Maclay's Mill

Maclay's Mill was built along the area near the Conodoguinet Creek which was first settled in 1742^[1] by Charles Maclay, Sr., who had arrived in America eight years prior. The mill was built around 1786^[2] by Charles' son John Maclay. John Maclay was a local magistrate and a delegate from Cumberland County to the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference in June 1776.^[3] Although there is controversy as to the date, one family narrative includes a legend that the mill race leading to John Maclay's grist mill was dug by Hessian prisoners of war during the American Revolution.^[4] The mill lasted seven generations until it was dismantled in 1918^[5] after being sold to Clarence Stouffer. Over its lifetime the mill was the childhood home of two United States Senators, William Maclay (politician)^[6] and Samuel Maclay,^[7] this also being the birthplace of the latter of the two.