Poplar Grove Mill and House, Restored tide mill and house in Mathews County, United States.
Poplar Grove Mill and House is a restored tide mill and house complex in Mathews County, Virginia, located on a narrow mole separating a lagoon from the bay. The two-story wooden mill structure sits on this barrier, while a five-section house stands across the water.
The original tide mill was built in the early 1800s and supplied ground grain to General Washington's troops during the Revolutionary War. It was destroyed during the Civil War and reconstructed in the years that followed.
The house displays Federal-period architecture with an Ionic portico designed by local builder Richard Billups. This style reflects the design preferences common to the region during that era.
The tide mill operated on a simple principle: water collected during high tide flowed through a waterwheel during low tide to power the grinding stones. Visitors benefit from understanding the tidal cycle and the site's terrain to appreciate how it functioned for over a century.
This site preserves Virginia's last remaining tide mill, which operated until 1912 by harnessing the East River's two-foot tidal shifts occurring every twelve hours. The technology represents a vanished craft that relied entirely on natural tidal forces.
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