History of the Annville Lime Company

on Bachman Road

Presentation by Owen Moe, Friends of Old Annville Program, April 10, 2016 at the Historic Annville Train Station

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 1

My interest in this topic is twofold:

1. As a long-time member of the Quittie Creek Nature Park Committee, I have been curious about the history of the park area, particularly the large limestone quarry, the buried lime kilns, and the remnants of some sort of water-driven mill on the Quittapahilla Creek near the Raymond J. Swingholm Foot Bridge to South Annville.

2. Our Quittie Creek Nature Park Committee has been planning to place a historical marker near the Swingholm Foot Bridge, identifying the site of the old mill that stood in that place (see next slide for picture of the mill site) and providing historical information about that structure. Historically, however, we knew virtually nothing about the mill itself and needed to find information for the marker.

Site of Bachman’s MillView from South Annville at Swingholm Bridge, Looking North

Mill Site on the North Bank

Sources of Information• Electronic Archives of Annville History (Paul Fullmer)

• “Mills of the Quittapahilla” (1903) Lebanon County Historical Society, by Henry S. Heilman.

• “Annville: Township and Town”(1910) Lebanon County Historical Society, by Joseph Warner.

• “Annville’s Oldest Burial Place and Its Memories” (1915) Lebanon County Historical Society, Thomas Stein.

• 1875 Atlas of Lebanon County, F. A. Davis.

• Newspapers.com searchable online access to current and older newspapers.

Bachman’s Mill• Limestone Mill Built by Abraham and Mary Raiguel in

1831 as a Grist Mill to Grind Local Grain

• Conveyed to Peter Bachman in 1834

• Reconveyed to John K. Bachman in 1849

• Rented out in 1882 after death of John K. Bachman

• Deeded to John A. Bachman in 1903

• Housed a Harness and Strap Company in ~1901-1903

• Contained a Laundry in 1903-1904

• Became part of a Lime Producing Operation in ~1904

• Destroyed by Fire in 1911

Bachman’s Mill Described in 1911

Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report –November 21, 1911

AN OLD LANDMARK

The old mill which was destroyed was erected a century ago by the Raiguel brothers…. The old mill was a landmark. The walls were constructed of stone. For years, until Mr. Bachman leased the building to Mr. Deitzler’s Company, it was used as a grist mill.

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 2

Bachman’s Mill was the third of three mills built by the Raiguels from 1797 to 1831. Only

one of these mills is still standing. That mill, built in 1797 and located on South White Oak

Street on the South side of the Quittie, was later sold by the Raiguels to David Kreider.

The next three slides show first a photo of Bachman’s mill itself, followed by an older and

then a present-day view of the very similar David Kreider mill. In the postcard picture

(second slide), note the arched water channel built into the base of the mill, creating water

pressure to drive a water wheel inside of the mill. Bachman’s mill would be expected to

have the same interior wheel, but in our picture see no evidence of a water channel. The

third slide down of the Raiguel/Kreider mill today shows that the water channel has been

completely filled in. The fourth slide down compares Bachman’s Mill with the 1797 mill

that is still standing today – they appear to be almost identical.

Bachman’s Mill may have been driven by a Fitz water wheel (fifth slide down), in use by

some mills in the area at that time. The short Fitz wheel can operate with a low-height

mill dam such as we would expect on the Quittapahilla Creek.

Bachman’s Mill, Probably Late 1800’s

Postcard of the RaiguelMill(1797) on South White Oak Street

Current Mill on South White Oak

Comparison of Two Mills Built by Raiguel Family

Bachman Mill 1797 Mill

Fitz Water Wheel

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 3 Bachman’s Mill is shown on the map of Annville in the 1875 Atlas of Lebanon County (next slide). Also identified on the map is the 1797 David Kreider Mill (picture shown earlier) on the south side of the Quittie along South White Oak Street. Note that both mills have companion saw mills listed on the map, but neither sawmill is presently standing and no current evidence points to their respective locations.

The 1875 map identifies John K. Bachman as owner of Bachman’s Mill and further indicates the presence of a lime kiln, suggesting quarrying activity at that time on the Bachman farm.

Mary Bachman, wife of John K., offered the mill for rent in 1882, presumably after her husband died. Mary died in 1897 and John A. Bachman then took over the operations of farm and quarry (see second, third, and fourth slides which follow). By 1901, John Bachman was running a limestone business.

1875 Map of

Annville

Bachman Road

South White

Oak

Lebanon Courier, January 4, 1882

Lebanon Daily News, October 4, 1897

Death of Mary Bachman –

Survived by Sallie, Rose, and John

Doris Flory Notes

1

2

3

Owen Moe - Narrative,Part 4 In 1901, according to the research and notes of Doris Flory (previous slide), John A. Ditzler (also spelled Deitzler) met with John A. Bachman on July 30. John Deitzler was to play a big role in commercial activities at the Bachman Farm from that meeting in 1901 until Deitzler’s death in 1920.

John Deitzler ran a harness strap making shop in Bachman’s Mill from ~1901-1903, before moving that business to Lebanon. A laundry then apparently moved into the mill from 1903 to ~1904 or 1905 (see next two slides).

Finally, Bachman’s Mill became part of the stone/lime operation run by John A. Bachman from ~1904-08. A tragic accident occurred in 1907 (see third, fourth, and fifth slide)

Finally, a newly formed Annville Lime Company, first mentioned in the newspapers in 1908, took over quarrying, lime kiln, and stone crushing operations at Bachman’s Mill and Farm, producing lime and limestone products.

In 1911, an arsonist started a fire that destroyed Bachman’s Mill and all of the equipment inside. Only some of the stone walls remained.

Lebanon Daily News, January, 1903

Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report, 25 Mar 1903

The Accident

LDN February 15, 1907

John Bachman identified as owner

and operator of farm and quarry in 1907, at the time of

this accident

Two homes are mentioned, near the

mill

Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report, December 11, 1908

First mention of the Annville

Lime Company, with John A. Deitzler as

owner.

Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly

Report17 Nov 1911

Page 2

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 5

We are now going to break briefly from our historical account to talk about the making of lime from quarried limestone, and in particular the intense heating of limestone in stone and brick kilns to produce quicklime. Heating the limestone was referred to as “burning lime” by people in that era.

The next five slides cover the making of lime and show images of the former and current states of the lime kilns on Bachman Road. The tops of the now largely-buried and filled-in kilns can be viewed at the Quittie Creek Nature Park on Bachman Road in Annville.

We will resume the historical account after this five-slide interlude.

Making Lime fromLimestone

forSoils

WhitewashPlaster

Concrete

CO2CO2

Loses 44% of

Its Mass

In Kiln at1800 deg

Burning Lime

Kilns of Annville Lime Company

Same Scene Today

Tops of Kilns Today

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 6

On November 21, 1911, four days after the disastrous fire that destroyed the historic Bachman’s Mill and all of its recently-purchased equipment inside, John Deitzler announced that the Annville Lime Company would replace the destroyed mill with a new fire-proof concrete plant.

The new plant would also use water power from the QuittapahillaCreek, but would employ metal turbines instead of a water wheel.

The next five slides describe the original concrete plant and what little remains at the site of that plant. The vertical concrete wall of the plant that extended down to the stream itself is now completely removed. Only the water raceway that channeled water through the two turbines remains.

Lebanon Courier and

Semi-Weekly Report

November 21, 1911

Concrete Plant Built by John Deitzlerin 1912

Concrete Plant (Mill)

Zeller Home?

From Bruce Bomberger (August, 2014)

I grew up on a farm in S. Annville Twp in the 1960s and 70s and got to know the area south of the creek and former stone arch bridge very well while looking for old dumps to dig bottles. I can barely remember the hulk or form of this mill, still standing in the 60s, before the fire company or arsonists destroyed it. I remember the iron turbines that remained in the masonry raceways for years after the mill was gone, and how the stone arch bridge began to crumble and was condemned to traffic not long before Hurricane Agnes took it away in 1972. You cannot imagine the size the Quittie had swelled to in the week after the storm.

2007Remains

of Concrete

Plant

Wall from concrete

plantWater raceway with seating for

turbine

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 7

Following the installation of the new plant on the Quittie for crushing, hydrating, and milling the quicklime from the nearby kilns and quarry, the Annville Lime Company thrived. They upgraded to gas-fired kilns, built new warehouses near the train station and shipped lime in many directions, state- and nation-wide.

John A. Deitzler, President of Annville Lime Company died in 1920 when the company was making improvements and upgrades. Three other Deitzlers then took over leadership roles in the company.

In the mid-1930’s, an aerial view of Annville shows the Annville Lime Company land (which is now part of the Quittie Creek Nature Park) as bright white – due to the lime dust covering the area.

Lebanon Courier and Semi-Weekly Report (Feb. 11, 1913)

Harrisburg Telegraph, Jan 14,1914

Harrisburg Telegraph, May 12,1914

Blasting at Quarry Throws

Stones into Nearby Houses

Lebanon Semi-Weekly News, 20 Dec 1915

Warehouse at what is now BogerConcrete?

Harrisburg Telegraph, 1917

Concrete, Volume 17, October, 1920

Lebanon Semi-Weekly NewsMarch 1926

Aerial View of Annville from 1937

Lebanon Daily News

April 17, 1953

Owen Moe - Narrative, Part 8

In June, 1954, the Annville Lime Company merged with the H. E. Millard Stone and Lime Company. Annville Lime seems to have retained its identity (name) but was owned and administered by Millard.

In October, 1967, Millard merged with Bethlehem Mines (associated with Bethlehem Steel). At that time, or shortly thereafter, the original Bachman Farm land, later owned by the Annville Lime Company, was transferred to Annville Township.

According to Paul “Stumpy” Graham, the area in front of the lime kilns was filled in with dirt, as were the kilns themselves, in 1972 following the Hurricane Agnes flood.

In 1989, the Annville Township Commissioners approved the creation of a new Quittie Creek Nature Park on the land that had been associated with the Annville Lime Company.

Lebanon Daily News, 30 Jun 1954

Merger of Annville Lime Company with H.E. Millard in

1954

Lebanon Daily News, 6 Dec 1956

Worked at Annville

Lime Company

From 1916 -1956

Lebanon Daily News, June 1963

Annville Lime Still Operating

under Millard in

1963

Lebanon Daily News, Oct. 10, 1967

Millard Merges with Bethlehem Mines

Land from Original Annville Lime

Company Transferred to Annville Township

Quittie Creek Nature Park (1989)

Remaining Questions

•Boundaries of Original Bachman Farm?

•When were Lime Kilns Decommissioned?

•When did Bethlehem Mines Give/Sell ~28 Acres to Annville?

•When Was Concrete Plant Destroyed?