Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Mill at Anselma gets new director
Will Caverly, of Elverson, excited to open up the 22-acre property to weddings, corporate events
WEST PIKELAND » “See the large gears go round and round, Hear their soothing rumbling sound,” reads an interpretive sign at the Mill at Anselma.
The mill’s gears are powered by water turning a 16-foot water wheel in the same way wheat has been cut on stone since 1747.
Will Caverly started as the mill’s new executive director on July 1.
Caverly lives in Elverson and is excited to open up the 22-acre property to weddings and corporate events and expand the volunteer base.
“We need good people,” said Caverly, a beekeeper. “We need people who are passionate about the mill.
“People built the mill and people are going to run it.”
The mill is open to the public and on the second Saturday of each month the water wheel gets cranking and turns the stones at 90 revolutions per minute.
“This is a place you can come to time and time again and discover new things,” said Ernie Holling, chair the board of trustees.
What distinguishes the Mill at Anselma from most others is that it still grinds wheat the same way, with the same equipment, the way it did prior to the formation of the United States.
“It’s like a low rumble — a soothing low rumble,” said Dave Rollenhagen, miller and vice chair of the board of trustees.
Kevin Kerr, trustee and treasurer, said the operating mill “resonates through your entire body.”
Thirty-three-year old Caverly is married with no children and runs an agricultural and horticultural nonprofit from his home.
He graduated for Downingtown High School and earned an undergraduate degree from Villanova University in philosophy and Arab studies. The gardener and lover of the outdoors also earned a master’s degree in liberal studies from Villanova. He most recently worked as a fundraiser and grant writer.
Partly because of the mill, the area was known as the mid-Atlantic’s high producing, “breadbasket,” while serving Philadelphia.
The quartz stones used to thresh the wheat are only found in France. Wheat was turned to flour, often while the farmer waited. The miller’s payment was a portion of the final product.
When industries moved to the Midwest during the mid-19th Century, the mill turned to producing corn dairy feed. Since 1886, it was the only product the mill produced.
In addition to creating more informative signage, Caverly and the trustees want to develop an app that will play videos on a cellphone or tablet at different places on the property.
Caverly wants visitors to better understand the surrounding landscape. The 10-square-mile township is also home to Yellow Springs and the Albert Barnes summer residence.
“We want to use the space, respect the history and push in a new direction,” Caverly said.
The mill reached out to Drexel LeBow’s executive MBA program during a recent four-day conference and workshop. Three plans concerning strategy and operations were formulated.
From early April to early December, the mill is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
The mill operates as it did in the 1700s on the second Saturday of the month.
The mill is located at 1730 Conestoga Road, just a half-mile from the Conestoga/Route 113 intersection.
Harvest Mid Summer’s Eve at the Mill at Anselma will take place from 6-9 p.m. on July 18. The event will feature fine drink and food.
For more information on the mill, go to, www.anselmamill.org or call 610-8271906.