Park Service can’t say when the mill will be up and running again.) It was built in the mid-​19^th century by Isaac Peirce, and was one of many mills supported by Rock Creek at the time. After it fell into disrepair, the mill was restored by FDR’s Public Works Administration, and during the 1930s and 40s ground grain into flour for use in government building cafeterias. Lack of trained millwrights and loss of water volume in the race led to Peirce Mill’s official closure in 1958.
We took a group of students studying the Industrial Revolution to a Ranger led program at the mill. We started in Peirce Barn, which neighbors the mill and houses a small gift shop and an exhibit about the inner workings of a 19^th century gristmill. The Ranger spoke about the kinds of toys children played with in the mid-​1800s, then showed our kiddos how to make corn husk dolls, which they each got to bring home with them as a neat souvenir of the field trip. (Fun fact about the barn: it’s located rather near a few Embassies, like the Netherlands’ and the Czech Republic’s. During the Cold War, the CIA set up audio and video surveillance from the hayloft of the barn in order to spy on said Embassies’ activity.)
The Ranger then led us on a tour of the mill next door, showing us the massive grindstones (downstairs) and even more massive wooden-​and-​leather-​strap gears (upstairs). We finished the program with an easy hike through Rock Creek Park.
While Peirce Mill may not be the most thrilling NPS site I’ve visited, its historical significance as the last-​standing vestige of Washington’s once thriving milling industry can’t be downplayed. And I’m always a fan of anything NPS. Go visit the only operational mill in its system.