America250PA awards Newlin Grist Mill a Semiquin grant

America250PA, with generous funding support from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Legislature, is proud to award $1 million in grant funding across two grant periods during our 2024-25 Fiscal Year. The Semiquincentennial Grants are intended to create, uplift, improve, and expand programming, projects, and events from eligible Pennsylvania communities and organizations, which contribute to a full calendar of activities, engaging every single Pennsylvanian, around the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

America250PA (A250PA) is Pennsylvania’s official Commission charged with planning and coordinating all of the programming, projects and events around the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. They are currently scheduling and implementing a series of programs and events focused on Educating, Preserving, Innovating, and Celebrating everything that makes Pennsylvania what it is: from our natural and political past and origins; to the people, industry, and organizations that make up our neighbors and communities; to the incredible sights and sounds Pennsylvania provides and Pennsylvanians create; all the way to laying a solid groundwork for our children, for future generations, and for the next 250 years

Delaware County's history is deeply intertwined with the rise and fall of its many mills. From gristmills to paper mills and textile factories, these establishments harnessed the power of local creeks and shaped the county's early economy and development. Delaware County's mill history is a story of innovation, industry, and transformation, leaving behind a legacy of both physical structures and a strong connection to its industrial past. 

Edgmont Twp. Sycamore Mill Springhouse c.1906 pc 
photo credit www.delawarecountyhistory.com

In the winter 1682/83, Nicholas Newlin and his family landed in Upland (adjacent to Chester, PA), newly arrived from Ireland and seeking religious and economic opportunities. The family settled in Concord Township and began building a new life for themselves. In 1704, Nicholas’ son Nathaniel constructed a grist mill now known as the Newlin Grist Mill. The mill served its community as a source for grinding grains and strengthened the economy by exporting products to international markets around the world.

The Newlin Grist Mill and the surrounding 160-acre park in Glen Mills is a place for exploration of both history and the environment. It features twelve historic structures, including a working grist mill and , public programs, and over 8 miles of nature trails. Known for their Kitchen Encounters Series, Public Archaeology Days, field trips and private tours, and annual Race for the Watershed Duck Derby & 5K, history lives on at Newlin Grist Mill. Today, the Nicholas Newlin Foundation continues to maintain and raise funds to support the Newlin Grist Mill and Park.

Photo credit Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.

Their special Semiquincentennial program, “Trades that Built America” will bring special skilled artisans and demonstrators for presentations on early building trades including wood working/joinery, log construction and shingle-making, and blacksmithing demonstrations and workshops. Part of the project will include making doors, windows, rafters, iron hardware, and even shingles in our Millwright and Blacksmith shops, inviting the public to join in the process of historic preservation. Demonstrations and presentations by skilled craftspeople will not only provide insight into how this building was built, but also the importance of historic trades and tradespeople in the story of America.  

The programs will coincide with the restoration of Newlin Log House, a log house from 1750-1775. With community help from outside organizations and volunteers, the structure was disassembled, the logs were mapped, tagged, and loaded onto a truck and placed in storage for future reassembly at Newlin Grist Mill. As described in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer feature story, this $300,000 reassembly project will create much-needed space for public programming and education, presenting new stories about early construction techniques, trades, taverns and inn, and more historic foodways.  

To get involved in the Newlin Log House Reassembly project or learn more about programs at Newlin Grist Mill, please visit https://newlingristmill.org/.

Take a virtual tour of the site’s Historic Area with the Clio museum app! 

Public Disclosure: Tony Shahan, Executive Director of Newlin Grist Mill, is also an appointed member of the Delaware County America 250 Commission, whose roll is to engage Delaware County citizens in the America250 celebration and encourage heritage tourism.