Rock Creek Park Fall Heritage Day at Peirce Mill

nps photo

Peirce Mill

Step back in time on Saturday, October 15 for a day-long celebration marking the re-opening of historic Peirce Mill during Rock Creek Park Heritage Day.

Artists, craftspeople, and historians will line the mill yard and grounds, restored to their 1800s appearance, to bring history alive. Visitor can join them for hands-on demonstrations of the arts of the blacksmith, stonemason, and carpenter, which were central to life on the Peirce estate.

Park rangers and volunteers from the Friends of Peirce Mill will shed light on what life was like in the 1800s for all people - both free and enslaved - who lived and worked on the Peirce estate. Musicians will also perform music from a period when mills formed the social and commercial hearts of their communities.

At center stage will the last remaining grist mill in Washington, DC. Visitors will be able tour the Peirce Mill and its newly restored millworks and witness the workings of this giant machine turning once again. With a miller at the stones, grain will be ground as it was more than a century ago, when the mill became part of Rock Creek Park.

The day's events are free and include the following programs:

10:00 AM Water and Gravity All the machinery in Peirce Mill operated on waterpower and gravity. Take an in-depth look at this giant machine.

11:00 AM Oliver Evans and Peirce Mill Learn about Oliver Evans, the man who build the first fully automated factory. Discover how his inventions affected the construction of Peirce Mill, and how they continue to affect our lives today.

12:00 PM Preserving Peirce Mill Join the Friends of Peirce Mill to learn all about the mill's rehabilitation, a joint effort by the Friends and the National Park Service. Discover how the historic millworks were restored and what you can do to help with on-going restoration efforts.

1:00 PM The Social History of Peirce Mill Peirce Mill is filled with stories that mirror the history of Washington DC and the nation as both struggled towards equality for all people. Discover many of these compelling stories, including slavery and emancipation on the Peirce family estate, segregation in Picnic Grove 1, and the time when the mill was a teahouse run by female entrepreneurs.

1:30 PM Author Book Signing Meet Steve Dryden, author of "Peirce Mill: Two Hundred Years in the Nation's Capital."

2:00 PM Peirce Mill Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Come join the National Park Service, the Friends of Peirce Mill and other as we cut the ribbon to mark the completion of the rehabilitation of Peirce Mill and the mill yard.

2:30 PM Cornucopia This interactive program will introduce children to the important products made from milled corn. Children will also de-shell corn by hand and learn how the mill worked.

3:00 PM Corn Husk Dolls Make a corn husk doll, a common 1800s farm craft. Children also will be able to play with other toys and games of the period, and talk with a ranger about what life was like growing up on the Peirce family estate. Ages 4 and up.

Living History Demonstrations 10:00 AM-4:00PM
Candlelight Mill Tours 6:00 PM, 6:30 PM, 7:00 PM, 7:30 PM, 8:00 PM
Candlelight Tours FREE with Ticket Tickets available at Peirce Barn

 

Parking is available at:
Picnic Grove 1 (off of Tilden Street)
Picnic Grove 2 (off of Beach Drive)
The corner of Broad Branch and Beach Drive (a short hike from the mill. Take the multiuse trail on the south of the parking lot to the mill).
There are a limited number of parking spaced along Tilden Street,

The Nearest Metro station is Van Ness. From the station walk south to Tilden Steet and turn left. Walk down the hill to the mill.