YorksPast

The distinctive brick mill building at 3780 East Market Street, just west of the Ettline Victorian House, had its beginnings as a mill warehouse. The mill warehouse was purposefully situated adjacent to the busy road and railroad; it was used as a general warehouse and serviced the Hauser Grist Mill, located back a lane at this location. The following section of the 1876 Atlas of York County by Beach Nichols shows where the [1] Hauser’s Grist Mill was located with respect to the eventually built [4] Hauser Mill Warehouse.

During October 1875, Henry C. Hauser obtains the 105-acre homestead property of his deceased older brother John H. Hauser. These 105-acres encompassed the whole southeast corner of what is now East Market Street and Locust Grove Road; with frontage of over 1/2-mile along the south side of East Market Street. Sometime thereafter, Henry C. Hauser builds the Victorian house, now at 3790 East Market Street, and his mill warehouse, now at 3780 East Market Street.

I suspect that the Victorian house was built first, since in 1875, Henry and Nancy Hauser still had four young children living in their household; ages 6, 8, 11 and 13. The 105-acre homestead property also contained the [1] Hauser Grist Mill, which operated into the very early 1900s. Speculation is that Henry Hauser built the [4] Hauser Mill Warehouse because it afforded better exposure for his mill products, i.e. at the intersection of a busy road and the railroad, compared to the his grist mill, located off the beaten path, back a farm lane.

Several readers have questioned why I call this structure a “mill warehouse.” The newspapers, of the time, reference this building as Hauser’s Warehouse. For example the March 11, 1896 issue of The Semi-Weekly Gazette, in dispatches “From Stony Brook,” notes; “The well diggers at Hauser’s Warehouse got water at a depth of eighty-two feet. The water flows at the rate of 100 gallons an hour.”

In 1918, the building continues to be known as the Hauser Warehouse when the Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Operative Association first leased the building. See the following article in the February 9, 1918 issue of The York Daily:

On April 12, 1921, the Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Operative Association purchased the property when their lease was up; reference Deed Book 21U, page 284. The Co-Op purchased Hauser’s Warehouse from Barbara A. Hauser, the then unmarried daughter of Henry and Nancy Hauser.

The Co-Op did custom grinding; very likely powered by electric motors. If one looks closely at the photograph at the beginning of this post, one sees a vertical brick joint between the western part (right side) and eastern part (left side) of the mill building. That brick joint and the location of the chimney points to an eastern addition. Speculation is that the right side is the original mill warehouse built by Henry C. Hauser; with the left side added by The Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Operative Association sometime after 1921.

The collections of the York County Heritage Trust include the following 1947 receipt. The Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Op Association dealt in feeds, seeds, fertilizers, coal, lime, and cement; they also did custom grinding and mixing.

The shareholders of the Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Op Association authorized the liquidation and dispersal of the assets of the association on January 30, 1974. On March 16, 1974, a public sale of the real estate, equipment and stock was held. The sale of the real estate was to W. F. O. Rosenmiller, II, and C. Warren Smith, Jr.; as recorded in Deed Book 67Q, page 1195.

For 56-years this building was utilized, by Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Op, functionally as a Mill. You may remember the mill building recently housed The Framers & Framers’ Gallery for many years.

Animal Care Hospital of York is the newest owner of the mill building at 3780 East Market Street. They are congratulated for retaining existing elements of original construction throughout the structure.

Related links to mills in the Stony Brook aera:

• Pinpointing the Four Mills in Stony Brook

[1] Hauser’s water powered Grist Mill

• The Humpback Bridge at Stony Brook, Part 3: John and Hannah Hauser Family 
• The Humpback Bridge at Stony Brook, Part 5: The John H. Hauser 1850 Homestead

[2] Hiestand’s water powered Grist Mill

• The Stonybrook Mill; Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
• Grant Voaden’s Stonybrook Mill details; illustrated with Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
• Handwriting on the Walls of Stonybrook Mill and more Artwork of Cliff Satterthwaite
• 1860 Buildings 51-58 in East Region of Springettsbury Township

[3] Waser’s (3755 E. Market St.); Stony Brook Mill

• A Trolley heads East of Stony Run in Stony Brook
• A future post will feature a 1924 receipt with Stony Brook Mill imprinted at the top and signed by M. F. Waser; the mill proprietor

[4] Hauser’s (3780 E. Market St.); Kreutz Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Op

• Present post: Hauser Mill Warehouse in Stony Brook becomes the Mill for Kreutz-Creek Valley Farmer’s Co-Op
• A Trolley heads East of Stony Run in Stony Brook

Assorted related posts include:

• Barshinger’s Mill Site along Barshinger Creek
• S. Morgan Smith Turbine cut up York County eels Ready for the Frying Pan
• Jacobs “Factory” Mill in Paradise Township gets first S. Morgan Smith Turbine
• The Mill Room was filled with Neighbors who discussed Anything and Everything
• The Magic Corn Sheller; it was Invincible

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