Fire in flour mills - Sanborn fire insurance maps, 6 fire dangers 1795

Fire was one threat to flour mills, flooding was another. The Sanborn maps of all buildings in a town (earliest 1868) contained information to help insurance agents... and firemen - building material (stone - blue, wood - yellow, brick - red), fire equipment in the complex, what was on each floor, fuel and more. This is an Ellicott City MD mill. Check to see if your local mill, home or other building is on a Sanborn map.
Oliver Evans wrote about six flour mill fire hazards in 1795.

The photo is c1890, and the above map image is from 1899, with the following info about the mill -

Patapsco Flouring Mills C. A. Gambrill Mfg Co.
Capacity 1500 Barrels
Night Watch man
Clock
18 Stations Hourly Rounds
Power: Steam 1000 HP & Water 150 HP
Heat: Steam
Fuel: Coal Light: ElectricIEP Worthington Pump 7½” X7”X13”
Water Casks and Pails Thro’out.
60’ 1 ¼ “ Hose att’d in Eng. Room Turbine Water Wheels

Mill “A”
1st floor - Corn Meal Storage
2nd - 4 Double Stand Rolls Corn Mill
3rd - Dryer – 2 Purifiers 1 Reel
4th - Sifter, Fan & Dust Collectors
B Sack Rm

1887 Sanford map - mill complex between Patapsco River and mill race

1910 mill complex - click to enlarge

Six dangers causing fires in mills 1795 by Oliver Evans: 1) moving parts, 2) wooden candlesticks, 3) candle in post or on cask, 4) heavy grain bent floor, 5) branding irons, 6) mill stone spindle overheat. More details HERE

Progression of the mill on the Patapsco River. The Ellicott brothers founded Ellicott mills in 1774. After the 1868 flood the remaining part of the building was incorporated at the end of a larger structure, as shown above. Two fires and more floods in the 1900s resulted in the current larger structure which was in use until 2019.

1854 mill at Ellicott mills

Flood of 1868, Ellicott City mill

Current mill building (much longer and with silos, will get picture this winter)

SOURCES

-Library of Congress holds many Sanborn maps, five are on Ellicott City, Maryland (1887, 1894, 1899, 1904, 1910) HERE

-1854 image from Sachse map of Ellicott City at Library of Congress
-1868 flood image from Harper's Weekly Aug 8, 1868
-Image c1890. Howard County Historical Society in Ellicott Mill Original Historic Site HO-73 in HABS. I checked this after writing the blog, and thrilled to see the Sanborn maps included! HERE
-The Young Mill-wright and Miller's Guide by Oliver Evans (1755-1819), Thomas Ellicott (1738-1799) Phila: 1795

TAPED TALK

Sanborn Insurance Maps at Library of Congress. Lisa Louis Cooke (geneologist), Julie Stoner (LC maps). 30 min. HERE
Sanborn Insurance Maps at Library of Congress. Info page HERE

MORE INFO FROM BLOG POSTS

Sanborn fire insurance maps of Ellicott City - including a grist mill changed to an electric plant 1899. More details on Sanborn maps. HERE
Mills – Ellicotts in Maryland, Leas in Delaware and more, from Ellicott City blog HERE
Mills – from Researching Food history blog HERE
Ellicott family - HERE

Key to 1894 Sanborn map

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