March 5, 2015 / Joanne Yeck

For Sale: Curdsville Mills

Ruins of Curdsville Mill, Courtesy Fran Harris Hill

On September 27, 1859, R. & W. Gannaway advertised in the Richmond Whig, offering for sale a Valuable Farm and Manufacturing Mills.

The tract of land was described as containing between 1,400 and 1,500 acres, adjoining the lands of Col. E.W. Hubard, Mrs. Martha B. Eppes, the Rev. Wm. C. Meredith, and others. The tract was ½ mile from a “circular saw mill” and, about ten miles from Farmville, on the Farmville and Buckingham Plank Road. It included a fine orchard, with “almost every variety of fruit;” a Brick Dwelling House, with eight rooms; and an office in the yard.

Additionally the Gannaways advertised the following:

We also offer the Curdsville Mills, on Willis’s River, with 15 or 30 acres of land attached, of excellent quality, and well enclosed with plank fencing. These mills are of brick, and in thorough repair. There are three pair of Burrs, a rubber and corn mill, with two water wheels, and capable of grinding between 25 and 30,000 bushels of wheat. We will sell the mills 3 or 400 acres of adjoining land, if desired, which is also well timbered.

Buckingham County land tax records indicate that, in 1857, Richard and William Gannaway bought 76 acres, including Curdsville Mills, from Alexander Moseley and that these mills were originally owned by William Phaup and others.

Click here for more about Curdsville Mill.