STRODE’S MILL SIGN LIVES ON AT AREA HOME

Original lettering on historic structure is gone, but it has been replicated on a nearby house

EAST BRADFORD » Although motorists traveling along Route 52 at Birmingham Road are no longer able to see the iconic Strode’s Mill sign, a replica of that sign isn’t too far away.

East Bradford Township recently purchased the 7-acre parcel and its two historic buildings for $210,000. Built in 1723, Strode’s Mill is rich in history, dating back to the Revolutionary War’s Battle of the Brandywine.

J.T. Towne, who lives on Lenape road about a half-mile from the barn, commissioned local artist Joe Grubb of Lyndell to paint a replica of the sign on the side of her house.

“I’ve been an admirer of the antique sign on the barn for

some time,” she said. “I want to keep that historic image alive.”

Earlier this week the barn, along with the sign, were demolished.

The new sign on Towne’s house is about half the size of the original sign, about 10 feet wide.

A local organization called Friends of Strode’s Mill raised money to buy and renovate the site, with eventual plans to turn the barn and its stone walkways into an interpretive history site and the surrounding wetlands into a walking and biking trail, possibly tied into the proposed Brandywine Trail Corridor.

Strode’s Mill, once a pork processing plant for

the long-gone and nationally known Strode’s scrapple and sausage brand, was long an eyesore, but township officials have a vision of restoring the barn and springhouse at a cost estimated at $100,000.

The exterior stone walls of the building long had the “Country Fresh” Strode’s sign. Hogs from surrounding farms provided the raw ingredients.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Local artist Joe Grubb of Lyndell puts the finishing touches on a sign painted on a local house, near the old historic Strode’s Mill barn.

SCOTT HUGGINS – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA The original Strode’s Mill sign can be seen in this file photo taken in 2015.