Waterloo Mills in Easttown Township appeared around the time when the British in 1815 won their greatest victory over Napoleon at Waterloo, Belgium. It is anecdotal, but logical, that when this village appeared it should be named Waterloo Mills after the epic battle. Waterloo is also the name of the hamlet that grew up around the grist mill on Darby Creek in the 19th century.
Waterloo Road is named after Waterloo Mills, which was located on Darby Creek. Now there are two well-traveled roads called Waterloo, one Waterloo Avenue out of Berwyn, and the other Waterloo Road out of Devon. This attests the former importance of the only grist mill in Easttown Township.
The mill and hamlet are situated in a valley where the Waterloo Road crosses Darby Creek. Locally this hamlet is known as Cabbage Town, which originates around 1830. Some of the old-timers still insist on calling the place Cabbage Town (from cabbage, "to purloin or steal").
There is an earlier account of a sawmill operated from 1768–1774 by John Morris, whose father emigrated from Merionethshire, Wales, in 1708. Jonathan T. Morris, probably of this line, operated the gristmill as late as 1843. Then Mordecai Davis, great-great-grandson of Joseph Davis of Willistown Township, occupied the mill, bequeathed to his wife. He was followed by his son John W. Davis.
Through the influence of the Davis family, a post office was established there in January 1853, under the name of Waterloo Mills; it was discontinued in 1867. The post office was in the mill. William Steel was the tenant miller and was named the first Postmaster. Stephen Stout carried the mail from Spread Eagle in his hat. On occasion the carrier was found up the woods chopping trees and the day's mail of four to six letters deposited on a stump.
Allison Alexander took over the gristmill and ice business (no date), ice being delivered in wagons drawn by mules. After the Alexanders moved to Berwyn, the Murphys, Hauses, and Wilkinsons lived there. This business was across the road from the blacksmith shop.
The hamlet in its most prosperous time consisted only of the grist mill, two farmhouses, the tenements, and the blacksmith and wheelwright shop.
Various residents lived in Waterloo Mills. John Haas, a co-founder of the Rohm and Haas Chemical Co., owned much of the property in the area after the middle of the 20th century. An alumnus of Episcopal Academy, he donated some of the land and structures in Waterloo Mills to his alma mater, which housed its lower school there from the 1970s through the 2000s until the school moved to Newtown Township.
The Waterloo Mills Preserve Historic District, also known as Cabbage Town, was listed the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. This District encompasses eleven contributing buildings, one contributing site, and three contributing structures that are in the crossroads village of Waterloo Mills. Most date to the 19th century and were primarily built using rubble fieldstone. They include the Davis/Gallagher farmhouse (c. 1800), the Waterloo Mill (1796-1798), the wheelwright/blacksmith shop (1891), three residences (1804, c. 1820, and c. 1830), a dairy barn (c. 1890), and several outbuildings. The blacksmith shop across the street from the mill is now a garage for an adjacent tenant house. Other smaller structures, also referred to as "tenant houses" border Darby creek to the south.
The application packet for National Register listing contains an inventory of properties, the business and agricultural history of the area from the Revolutionary War to date, and information on the cultural place of this community in Easttown Township over the years. See “Sources” for the link to access this document.
In 1998, a permanent land trust of about 167 acres known as the Waterloo Mills Preserve was created under the auspices of the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art. The impetus for this effort was the historic site designation for the village of Waterloo Mills obtained from the National Park Service in 1995.
The objectives of the Brandywine Conservancy include monitoring Conservancy easements, public relations for the Environmental Management Center, outreach to surrounding municipalities, and open space use for walking and enjoying.
A pleasant walk on the right day can be had by strolling through the Preserve along the creek as far as the site of the former Paper Mill on St. David’s Road in Newtown Township one mile away.
If you would like to visit Waterloo Mills but are not currently a member, or to request a group visit, please contact the Conservancy at 610/388-2700 or conservancy@brandywine.org.