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Gainesville Scout aids Chapman's Mill
Parker Anderson recently erected a snake rail fence at the entrance to Chapman's Mill on the Prince William - Fauquier border.
Anderson is a Life Scout in Boy Scout Troop 1361 of Gainesville and completed the project on June 12 with the help of volunteers.
The 14-year-old Scout has been working on this project since last July, but has worked the hardest since March when his proposal was accepted. He had to raise $1,200 to purchase the wood to build the fence. Marshall Farmer's Co-op provided the wood (118 rails) at cost, saving Anderson hundreds of dollars.
Chapman's Mill was first built by the Chapman family in 1742 outside Haymarket. After the Civil War, it was renovated and revamped by the Beverly family, who turned it into a successful milling operation.
The mill was gutted by an arson fire in 1998 and since then, the Turn the Mill Around Campaign has been working to restore it.
Anderson's fence is a step toward rebuilding the mill and the surrounding property as a historic tourism site.
Plans call for pedestrian pathways around the mill and along the head race providing views of the millpond, flume and 29-foot wheel. In addition, visitors will be able to enter the mill and interpretive signs will explain the milling process and the impact of the industrial site on the evolving economy of the area. The old stone mill store will be restored and used as a kiosk to interpret the history of Thoroughfare Gap.
For details, visit www.chapmansmill.org.
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