Luckenbach Mill
1869
The high quality flour produced by the Luckenbach Mill was obtained from grain grown in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, and other parts of the mid-west. After processing in Bethlehem, the flour was marketed throughout the Lehigh Valley and the coal regions to the north.
The current Luckenbach Mill was built in 1869 and is the third grist mill to occupy this location.
In 1743, the Moravians built their first grist mill to grind grain into flour. A second mill, built in 1751, included a fulling mill to process wool cloth.. In 1759, a dye shop and clothweavers shop were added. When this complex burned in 1869, the Luckenbach Mill immediately replaced it.
Waterwheels turned by the Monocacy Creek powered the equipment in these mills. Creek water was dammed and directed through a raceway where it entered the mill through a headrace, turned the waterwheels, then exited through a tailrace. Remnants of the tailrace can still be seen in front of the nearby tannery.
In 1877, steampower was added to the Luckenbach Mill. Milling ended here in 1949. In 1952, the building was occupied by an automobile parts and salvage firm and the Colonial Industrial Quarter quickly became an automobile junkyard. The area was cleared in the 1960s and the Luckenbach Mill was restored in 1982.
[Caption for photo on marker]
The Moravians built this mill in 1751. It was two stories high with limestone walls and a clay tile roof. It contained one run of millstones. In 1752, a second run of stones was added.
[Marker is damaged]
Courtesy hmdb.org
