This village is located on Cedar Run in Lower Allen Township approximately 500 feet upstream from its confluence with the Yellow Breeches Creek. The topographic features of this site created the first interest in the area. Located in a dell cut by Cedar Run, which falls rapidly to the level of the Yellow Breeches, it offered an ideal source of water power for the operation of the early mills. In addition, there was a large spring adjacent to Cedar Run that was used by the early residents to draw their water and was reportedly also used to power one of the mills. Because of this availability of water power the area was identified as the potential site for a mill long before the subdivision of Lowther Manor in 1767.
The potential of the area was first recognized in 1736 by Benjamin Chambers (who settled at Falling Springs), who requested a tract of land for a plantation from the Proprietor, who was then visiting in Pextan. It was to be located on the west side of the Susquehanna River opposite Pextan within the tract (Lowther Manor) reserved for the Proprietor's use; in that tract Chambers desired to build a corn mill on the run of water called Cedar Spring. In his application Chambers indicated that he was a millwright. Although the Proprietor initially ordered the Secretary of the Land Office to record Chambers' application, the process was not completed and no grant was made. Obviously, the Proprietor's previous pledge of Lowther Manor to the Indians was a reason that prevented the transfer. The Pennsylvania colonial records indicate that Benjamin Chambers continued to pursue his claim for many years.
The first draft for the subdivision of the Manor of Lowther, dated January 1765, indicated a mill site on Cedar Run. It is interesting to note that the revised plan of 1767, which became the official plan, does not include this notation.
In 1767 Edward Ward, who is well known for his activities in the militia and was involved in the campaign against Fort Duquesne, purchased from the Proprietors Tract No. 11, which had been part of Lowther Manor. In the following year he was taxed for one saw mill, and in the second year of his occupancy was taxed for a saw mill and a grist mill. In addition to these first two mills the village later contained an oil mill, a clover mill, and several manufacturing shops. Today Eberly's Mills is the location of Hempt Brothers, a major quarry, and several small industries.
In the mid-1840s Christian Eberly settled in Milltown, where he later purchased one of the mills. Eberly's influence in the little community grew with his purchase of additional houses in the area; he became a significant landlord. In the 1850s he was instrumental in having a post office established in the village. The post office bears his name; thereafter the village was identified on township maps as Milltown/Eberly's Mills /P.O. In 1879 the village consisted of 15 houses and 83 inhabitants, a church (Church of God, 1842), store, blacksmith, shoe shop, and machine shop.
The machine shop was Daniel Drawbaugh's. Known as "the wizard of Eberly Mills" and called in our own day "the Edison of the Cumberland Valley," Drawbaugh (1827-1911) was, in his own words, a "practical machinist," who in a career of more than sixty years as an inventor received more than 70 patents, for articles and machines ranging from an electric clock to a coin-sorting machine. Christian Eberly gave Drawbaugh needed help and capital, providing tools, a work space, and encouragement; he was one of the investors in the Drawbaugh Pump Company, which became the Drawbaugh Manufacturing Company, one of the inventor's enterprises.
Read the entire article
