The Mill at Anselma Preservation and Educational Trust

The Mill at Anselma is owned and operated by the The Mill at Anselma Preservation and Educational Trust. The Trust was formed in 1998 with the vision of developing the historic Anselma Mill and village as a historical attraction for the enjoyment of families, schoolchildren, tourists and scholars.  The Mill at Anselma was previously under the stewardship of the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, founded in 1967 by Samuel W. Morris.  Under the direction of the late Mr. Morris and his wife Eleanor M. Morris, the Trust has been a leader of preserving open space and historic sites in the watersheds of the French and Pickering Creeks.

Following the death of Anselma’s last miller, Mr. Oliver Ernest Collins in 1982, the Trust purchased the Anselma Mill and its 22-acre site as part of its work in historic preservation.  The Anselma Mill, the mill pond and races, as well as the site’s other structures were preserved and stabilized during the 1980s.  With the successful completion of the mill’s stabilization, the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust focused on its work in the purchase, easement and preservation of land and stream corridors.  In 1998, the Trust recognized the need to continue work on the Anselma Mill, and with the cooperation of the Board of Supervisors of West Pikeland Township and the Board of Commissioners of Chester County, formed the Mill at Anselma Preservation and Educational Trust, Inc. to continue the restoration. 

Since its inception, the Mill Trust has raised over $1.6 million for the preservation of the Mill and its surrounding landscape, including a grant from the prestigious Save America’s Treasures Program of the National Park Service and generous local support from the West Pikeland Township Board of Supervisors. A Site Master Plan was completed in 2001 to direct the strategic development of the historic mill and its surrounding buildings and landscape. An Interpretive Plan funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Heritage Philadelphia Program is now under development and will be tested with the Mill at Anselma’s audiences in Fall 2005. Through these efforts, the Mill at Anselma will offer innovative educational programming that brings Chester County’s rich industrial and agricultural heritage to life through sensory experiences offered by demonstrations of the Mill’s historic equipment.

Our Mission Statement

The Mill at Anselma Preservation and Educational Trust is dedicated to restoring and preserving the mill and its equipment together with other buildings on the site, and interpreting the everyday life of the village at Anselma.  This completely intact and extremely rare historic resource demonstrates the evolution of technology, and the impact of changes in free enterprise, commerce and transportation over three centuries of American life.  Through the interpretation of these resources, the Mill Trust provides a unique educational opportunity to examine societal changes and historical methods of adapting to those changes for schoolchildren, scholars, visitors and local residents.  Visitors to the mill will discover a variety of choices for integrating continued technological change in modern life.

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